Reading Room Document

Qualification Requirement for Aliens Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

The phrase "40 qualifying quarters of coverage" in title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 can fairly be interpreted as incorporating the methodology under section 213 of the Social Security Act for calculating quarters of coverage, but not also the strict definitions of wages, employment, and self-employment income under other sections of the Social Security Act. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/19841/download.

March 27, 1997