Extension of Refugee Cash Assistance and Refugee Medical Assistance Eligibility Period to 12 Months

July 14, 2026 
Revised October 01, 2026¹

Dear Colleague:

ORR published a Federal Register Notice correction (91 FR 62534) on October 01, 2026, announcing an increase in the eligibility period for Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) and Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA)².

Effective on the date of publication of the Federal Register Notice, ORR will provide up to 12 months³ of RCA and RMA to eligible individuals. This change applies to people whose eligibility date for ORR benefits is on or after January 1, 2026. States and Replacement Designees (RDs) should begin implementing the expanded RCA and RMA eligibility period as soon as possible and will have up to 30 days to complete any necessary system or operational changes.

Authority

The Refugee Act of 1980 (8 U.S.C. 1522(e)(1)) authorizes ORR to provide RCA and RMA. ORR regulations at 45 CFR § 400.211 allow the ORR Director to determine the eligibility period based on available funding, arrival trends, and program data.

Rationale for Extending the RCA and RMA Eligibility Period

The eligibility period for RCA and RMA has changed over time in response to funding levels and program needs. Initially, ORR provided these benefits for up to 36 months after arrival. Due to funding constraints, the eligibility period was subsequently reduced to 18 months, then 12 months, and to 8 months in FY 1992. The 8-month eligibility period remained in place for 30 years until FY 2022, when ORR expanded eligibility to 12 months. In FY 2025, ORR reduced the eligibility period to 4 months due to limited funding availability (90 FR 13370, March 31, 2025). In FY 2026, ORR announced the expansion of the eligibility period to 8 months (91 FR 43107, July 14, 2026 ).

The Director reviewed funding, arrival trends, and program data to set the eligibility period. Available funding and lower-than-expected arrivals give ORR more capacity to provide assistance for a longer period, while reduced access to other benefits increase reliance on ORR assistance and limit the extent to which ORR can fund extension of the eligibility period.

Based on these factors, the Director has determined that eligible individuals may receive up to 12 months⁴ of RCA and RMA. This change ensures participants have enough time to access services and move toward economic self-sufficiency.

Eligibility Timeframe

This change to the RCA and RMA eligibility period applies to individuals whose eligibility date for ORR benefits is on or after January 1, 2026.

ORR-eligible individuals whose eligibility date is on or after January 1, 2026, will be eligible for up to 12 months⁵ of RCA and RMA, provided they meet all applicable eligibility requirements under 45 CFR Part 400, Subparts E and G. For individuals currently enrolled in RCA or RMA, States and RDs must, within 30 days, to the extent practicable, provide additional months of assistance, up to the 12-month limit, to the extent the individual remains eligible, in one of three ways:

1. Provide additional month(s) of assistance during the 12-month eligibility period, or
2. Issue retroactive assistance for month(s) within the individual’s 12-month eligibility period for which assistance was not previously paid, provided that the State or RD determines that the individual met all program eligibility requirements during those unpaid months, or, 
3. A combination of items 1 and 2 as long as the total months of assistance do not exceed 12 months.

RCA payments and RMA covered benefits must be for months within the individual’s initial 12 months of eligibility for ORR benefits. This policy is not intended to allow payment for any month in which an individual did not meet all eligibility requirements in effect for RCA or RMA.⁶

For RCA and RMA, eligibility requirements include:

1. There was an initial RCA or RMA application process; 
2. The individual is not eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Medicaid; 
3. The individual has received fewer months of assistance than the number of months set by the ORR Director pursuant to 45 CFR § 400.211, in this case 12 months⁷;
4. The individual continues to meet immigration status or classification requirements for ORR benefits and services;
5. The individual continues to meet income and resource requirements including 45 CFR 400.104 for RMA⁸; and 
6. For RCA, any individual not exempt from participation in employability services per 45 CFR § 400.75 and receiving assistance for months that were not previously paid, must also have continued his or her registration with an appropriate agency providing employment services, participated in employability services, and accepted any appropriate offers of employment during the period for which RCA is provided.  

States and RDs should expeditiously re-enroll individuals who are terminated from RCA and RMA but remain eligible for RCA or RMA under this extension. As per ORR regulations at 45 CFR 400.66 and 45 CFR 400.105, RCA and RMA benefits must be in alignment with State TANF and Medicaid for benefits compensation processes, including the process for compensation for months within the 12-month period that were unpaid due to the changing eligibility period.⁹

Reporting and Implementation Guidelines

States and RDs must submit a revised ORR-1 to:

• Update budget estimates for FY 2027¹⁰
• Reflect the 12-month¹¹ eligibility period
• Adjust estimated monthly participants based on current data and expected arrivals
• Include costs for any system updates needed

States and RDs may charge system update costs to the Cash and Medical Assistance grant, which funds RCA and RMA costs. States and RDs must contact their ORR Regional Team to identify any necessary updates or amendments to the FY 2027 state plan and must submit the ORR-1 via GrantSolutions within four weeks of publication of this DCL.¹²

Questions about the eligibility period for RCA or RMA or about the submission of a revised state plan or the ORR-1 should be directed to the ORR Regional Representative/Regional Analyst for that region and copy the Division of Refugee Assistance at drsaprograms@acf.hhs.gov.

For policy-specific questions, please contact the Division of Refugee Policy at RefugeePolicy@acf.hhs.gov.

Sincerely, 

Angie Salazar

Acting Director

Office of Refugee Resettlement

Footnotes

1 Revised on October 01, 2026: Update of the RCMA time period

2 Revised on October 01, 2026: Update of the RCMA time period

3 Updated October 01, 2026

4 Updated October 01, 2026

5 Updated October 01, 2026

6 Updated October 01, 2026

7 Updated October 01, 2026

8 Updated October 01, 2026

9 Updated October 01, 2026

10 Updated October 01, 2026

11 Updated October 01, 2026

12 Updated on October 01, 2026. Due to the timing of this revision, ORR will not require states and RDs to make additional revisions to the FY 2026 ORR-1s or state plans. States and RDs must revise their FY 2027 ORR-1s to reflect the 12-month eligibility period and submit any necessary FY 2027 state plan updates or amendments.