Summary: New G-845 Form

Publication Date: December 28, 2006

Author: G. Kay Jacks, General Manager, Application, Operations and Delivery Services, Federal Student Aid

Summary: New G-845 Form

Posted on 12-28-2006

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be releasing a new G-845 form soon that is substantially the same as the G-845S it replaces, though there are some minor differences you should be aware of. You may use the new G-845 form beginning January 1, 2007.

One significant change to the form is the removal of the Social Security number (SSN) field. Because the SSN helps identify the student in the Central Processing System (CPS), schools should use Section A, Box 8, and write "SSN" in the box marked "Other" and the student's SSN in the box to the right.

The order of the USCIS response boxes was shuffled and some responses were added, but the categories of eligible students on the form remain the same. To determine if a student for whom you submit a G-845 is eligible for aid, match the category of the student, not the response number, on the form with the corresponding text in Student Eligibility, Volume 1 of the 2006-07 (the most recent) Federal Student Aid (FSA) Handbook. For example, response 5 on the G-845S related to aliens who were granted refugee or asylum status. These categories were split and have responses 3 and 4 respectively on the new G-845, so for a student who is designated a refugee or asylee, you would refer to the text for response 5 in the 2006-07 edition of Student Eligibility. The 2007-08 edition will contain the new version of the form. See the chart at the end of this message for the response numbers of the categories on the two forms.

Also, the parolee category shifted from number 6 on the G-845S to number 5 on the G-845, and it has been supplemented with two subsidiary check boxes, one for persons paroled into the U.S. for a year or more and one for those paroled for less than a year. This is a helpful distinction that the USCIS will make because part of the requirement parolees must meet to be eligible for federal student aid is that they be paroled into the U.S. for one year or longer.

The USCIS added to the Cuban/Haitian entrant category the phrase "as defined by Section 501(e) of the REAA [Refugee Education Assistance Act] of 1980." This additional text does not change how you handle this category.

On the reverse side of the form, comment 14 is new and refers to persons whose permanent resident card has expired. As noted on the form, this does not mean the student's status has expired-or that he is ineligible for aid-just that he must renew the card.

Comment 18 refers to an original consent of disclosure statement and does not apply to schools and their submission of the form for federal student aid purposes.

Attached for your reference is a copy of the new G-845 form in PDF format. If you have questions, please contact Marya Dennis of Federal Student Aid: Marya.Dennis@ed.gov or 202-377-3243.