Everyone knows what a mobile phone can do and how important it can be. After the invention of the smart tool, the world is heavily dependent on it. Nowadays, you miss a lot of opportunities if you don’t have a smartphone. Thankfully, eligible customers can get free phones with food stamps.
Despite their importance, the cost of a cell phone and monthly billing makes people unable to buy them. But, the US government knows how a cell phone can impact the country’s overall improvement.
Thus, the government and some providers offer free cell phones to eligible customers. In this article, you will know the providers offer free phones with food stamps and the way you can get the free phones. So, without wasting any time, let’s start with it.
How Can You Get A Free Phones With Food Stamps
The government introduced a federal assistance program in 1985 to help low-income individuals, families, seniors, and disabled persons with technological advancement. The program offers free phones, laptops, or tablets to eligible customers.
Anyone can get a free phone if they meet a few conditions. Billions of Americans have already received help from the assistance program so far, and more and more people are getting help.
But, the government alone can’t achieve this feat. So few providers participated in the mission to make low-income people’s technology acknowledged. So, along with the free government phone, you get free monthly minutes, text, and data.
Anyways, it would help if you met a few conditions before gaining those benefits. Now, let’s know about those benefits.
How To Qualify For The Lifeline Program
The qualification for Lifeline can be passed in two ways. And, as for you, who already enrolled in the food stamp cell phone, is automatically qualified for it. Anyways, still, let’s know the other method.
As the program is for low-income families, if your household income is at or below 135% of the federal poverty guideline, you will qualify for the program.
One thing to keep in mind, for every additional member, the household income will be pushed by another $4,480. So, the larger your household is, the faster you can get qualifications for a free phone.
As for the second method, you automatically qualify if you are enrolled in any government assistance program. Yes, you guessed right. This is the method that lets you get a free cell phone with food stamps.
Without the food stamps, other eligible assistance programs are –
- Supplemental Security Income.
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
- Medicaid.
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
- Federal Public Housing Assistance.
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance.
- National School Lunch Program’s Free School Lunch.
The name and number of the programs will change depending on your state. Moreover, several new food stamp cell phone programs will be added for the government-recognized tribal areas.
Top 5 Free Cell Phone Providers With Food Stamps
So, as you are already qualified for a free cell phone with food stamps certification, now let’s see the top provider with good service.
As I mentioned before, governments with few cell phone plan providers assist low-income families with free phones. On top of it, the provider offers you monthly data, minutes, and text without any cost. And, if the free service isn’t enough for you, you can purchase top-up plans without any additional cost.
You can only get service from a single provider with lifeline program plans. Moreover, switching providers demand a lot of effort. So, I would suggest researching properly before you go with any provider.
Now, let’s know about my top recommended providers.
1. Safelink Wireless
Safelink Wireless is among the top list when it comes to free government phones. The company doesn’t only offer generous monthly packages but also has a large service area. Currently, they are available in 41 states, including all the central states.
The provider is a subsidiary company of the Tracfone service and runs under the country’s best provider – Verizon. The freephone plans vary depending on your state.
The California citizens get the best perks from the company. On top of that, they have various top-up plans if you need to add anything.
What Safelink offers to its customers
- The free government phone.
- Free Unlimited text.
- Free Unlimited Call.
- Free 3 GB monthly Data. ( Tribal citizens of California get unlimited data.)
2. Q-Link Wireless
Q-Link Wireless is arguably the best free phone provider in the government phone industry. The provider has offered laptops with food stamps for more than a decade. Both their free service and expensive coverage are enough to impress many people.
Q-Link currently offers free phone and service in 29 states. But, not all the places in the selected states have the service available. So, be sure to check if the provider’s connection seems less in your area.
The basic free plan of the providers are pretty similar for all the states, but still, California residents get few extra benefits. Like the previous provider, Q Link wireless also offers various top-up plans for additional data. But, sometimes, those can be pretty expensive.
What Q-Link offers To Lifeline Participants
- A government smartphone.
- Monthly free 1000 nationwide minutes.
- Monthly free unlimited message.
- Monthly free 3 GB data ( California residents get 5 GB of data ).
3. Assurance Wireless
Assurance wireless is also a viable option among the lifeline participants. The provider is a subsidiary company under the Virgin Mobile Corporation, which is acquired by Virgin Mobile, which uses Sprint’s network.
You get the most versatile top-up plans from them; of course, there will be free month-to-month cell phone plans. Currently, Assurance Wireless is the largest free phone provider with 42 service areas.
Assurance Wireless’s free phone plans also vary depending on the state you are in. And, as usual, those in California get more offers compared to other states.
What Assurance Wireless offers To Lifeline Participants
- For the Other States
- Free government cell phone.
- Monthly free 350 minutes for talking.
- Free unlimited text.
- 3 GB of high-speed data per month.
- For California
- Free government smartphone.
- Unlimited free talk.
- Unlimited free text.
- 5 GB of high-speed data each month.
4. Assist wireless
You can say Assist wireless is a newbie in the free phone industry, as it’s not been long since they started their service. Although the company offers its service in minimal areas, customers are satisfied with the service. Unlike some well-known providers, you can expect some help from them whenever you face some issue regarding the phone.
The service from the providers consists of similar free phone, talk, text, and data. And, if you have a preferable phone, you can get a good discount from them.
As I said, Access wireless isn’t available in most of the states; only the residents of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Maryland, and Missouri can enjoy the service. Assist wireless also offers several top-up plans, and they are relatively cheaper compared to other providers.
What Assist Wireless offers To Lifeline Participants
- Along with the free phone, Assist Wireless offers unlimited talk, unlimited text, and 4 GB of data per month free of cost.
- You can also choose the $1/month plans, including unlimited calls, unlimited messaging, and 4.5 GB of data each month.
- Lastly, the 5-dollar plan each month provides 5 GB of data and unlimited text and talk.
5. enTouch wireless
enTouch Wireless is becoming a famous provider for offering free phones with food stamps. Their service area is pretty large and offers cheap wifi with food stamps. Moreover, the top-up plans are also reasonable.
Unlike the other provider, the enTouch wireless is operated by two companies. Anyways, now they are offering service in twenty states. And, the number is going to update pretty soon, as the company is in a rapid growth mood.
As I said, the company offers a decent deal for all the states; but the participant from California gets a terrific deal.
What enTouch Wireless offers To Lifeline Participants
- For the Other States
- The government free phone.
- Unlimited free text.
- 1000 minutes of talk.
- 1 GB of data.
- For California
- A free smartphone.
- Unlimited free text.
- Unlimited free talk.
- 3 GB of data.
What Documents You Need For Free Cell Phone With Food Stamps
To qualify for a free cell phone with food stamps, you need to submit sufficient proof documents. But, one thing to keep in mind, even if your application is accepted many times, it takes some time. The ‘some time’ can be from one month to six months.
As the application for free phones comes vast in number, but the resources (free phones) are limited. So, the government prioritizes the unemployed, youths, and students first, then others.
The following documents are needed to submit with your application –
- A photo ID.
- If you are qualified through other assistance programs, then – benefit award letter, approval letter, statement of benefits, or benefit verification letter.
- If you get eligibility through income, then – previous year’s tax return, current income statement, paycheck stub, Veterans Administration statement of benefits, or similar documents.
- Your contact details.
- Residence proof.
You must provide real information and documents. The freephone providers are pretty strict regarding false documents and information, which can lead to harsh punishments.
What Are The Restriction With Free Phone Program
To get a free phones with food stamps, there are a few restrictions you shouldn’t break. Failure to follow means you will be disenrolled and sometimes permanently banned from the program.
Now let’s see the restrictions –
- The Lifeline program is only for the low-income population. Apply only if your household income is under 135% of federal poverty guidelines or you benefit from other federally recognized assistance programs.
- The benefit of the program is for only one per household. That means even if your household has multiple qualifications, you won’t get another free cell phone.
- You can get the benefit of a lifeline program from one provider. Even if other providers run the program under another name, you aren’t allowed.
- You must provide the current residential address in the form.
- Use the free phone at least once every month. If you don’t, it may be suspended, and you will need to enroll again.
- The participants can’t transfer the tools or services of the program to others.
- If you don’t qualify for the free service anymore, be sure to notify the authority one month early.
What Is The Food Stamps
Food stamps are the formal name of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. It’s among the most popular federal programs which have helped millions of Americans so far. And, in this Covid pandemic, it played a significant role.
Similar to the other federal programs, you need to be qualified to get the assistance. The program mainly prioritizes the children and elders; around two out of three families get help from SNAP have at least a child or an elder in their family.
The program provides financial assistance to strengthen the family budget to buy food stamp free government smartphones. If you are eligible, you will get an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, and your benefits will automatically be loaded into your account.
In 2018, more than 40 million Americans will benefit from the program since the number is continuously breaking records.
Why Does The Government Offer Free Phones?
Although the program was started to help low-income families to get knowledge of high-end technology, it took many turns on the way. Now, this federal assistance program offers free phones and provides laptops, tablets, and other smart tools.
As for the purpose behind it, it’s a win-win situation. A person with a smartphone has more chances of earning money, improving their lifestyle, and ultimately increasing the country’s overall standing. Moreover, it’s fairly easy to create awareness if you have a smartphone.
Final Verdict
It’s pretty easy to get a free phones with food stamps. You get the phone through the lifeline program. This program’s main reason is to offer free phones to low-income families. People in specific income categories or certification from other lifeline programs can get free stuff.
Anyways, there are other ways, too, if you don’t get a free cell phone with food stamps. You can visit the charitable organizations and request from them. If they see your need is valid, you will get a free phone. Moreover, those phones are even better than government phones.
Also, you can purchase second-hand phones for a nominal price. So far in this article, I have told you the way of getting food stamp free touch screen government phones. With that, I would like to take my leave and end the article.
