Lawful Alien status is given to people admitted to the United States who are granted permanent authorization to work by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or to people admitted to the U.S. on a temporary basis with USCIS or INS authorization to work. A "non-work" Social Security Number may be assigned to an illegal or undocumented alien if an SSN is required as a condition to receive a federally-funded benefit and the individual has already provided documentation that he/she is entitled to the federally funded benefit.