USACLifelineNational VerifierHow to Use National Verifier
Common Transactions

Common Transactions

This page outlines common functionalities service providers may perform when interacting with the Lifeline National Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier).

Verify Eligibility

Service providers may submit an online application on behalf of their consumer to verify the consumer’s eligibility for Lifeline. This must be an in-person interaction.

The Lifeline National Verifier will determine if a consumer is eligible for a Lifeline benefit and, if so, provide approval by checking the following information:

  • Identity,
  • Address,
  • Income or qualifying government program participation, and
  • Compliance with the one benefit per household limit.

For more information, review the Eligibility Verification page.

Document Submission

When consumer information listed under the “Verify Eligibility” section is not verified through the National Verifier’s automated data sources, the consumer can submit documentation to the Lifeline Support Center. This will initiate a manual review process to determine if the consumer is eligible.

Service providers are able to help consumers submit documentation through the National Verifier service provider portal. The online portal will walk the user through which error(s) their application encountered and what information to submit to resolve the error(s). An “upload” button will appear for any errors that require documentation submission so that a service provider can help consumers upload copies of their documentation using the service provider portal.

Review potential errors and the information to resolve them on the Resolve Application Errors page.

Benefit Transfer

With the consent of the consumer, a service provider representative can transfer the consumer’s benefit with an application status of “The subscriber is already enrolled in Lifeline.” This status means that the consumer is already receiving Lifeline and is eligible to transfer their benefit.

To initiate the transfer:

  1. Obtain a transfer consent from the consumer,
  2. Ask the consumer to complete a new application (via online portal or a through a mailed-in application) to obtain the status of “The subscriber is already enrolled in Lifeline,”
  3. Log in to the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD),
  4. Select “Transfer NLAD Benefit” from the menu, and
  5. Enter all required information, and
  6. Select the “Transfer Benefit” button.

If the benefit transfer is a success, NLAD will:

  1. De-enroll the consumer from their former service provider.
  2. Label the consumer as de-enrolled as the result of a benefit transfer.
  3. Enroll the consumer with the new service provider.
  4. Label the consumer as enrolled as the result of a benefit transfer.
  5. Notify both the former and current service providers of the change.

If the benefit transfer fails, the service provider representative will see error codes and messages defining the reason for failure.

  • NLAD will direct the service provider representative to call the Lifeline Support Center for further assistance.
  • The consumer will stay active in NLAD under its previous service provider.

Address Update

When a service provider attempts an NLAD address update transaction for an existing subscriber in National Verifier mode, NLAD will validate whether the new address passes the AMS and duplicate address check.

  • If AMS and duplicate address both pass, the address update will be successful.
  • If AMS and/or duplicate address fails, NLAD will check the National Verifier to verify whether the consumer has resolved their new address failures by providing their latitude/longitude coordinates and/or independent economic household (IEH) worksheet.
    • If the consumer has resolved these new address failures in NV, the address update will be successful.
    • If the consumer has not resolved their new address failures in NV, the address update will be unsuccessful and NLAD will return an error message.

If an NLAD address update error occurs, the consumer will need to resolve their AMS and/or duplicate address failures either through:

  • The National Verifier service provider portal by submitting a new application or re-accessing an existing application.
  • The National Verifier consumer portal by submitting a new application or re-accessing an existing application.

Once the consumer has resolved their address failures in either the service provider portal or consumer portal, the consumer will need to notify their existing service provider to complete the address update change in NLAD.

Existing Lifeline subscribers are not required to re-qualify for Lifeline as continued eligibility is controlled via the annual recertification process. Therefore, the consumer will not be required to re-upload identity nor eligibility documentation for purposes of updating an address.

Service providers should follow the steps below or click here for more detailed instructions for consumer addresses that fail the NLAD address update transaction.

  1. Sign in to the National Verifier and click on the “Start New Application” option in the upper right-hand corner.
  2. Once all customer information has been accurately filled out, the service provider will arrive at the “Review the Subscriber’s Information” window. The service provider should verify that the information provided is correct and click “Next” to submit the application.
  3. Once the new application is submitted, the consumer will be prompted to resolve AMS failures by providing latitude/longitude coordinates (if applicable).
  4. If the consumer failed due to a duplicate address error, the consumer will be asked to complete an Independent Economic Household (IEH) Worksheet (if applicable). Once complete, the consumer will then need to initial all required fields and click “Next”.
  5. Once the service provider completes step 4, the address is successfully verified and no further action is required from the consumer.