U.S. Virgin Islands EBT and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Paper forms and email instead of an online portal

DHS does not take SNAP applications online. Its Family Assistance page posts the SNAP/Cash Application in English (the "Return to Office" copy) and in Spanish, the client packet you keep, the change report form, an Authorized Representative Designated Form and the benefit replacement forms¹. You can also pick up an application at a Certification Unit office or call and ask DHS to mail one¹.

Forms and documents go back by hand, by U.S. mail or by email: [email protected] for St. Croix, [email protected] for St. Thomas, Water Island and St. John⁵. The "DHS Universal Access" site offers only contact updates and Medicaid notices and case status, not SNAP²⁹. Because notices come by mail, report a new mailing address at once; DHS says missed mail leads to missed deadlines and closed cases⁵.

DHS Family Assistance forms page

The sun, sand & sea EBT card

The card works like a debit card at authorized food stores¹. USDA's directory lists it as the Virgin Islands EBT Card, with 1-866-884-2868 as the EBT number². That toll-free line gives your balance and reads out your last ten transactions; online, use the ebtEDGE website or the ebtEDGE mobile app from FIS, which DHS points to in its notices^5,6,28. Cash grants such as TANF go on a separate Banco Popular Plus debit card¹.

If your card is lost or stolen, or someone has used it, call 1-866-884-2868 to report it, ask for a new card and change your PIN. DHS will not consider replacing stolen benefits until those steps are done⁶. Its stolen-benefits request form (revised September 23, 2024) goes to the Issuance Unit with each fraudulent transaction listed⁶. Federal money for replacing skimmed or cloned benefits covered only thefts through December 20, 2024, and Congress has not extended it²⁰; DHS pages checked October 17, 2026 do not say whether later thefts are replaced. Food lost to a household disaster or misfortune has its own replacement form¹. No chip-card rollout is announced on DHS pages as of October 17, 2026.

• Card customer service: 1-866-884-2868
• Cardholder website: ebtEDGE
• EBT processor: FIS

U.S. Virgin Islands SNAP and EBT phone numbers

Applying for SNAP on St. Croix, St. Thomas or St. John

1. Get the combined SNAP and cash form. One form covers SNAP and cash assistance. Print the "Return to Office" copy (English) or the Spanish version from the DHS Family Assistance page, pick one up at a Certification Unit office, or call the office and ask for one by mail¹.
2. Collect proof for everyone in the household. DHS asks for identity, Social Security numbers for every member, proof of where you live, and all income. Rent, utility, child care and medical bills (for members 60 or older or disabled) are optional but can raise your benefit⁸.
3. Return it to your district's Certification Unit. St. Croix: 41-B Mars Hill, Frederiksted (in person), 4102 Mars Hill, Frederiksted, VI 00840-3376 (mail) or [email protected]. St. Thomas, Water Island and St. John: 1303 Hospital Ground, St. Thomas, VI 00802 (in person or mail) or [email protected]⁵.
4. Go to the interview DHS schedules. Every applicant is interviewed. DHS mails a time for an in-person interview; call your caseworker to reschedule or to ask for a telephone interview. A missed interview delays benefits or closes the case⁵.
5. Watch the mail for the Notice of Decision. DHS says you should get benefits within 30 days of the date it receives your application, or within 7 days if you qualify for expedited service because you have little or no money^1,8. The decision, and any later change to your benefit, arrives as a Notice of Decision⁷.

The first month's benefit is based on the date the Certification Unit receives your application⁸. Free language help is available: for Spanish call 1-340-774-0930 ext. 4317 on St. Thomas or 1-340-772-7100 ext. 7166 or 7159 on St. Croix; for Creole (Kreyòl), ext. 4378 on St. Thomas or ext. 7199 on St. Croix⁸. SNAP is open to citizens and qualified noncitizens, most of whom face a five-year wait, and each household member needs a Social Security number¹.

The same Certification Unit offices take applications for cash aid and for ECAP, the territory's LIHEAP energy program for households with a member 60 or older or disabled^25,27. Medicaid is handled by the separate DHS Office of Medicaid²³. HealthCare.gov does not serve the Virgin Islands, so there is no Marketplace plan to fall back on²⁴. WIC, run by the Department of Health, accepts a SNAP letter as proof of income²⁶.

Virgin Islands SNAP income limits for FY2027

Gross limit: 175% of the 2026 HHS poverty guideline divided by 12, rounded up. Net limit and maximum benefit: USDA FY2027 cost-of-living adjustments. All states compared.

USDA lists the Virgin Islands as giving categorical eligibility to all households, with a gross income limit of 175% of the poverty guideline and no asset limit³. DHS had not posted an FY2027 chart by October 17, 2026; its FY2026 chart (October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026) shows the 175% column and a separate 200% column for households with an elderly or disabled member⁴. The table above applies 175% to the HHS 2026 guidelines; the territory uses the same guidelines as the 48 states²².

The Virgin Islands has its own maximum benefits. For FY2027 they are $394 for one person, $723 for two and $1,315 for four, with a $32 minimum for one- and two-person households²². Deductions differ too: the FY2027 standard deduction is $191 for one to three people, and the shelter deduction is capped at $606²².

Net income test. Households that qualify through broad-based categorical eligibility do not have to pass the separate net income test³; DHS still subtracts deductions to work out the benefit. The 100% net limit, $1,330 a month for one person in FY2027²², applies to households that do not qualify through BBCE.

Assets. No asset limit for SNAP households that qualify through BBCE³. DHS's application packet asks for proof of bank accounts, vehicles, boats and land only for cash assistance and for SNAP households with a member disqualified for a program violation or for not meeting the work rules⁸. Cash programs keep a $2,000 resource limit¹.

Benefits on the 1st, at 7 a.m.

Everyone is paid on the same day: SNAP benefits are on the card at 7:00 a.m. on the first day of each month.

DHS loads SNAP for every household on the 1st at 7:00 a.m., with no split by case number or name^1,14. Cash grants such as TANF and Aid to the Aged, Blind or Disabled land on the Banco Popular Plus debit card on the 1st at 8:00 a.m.¹.

The 1st only works if your paperwork is in. DHS warns that a late recertification, periodic report or requested document can stop the monthly upload to your EBT card, and can close the case⁵. During the fall 2025 federal shutdown, the territory mailed locally funded relief checks for November 2025 to more than 10,600 SNAP households, each worth half the household's normal monthly allotment²¹.

Recertification, periodic reports and the $4,500 rule

DHS's notice for October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026 says all SNAP households in the territory are on simplified reporting; DHS had posted no FY2027 version by October 17, 2026⁷. Between renewals you must report only two things, by the 10th day after the month ends: monthly gross income rising above 130% of the poverty line for your household size, and any single lottery or gambling win of $4,500 or more^7,8. If your income was already above that line at certification, you need not report it⁷. Households that also get cash aid report all changes by the 10th of the next month⁷.

DHS mails recertification applications and periodic reports with due dates; send copies of the documents it asks for with the package⁵. Renewal includes an interview, in person unless you arrange a phone interview with your caseworker. A missed due date can suspend benefits or close the case, and then you must reapply⁵.

Rules specific to U.S. Virgin Islands

ABAWD work rules since March 1, 2026, with no waiver

Under the 2025 federal law, DHS began applying the time limit on March 1, 2026 to adults aged 18 to 64 with no child under 14 in the SNAP household^9,10. They must work an average of 20 hours a week, earn at least $217.50 a week before taxes, or take part in school, training or volunteer work; otherwise SNAP stops after three months in three years⁹. Exemptions include pregnancy and a certified physical or mental barrier⁹. DHS asked affected people to send documents by August 27, 2026, warning that those not meeting the rules would lose eligibility from September 1, 2026¹¹. USDA shows no time-limit waiver for any part of the territory on October 1, 2026¹³. Questions: 1-340-772-7100 ext. 7159 or 7166 (St. Croix) or 1-340-774-0930 ext. 4303 (St. Thomas)¹².

Summer EBT 2026 paid $180 per child

The Virgin Islands runs Summer EBT¹⁶. Like the other territories, it gets a higher benefit than the $120 paid in the 48 states: $60 a month, or $180 per eligible child for summer 2026, up from $177 in 2025¹⁵. USDA lists the territory's Summer EBT hotline as 1-340-772-7120¹⁶.

No soda ban, restaurant meals or online grocery orders

The Virgin Islands is not on USDA's list of approved food restriction waivers (page updated October 13, 2026), so SNAP rules on what you can buy are the federal ones¹⁷. It does not run the Restaurant Meals Program¹⁸. USDA says Guam and the Virgin Islands are the only two U.S. territories that have not started online purchasing, so the card works only in stores¹⁹.

Other assistance in U.S. Virgin Islands

Sources

1. Family Assistance Program (SNAP, TANF, cash programs, forms), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
2. SNAP State Directory: Virgin Islands (page updated November 14, 2025), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
3. Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (page updated June 29, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
4. SNAP Monthly Allotments and Deductions, October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
5. Important Reminder: SNAP/CASH Documentation Due for September 1st Benefit Issuance (press release, August 17, 2026), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
6. Request for Replacement of Stolen SNAP Benefits (revised September 23, 2024), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
7. SNAP Simplified Reporting Requirements, October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
8. SNAP/Cash Application Client Packet (Rev. 10/2025), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
9. SNAP Work Requirements (ABAWD information, April 2026), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
10. Important Update: SNAP Work Requirement Changes Effective March 1, 2026 (press release, February 9, 2026), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
11. DHS Urges ABAWDs to Submit SNAP Documentation by August 27, 2026 (press release, August 21, 2026), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
12. SNAP Benefits Are Changing: ABAWD Work Rules (flyer), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
13. Status of State ABAWD Time Limit Waivers, FY2027 1st Quarter (in effect October 1, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
14. SNAP Monthly Issuance Schedule for All States, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
15. Summer EBT for Children Program: 2026 Benefit Levels (notice, April 22, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
16. Summer EBT: Virgin Islands, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
17. SNAP Food Restriction Waivers (page updated October 13, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
18. Restaurant Meals Program (page updated August 7, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
19. SNAP Online Purchasing (page updated February 17, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
20. Replacement of Stolen Benefits (page updated September 8, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration. Checked 17 October 2026.
21. Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands Announces SNAP Relief Check Distribution for November 2025 (press release, October 31, 2025), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
22. SNAP – Fiscal Year 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustments (memo, August 21, 2026), U.S. Department of Agriculture. Checked 16 October 2026.
23. Office of Medicaid, Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
24. Consumer Assistance in Virgin Islands, HealthCare.gov (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). Checked 17 October 2026.
25. Checklist for ECAP – Energy Crisis Assistance Program (Rev. September 2026, FY2027), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
26. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Virgin Islands Department of Health. Checked 17 October 2026.
27. Temporary Closure: DFA Certification Unit [SNAP, CASH, LIHEAP (ECAP)] Hosts Territorial Staff Training (press release, September 24, 2026), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.
28. ebtEDGE cardholder portal, FIS. Checked 17 October 2026.
29. DHS Universal Access (citizen portal), Virgin Islands Department of Human Services. Checked 17 October 2026.