Federal Benefits Repatriation Verification Act of 2026

Key Points

• Noncitizens receiving any federal benefits would be banned from sending more than $1,000 per year outside the United States. This covers all types of money transfers including banks, apps, wire services, and cryptocurrency exchanges.
• The Treasury Department would create a new centralized database to track every international money transfer by covered noncitizens in real time, sharing that data with federal agencies, state agencies, and financial institutions.
• Banks, money transfer services, and crypto exchanges would be required to check the Treasury database before processing any international transfer by a covered person, and must block transactions that would exceed the $1,000 limit.
• Anyone who breaks the $1,000 rule would lose all federal benefits, and they would need to certify their compliance every year to keep receiving assistance. Financial institutions that fail to comply face fines of up to $25,000 per violation.
• The law would take effect two years after enactment to give the Treasury time to build the database and write the rules, though database development work could begin immediately.