For over 23 years, Cricket Wireless has become an industry leader when it comes to offering high quality cell phone services to Americans. Once you join this carrier, you will enjoy budget-friendly, plans, a good network coverage, great customer services, free phone and so much more. Apart from these benefits, this carrier allow you to enjoy a free month of service if you qualify for its Affordable Connectivity Program. To put this into perspective, you will enjoy discounts of up to $30 if you live on Tribal lands. However, if you live in Tribal lands, you will enjoy discounts of up to $75 on your monthly cell phone bill. In this article, we shall take a closer look at how to get free Cricket service via ACP, among other related ideas.
Cricket Wireless Free month of Service Plan
As mentioned above, Cricket Wireless now allows you to enjoy a free month of service if you qualify for its ACP facility. After all, Cricket Wireless is one of the reputable service providers that offer the Affordable Connectivity Program in the United States.
Depending on the plan you choose to work with, a discount of $30 per month will apply on it. This is usually the case if you live on Non-tribal lands. However, if you live on Tribal lands, you will enjoy discounts of up to $75 monthly. The following is a breakdown of how this discount will apply on the various cell phone plans offered by this carrier:
$60 per month plan
If you have subscribed to this plan and qualify for the ACP program, be certain that you will enjoy a free month of service in case you live in Tribal lands. This is because all those eligible customers who live on Tribal lands are bound to enjoy discounts of up to $75 per month. The free month of service comes with the following impressive features:
- Unlimited talk, text and picture messages
- Unlimited high speed mobile data
- HD voice
- 15 GB of mobile hotspot
- 150GB of cloud storage
- Wi-Fi calling
$55 per month plan
Apart from the $60 per month plan, you can also enjoy a free month of service if you have selected this carrier’s $55 per month plan. However, you must be living in Tribal land for you to enjoy this free month of service. Thankfully, the free month of service plan comes with the following features:
- Unlimited talk
- Unlimited text and picture messages
- HD quality video streaming
- Unlimited high speed mobile data
$40 per month plan
Besides the above-mentioned plans, you can also get a free month of service if you have chosen the $40 per month plan. However, you need to live in Tribal lands and be eligible for the ACP facility from this carrier. Once you qualify for the free month of service, you will enjoy other features such as:
- Unlimited text
- Unlimited talk and picture messages
- HD voice calling
- Wi-Fi calling
- 10GB of high speed mobile data.
Eligible Requirements to Get a Free Cricket Service
To be eligible for the free Cricket month of service, there are certain qualification that you should meet. First and foremost, you have to ensure that your income stands at or is below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
Since the Federal Poverty Guidelines vary from one state to another, there is a need for you to check what your country’s FPGs stipulate and then determine if you meet the minimum threshold or not.
If you do not qualify via the low income criteria, you can now qualify for the Cricket’s free month of service in case you are a participant of a government assistance program. Some of these programs include:
- Medicaid
- Supplemental Security Income(SSI)
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP)
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8)
- Veterans Survivor Pension Fund
- You are a beneficiary of the free and reduced-price school breakfast program or school lunch program, including via the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020, 20-2021, 2021-2022.
- You benefited from the Federal Pell Grant during the current award year.
In case you live on Tribal lands and enjoy any of the following government assistance programs, be certain that you can now qualify to enjoy Cricket free month of service:
- Tribal Head Start(Only those who meet the income qualifying criteria are eligible)
- Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
- Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations
Besides the programs that we have mentioned above, you can now qualify for free Cricket service if you are disabled. However, you should be able to prove that you are truly disabled so that you can qualify for this carrier’s ACP program.
Documents Needed While Submitting Application for Free Cricket Service
When applying for the free Cricket service, there are certain documents that you should gather first before you get started with this process. Here, you should ensure that you gather copies of your personal and eligibility documents so that you can submit them during the application process.
As far as personal documents are concerned, you should consider submitting a document that has your name in full, your address, your date of birth among other essential details. This way, you will be able to prove your identity. Some of the documents that contain these vital details include:
- A copy of your U.S driver’s license
- A copy of your government-issued, military, state or Tribal ID
- A copy of your birth certificate
- A copy of your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number(ITIN)
- A copy of your U.S citizenship or naturalization
- A copy of your permanent resident card or Green card
- A copy of your passport.
To prove your place of residence, consider submitting any of the following documents:
- A copy of your utility bill
- A copy of your W-2 or tax return document
- A copy of your lease or mortgage statement
Supposing you earn an income that stands at or is below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, considers submitting any of the following documents:
- A copy of your unemployment or worker’s compensation statement of benefits
- A copy of your paycheck stub
- A copy of your child support award
- A copy of your veterans administration statement of benefit
- A copy of your current income statement from the employer
- A copy of your Social Security statement of benefits
- A copy of your pension or retirement statement of benefits
- A copy of your prior year’s state, federal or Tribal tax return
If you are a beneficiary of government assistance programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, or Section 8, here are the documents that you should submit during the application process:
- A copy of your benefit award letter
- A copy of your statement of benefits
- A copy of your program approval letter
- A copy of your benefit verification letter
In case you are an emancipated minor, be sure that you can apply for a free Cricket service and save more on your communication expenses. However, you must submit a document showing you are truly emancipated. Some good examples of documents that can help prove your emancipation status include the following:
- A court order
- An emancipation certificate.
Note: The Affordable Connectivity Program will stop accepting new applications and enrollments on February 7, 2024. So consumers must be approved and enrolled with a service provider by 11:59 p.m ET on February 7th to receive the ACP benefits. The existing ACP beneficiaries will continue to receive their ACP benefits for at least April 2024. This date is an estimate and may change.
Steps to Apply for Free Cricket Service
With the above-mentioned documents at hand, you can now go ahead and apply for a free Cricket service. Thankfully, the process of applying for a free Cricket service is easy and straight forward. Here are the steps that you should follow in order to get started:
- To start with, visit Affordable Connectivity Program official website and then click on the ‘Apply Now’ button.
- By clicking the ‘Apply Now’ button, you will be taken to the National Verifier application page.
- Here, you can kickstart your application by submitting your personal details such as your name in full, your date of birth, your address and Social Security Number (SSN).
- Thereafter, attach copies of your eligibility documents to the application form and then submit the application form.
- Once you submit the form, the National Verifier team will review your application and establish if you meet the much-needed eligibility requirements or not.
- If you meet the eligibility requirements, you will be able to get an approval from the National Verifier.
- With this approval at hand, you can now visit this can now go ahead and then visit this carrier’s ACP enrollment page. To visit this page, click “cricketwireless.com/affordable-connectivity-program/form.html”
- Once you visit the Cricket’s enrollment page, make your application from that end. Here, you should apply for the ACP discount so that you can get a free month of service. More importantly, ensure that you submit the right details as required by the carrier. Attach copies of your eligibility as well as personal documents so that you application can be approved. Thereafter, submit your form.
- This carrier’s team will review your application and then give you a feedback. If your application was approved, you will be able to start enjoying Cricket free month of service from the beginning of the next month’s billing cycle.
Are There Restrictions to Getting a Free Cricket Service
Yes. As you apply for a free Cricket service, there are some restrictions that will influence how you will enjoy this service. Some of these restrictions include:
- The ACP benefits apply to one person per household. This means that one person in a household can benefit at a given time.
- The ACP benefit is not transferrable to another person even if he or she is eligible for the facility.
- Your income has to stand at or be below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or be a beneficiary of a government assistance program such as SNAP, SSI, Medicaid, Section 8 or WIC.
- You are not allowed to enjoy ACP benefit from other carriers if you are already enjoying this carrier’s ACP program.
- To continue enjoying the benefits of this program, you have to recertify for the program after every one year.
Reasons Why I was Disqualified from Enjoying Free Cricket Service
There are many reasons why you might be disqualified from benefiting from the free Cricket service. Some of these reasons include:
- You do not live in the United states
- Your income is above 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines
- You are not a beneficiary of a government assistance program.
- You submitted the wrong details during the application process
- You failed to submit copies of your personal and eligibility status during the application process.
- You are not 18 years and above.
- Supposing you are emancipated, you failed to submit a copy to show that you are truly emancipated.
- There is another member in your household who is already a beneficiary of the ACP benefits.