Apply and keep it
Lifeline transfer: moving your benefit to another company
Independent site, not the FCC, USAC or a phone company. Lifeline applications are made only on the official National Verifier or through your state.
The calculator shows what the benefit is worth over the months you choose, the amount that follows you from one company to the next.
What the Lifeline discount is worth
Discount per month
$9.25
| Over 12 months | $111 |
| Standard part | $9.25 |
| Tribal lands extra | $0 |
The discount comes off the bill of the company you choose; it is never paid to you in cash.
Switching Lifeline company does not mean applying again. Your benefit is recorded in the National Lifeline Accountability Database, which holds one Lifeline service per household, so when you sign up with a second company the system first sees a duplicate. According to USAC, in the majority of cases the new company resolves that by obtaining your consent to transfer your benefit and completing a benefit transfer in the database; the old company then stops claiming support for you. The discount that moves with you is the same everywhere: up to $9.25 a month, or $34.25 on qualifying Tribal lands. Section 47 CFR 54.411 of the Lifeline rules is marked Reserved, and the eligibility, support and de-enrollment rules set no waiting period before a switch. What you cannot do is transfer the benefit to another person: Lifeline is non-transferable, and your household keeps one benefit. If you move, you must give the company your new address within 30 days.
Rules and figures read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
How a benefit transfer works
The national database exists to detect and eliminate duplicative support, a term 47 CFR 54.400 defines as one subscriber receiving two Lifeline services at the same time, or two subscribers in a household doing so. When a second company tries to enroll you, the database returns a duplicate subscriber error. USAC’s error resolution page explains the usual outcome: the new company obtains your consent to transfer your Lifeline benefit and completes a benefit transfer in the database.
A company that receives notice from USAC that one of its subscribers is now served by another company must de-enroll that subscriber within 5 business days, under 47 CFR 54.405(e)(2), and it stops being paid for you after the de-enrollment date. In practice you do not have to manage that step; it follows from the transfer.
The rules that no longer limit a switch
The section of the Lifeline rules numbered 54.411 is marked Reserved in the current Code of Federal Regulations: it contains no text and no rule in force. The sections on eligibility, support, usage and de-enrollment set no port freeze or minimum stay with a company either, so nothing in them ties you to a company for a set time. The same rules forbid companies to charge Lifeline customers a monthly number-portability charge, which matters if you keep your number.
Before you consent, compare offers by what they deliver after the discount. Each company must name itself on every material describing its Lifeline service and must say that Lifeline is a government assistance program, non-transferable and limited to one discount per household. The tool below shows how many companies USAC lists in your state.
Lifeline in your state
Subscribers claimed, June 2026
861,266
| Mobile companies listed | 11 |
| Home phone or internet companies | 33 |
| ZIP codes covered | 2,110 |
| Apply through | the National Verifier |
USAC open data; claims for June 2026 can still be revised by late filings.
The companies page narrows the list to your ZIP code, from USAC open data.
What does not transfer
The benefit to another person. Lifeline is a non-transferable service, and 47 CFR 54.410 requires every certification form to say that the subscriber may not transfer the benefit to anyone else. A relative who wants Lifeline applies in their own name; if they belong to your economic unit, the household rule gives your home one benefit in total.
A second benefit. A household may not receive Lifeline from several companies at once. Keeping an old line while adding a new one is duplicative support and leads to de-enrollment.
The device. Phones are not paid for by the program, so what happens to a handset when you leave is set by the old company’s own terms.
Moves and changes you must report
Switching often comes with a move. On the certification form you agreed to give your company your new address within 30 days, and to tell it within 30 days if you no longer qualify, for example because your income rose or the benefit you used ended. An address update can start a USAC continued eligibility check if the new address cannot be matched or is shared with another subscriber; you then have 30 days to answer, separately from the yearly recertification.