CONT'D
Q&A
1. What is the new Section 245(i) provision?
The Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act of 2000
(LIFE Act) extends
Section 245(i) by replacing the old eligibility cutoff
date (January 14,
1998, the "grandfather" date) with a new date of April
30, 2001. This
means that eligible people have until April 30, 2001
to file an
immigrant petition or labor certification application
to be eligible to
adjust their status in this country. IMPORTANT NOTE:
The LIFE Act added
a new "physical presence" requirement which means that
people need to
prove that they were actually in the U.S. on the date
of enactment of
this measure, December 21, in order to be eligible to
use Section
245(i). Under the changes made by the LIFE Act,
Section 245(i) will be
available for any beneficiary of a bona fide immigrant
visa petition (an
I-130, I-140, or I-360) or application for labor
certification that is
filed on or before April 30, 2001. Beneficiaries of
immigrant petitions
or labor certifications that are filed after the old
deadline of January
14, 1998, but before the new deadline of April 30,
2001, will be
required to prove that they were physically present in
the United States
on December 21, 2000, the date that the new deadline
became law. All
qualified beneficiaries will be "grandfathered-in"
under Section 245(i)
even if they don't actually apply for adjustment of
status (by
submitting form I-485) until after the April 30, 2001
deadline, as long
as a bona fide immigrant petition or labor
certification application is
filed before that date.
2. Who can benefit from the new Section 245(i)
provisions?
A person who is eligible for permanent residence based
on a family
relationship or job offer, and who wishes to adjust
status to permanent
residence without leaving the U.S., could benefit from
these provisions.
Without Section 245(i), most persons who entered the
U.S. without
inspection, overstayed an admission, acted in
violation of the terms of
their status, worked without authorization, entered as
a crewman, or
were admitted in transit without a visa would not have
been eligible to
adjust status in the U.S. If an individual is eligible
for permanent
residence, but not eligible for adjustment of status,
that person might
still obtain permanent residence by leaving the U.S.
and completing the
process for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate
abroad. However, if
that individual had been unlawfully present in the
U.S. for more than
180 days, he or she would be barred from reentering
the U.S. for at
least 3 years, and perhaps as long as 10 years. Under
Section 245(i), an
eligible individual can remain in the U.S. to obtain
permanent residence
through adjustment of status, and thus never trigger
these entry bars.
(Once permanent residence is obtained, these entry
bars no longer
apply.) Thus, it is particularly important that
persons who would be
subject to the bars not leave the U.S. at all until
the adjustment of
status process is completed.
Note that an immediate relative who was inspected upon
entry can adjust
status without use of Section 245(i).
Joe
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