Folks, this is the continuation of the info. I hope it will be useful to
some of us.

3. What does the new physical presence requirement
mean and how do you
%0Aprove compliance with it?

Under the new law, beneficiaries of an immigrant
petition or labor
certification that is 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 the date that
LIFE Act is signed into law, December 21, 2000. A
joint memorandum that
Senators Kennedy (D-MA) and Abraham (R-MI) wrote
clarifying some of the
provisions of the new law emphasizes that the function
of the physical
presence requirement is to make sure that the renewed
availability of
Section 245(i) does not encourage anyone to illegally
enter the United
States in order to apply. The memorandum also states
"It may be
difficult for an individual physically present on the
day of enactment
to establish his or her presence on that precise date
to qualify for
245(i). The Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) should
therefore be flexible in the types of evidence it will
accept to
establish physical presence on the day of enactment.
For example, the
kind of evidence of physical presence INS ordinarily
accepts
demonstrating that the applicant has been physically
present during a
reasonable period preceding that date, accompanied by
an affidavit or
declaration that the person was present on the date
itself, should
ordinarily suffice." AILA is working with the White
House and the INS to
develop clear standards and guidelines that will
accomplish this goal.

4. How does a person file to take advantage of the new
Section 245(i)?

Any person who will need Section 245(i) in order to
adjust status must
ensure that their qualifying I-130, I-140, I-360, or
labor certification
application reaches the applicable government agency
on or before April
30, 2001. Those who choose, and are eligible, to file
their visa
petition and application for adjustment of status at
the same time must
submit the application for adjustment of status under
Section 245(i)
  (Form I-485A) along with the petition and the
applicable fees. Since the
law simply replaces the old January 14, 1998 deadline
with a new April
30, 2001 deadline, AILA is urging INS to adopt similar
policies to those
announced to meet the old deadline, namely that
skeletal applications
should be accepted. We will be working with the INS to
try to achieve a
fair, effective, and efficient implementation.

5. Why is April 30, 2001 an important date?

In order to use Section 245(i), applicants must prove
that a bona fide
immigrant visa petition or labor certification
application was filed on
their behalf on or before April 30, 2001. Therefore,
any person who will
need Section 245(i) in order to adjust status must
file their I-130,
I-140, I-360, or labor certification application on or
before April 30,
2001. Any person whose petitions is filed after that
date will not be
eligible for Section 245(i), will be required to
process an immigrant
visa application at a U.S. Consulate abroad, and may
be subject to the
3/10 year bars.

6. What is the fee and when do you need to pay it?

The Section 245(i) fee is still $1,000, and is in
addition to any other
filing fees levied by the INS. The $1,000 fee is paid
at the time of
filing the Form I-485A, which is submitted along with
the standard
application for adjustment of status (Form I-485).
There are some
circumstances in which the immigrant petition and the
adjustment of
status application can, at the applicant's option, be
filed at the same
time: immediate relatives of United States citizens
may file the Form
I-130 and I-485 concurrently, and INS has indicated
that it plans to
soon allow I-140 petitions and I-485s also to be filed
concurrently.
However, in most cases, the adjustment of status
application is not
filed until after the immigrant petition has been
approved, and in many
employment- based cases until after both the labor
certification and
immigrant petition have each been approved. Thus, in
many cases, the fee
will not have to be paid before the April 30, 2001
deadline.

7. Do the new Section 245(i) provisions give a person
work
authorization, protection from deportation, or travel
permission?

NO! Section 245(i) only allows people who illegally
entered the United
States or are ineligible for adjustment of status
under Section 245(c)
to apply for adjustment of status in the United States
if they are
otherwise eligible for adjustment. It offers no other
protections or
rights.




Joe


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