Deadline is near for immigrants to file for adjustment of status (01/11/98)

Deadline is near for immigrants to file for adjustment of status

PHILADELPHIA - Eligible, out-of-status immigrants have only until January 14 to apply for a green card and remain in the United States while awaiting processing, warned attorney Andre Michniak.

Due to a bill recently signed by President Bill Clinton, after January 14 anyone who is eligible to apply for a green card but has not continuously maintained legal status must return to his or her home country to obtain a green card. For some who are technically out of status, this could mean leaving behind their families and jobs for months. For others, due to last year's draconian immigration law, they could be barred from returning to the U.S. for three to 10 years.

"It's very easy for an immigrant to fall out of status without even knowing it," Mr. Michniak commented. "We're talking about students who've dropped a course, workers who've been transferred by their employers to different cities in the U.S., tourists whose paperwork expired on someone's desk. But any immigrant who has ever fallen out of status - no matter how briefly and for whatever reason - will be affected by this change in the law."

"Having to leave the United States to obtain a green card will cause extreme hardship to immigrants' families and American businesses," said Mr. Michniak. "Sacrificing this income can send a family into poverty. And companies who have sponsored these workers have already discovered that they are irreplaceable. Losing them will hurt companies, other workers and the community at large. So it's imperative that eligible immigrants apply for their green cards before this deadline."

Before Thanksgiving, Congress voted to end Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a program that allowed people applying for their green cards to file their paperwork in the U.S., even if they had somehow breached their immigrant status in the past. Such applicants were required to pay a $1,000 fine as a penalty for their violation. With the recent change in the law, Section 245(i) will no longer be available to those who have not filed their preliminary paperwork with the INS by January 14.

In most cases, those who do not meet their deadline will now be required to return to their home countries to obtain their green card. But many of these people will face a Catch-22: if they leave the U.S. to obtain their green card, they may be barred from returning for three to 10 years, pursuant to a provision included in last year's immigration law.

Mr. Michniak, who handles many such "out-of-status" cases a month, described one client who came to this country on a tourist visa to visit her elderly mother, a U.S. citizen, whom she had not seen in 20 years. "When the client entered the United States, the INS gave her permission to stay for six months. After the first six months, the client was granted an additional six-month period of time to stay in the United States. At the end of that second six month period, the client's U.S. citizen mother became very ill and had to hospitalized. In order to pay the medical bills and support her mother, the client was forced to work without INS authorization. Obtaining permission to work was not an option since the INS does not permit tourists to work in the United States. Because she was working illegally, the client could not extend her visitor status for another six-month period. Under the new law, this client may be separated from her mother for three to 10 years," he explained.

"Now I can file a petition for her, and she can receive a green card in this country when she becomes eligible for one," said Mr. Michniak. "But next month, people like her will be between a rock and a hard place."

In general, to be eligible to apply for a green card, a person must have a qualifying relative or employer willing to sponsor him or her. The following categories of people can sponsor a relative for a green card:

U.S. citizens can sponsor their spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters.
Legal permanent residents (i.e., green card holders) can sponsor their spouses and unmarried children.
Employers can sponsor certain employees.

"I cannot stress enough how important it is that anyone who is eligible for a green card, but has not continuously maintained legal immigration status, files the proper paperwork immediately with the INS or the Department of Labor," concluded Mr. Michniak. "People who do not file their paperwork on or before January 14 may lose their chance to legalize their status. If you haven't already filed your paperwork, call an immigration attorney or local legal services provider."