Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

QUESTION: What is the new late amnesty settlement?

Answer: On November 3, 2008, the government accepted the settlement on the class action suit filed by Northwest Immigrants Rights Projects, et al v. USCIS in Seattle Washington. The class action suit is filed on behalf of amnesty applicants who were denied applications because their status as illegal immigrants is not known to the government. The application period to file a new application is from February 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010.

Question: Who are covered by the settlement?

Answer: The following are covered by the settlement:

Those who came to the United States on a valid non-immigrant visa before January 1, 1982;

They fell out of legal status between 1982 to 1988;

The violation of status is known to the government;

They resided in the United States continuously from 1982 to 1988 except for casual travel out of the country;

Answer: No. This amnesty is a by product of the 1986 amnesty law. This is the third and the last one in litigation and ultimately settled. The first two were already settled in 2003.

Answer: The applicant must have entered the United States with a non immigrant visa prior to January 1, 1982 who:

Attempted to file for amnesty between May 5, 1987 and May 4, 1988 but had their application rejected;

Attempted to file for amnesty between May 5, 1987 and May 4, 1988 with INS or QDE but were advised that they were ineligible or were refused application forms.

Filed for amnesty between May 5, 1987 to May 4, 1988 whose application have not been adjudicated or whose temporary resident status have been proposed for termination or whose applications were denied or status terminated because the USCIS believed that applicants failed to meet the requirement that her unlawful residence was continuous.

Answer: Successful applicant will get a Temporary Resident status which could convert to permanent resident after 19 months.