US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced last week via a press release two changes to the management of the Indochinese Parolee Adjustment Program. Statutory changes included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 have eliminated both the three-year filing period window and the adjustment cap.

Prior to the recent changes, section 586 of Public Law 106-429 limited the total number of eligible individuals who could adjust under this provision to 5,000. The Act also required individuals to file their applications within a three-year period that began on January 27, 2003 and was scheduled to end on January 25, 2006. Both of these restrictions have been eliminated. The Indochinese Parolee Adjustment Act authorizes the granting of lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible parolees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Following the Vietnam War, certain individuals from those three countries were paroled into the Untied States and have remained here without a permanent resolution of their immigration status.

To qualify for adjustment of status under Section 586, the applicant must be a native or citizen of Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos who was inspected and paroled into the United States prior to October 1, 1997 and was physically present in the United states on October 1, 1997. In addition, the applicant must have been paroled into the United States in one of three ways: from Vietnam though the Orderly Departure Program, from a refugee camp in East Asia, or from a displaced person camp administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand.

Eligible individuals applying for adjustment of status under section 586 must send Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Resident or Adjust Status), all required documentation, and all corresponding application to: Nebraska Service Center, P.O. Box 87485, Lincoln NE 68501-7485. Eligibility and procedural requirements are explained on the USCIS website at: www.uscis.gov.