AS NACARA APPLICATION DEADLINE NEARS, NICARAGUAN AMBASSADOR URGES PEOPLE TO SEEK RESIDENCY

NACARA, the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, passed in 1997, provides an opportunity for Nicaraguans who fled the country during the civil war of the 1980s to become permanent residents of the US.  An applicant must prove that they have been in the US since December 1995 and that they have not been convicted of a felony offense.  Applicants from Nicaragua, unlike those from other Central American countries, enjoy a presumption that they would face extreme hardship if forced to return to Nicaragua, making them almost automatically eligible for adjustment.

Despite the relative ease of obtaining relief under NACARA, it is estimated that only 40,000 of the 150,000 eligible Nicaraguans in the US have applied.  This concerns the Nicaraguan Ambassador to the US, Francisco X. Aguiree Sacasa, because the deadline for NACARA applications is March 31, 2000.  The Ambassador is trying to increase the number of NACARA applicants by speaking to Nicaraguan communities in the US to encourage them to seek the benefits available to them by law. 

While it seems unusual that the ambassador of a country would encourage citizens to immigrate to another country, there may be a good reason in these circumstances.  Most beneficiaries of NACARA have been in the US since the early 1980s, and many have been here longer.  Over these years, they have become members of US communities, but have never enjoyed a legally clear status.  Once registered for permanent residence, Nicaraguans in the US would be in a much more stable position.  Also, once the NACARA application period is closed, Nicaraguans will be subject to removal and will no longer be entitled to a presumption of hardship if returned to Nicaragua.

Information about NACARA eligibility and the application process is available from a toll-free number, 1-877-478-8472.

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