This week the INS published the final regulation on applications for adjustment of status under the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act. Among other things, the LIFE Act allows applicants for the 1986 amnesty who were rejected because of brief absences from the US to finally become permanent residents of the US. Applications will be accepted until June 4, 2003. While the INS has said that the extension of the deadline, which originally was to expire at the beginning of this month, is to allow more people to seek benefits, it is also a requirement of the LIFE Act, which mandated a one-year filing period after the publication of final regulations.
To be eligible for legalization benefits under the LIFE Act, the applicant must have entered the US before January 1, 1982, and been in the US unlawfully from that date to May 4, 1988. The applicant must also show that they were continuously physically present in the US from November 6, 1986 to May 4, 1988. They must be admissible, other than their unlawful presence in the US, and must have basic citizenship skills. Most importantly, the applicant must have registered for membership in one of three class actions lawsuits filed over the 1986 amnesty, commonly known as CSS, LULAC and Zambrano. While the application is pending, the applicant cannot be deported, and is given work authorization.
Spouses and minor children of applicants for LIFE Legalization are eligible for Family Unity benefits. Under this program, those spouses and minor children who entered the US before December 1, 1988 cannot be deported and are given work authorization.
Thus far, only about 26,000 people of the 250,000 estimated to be eligible for legalization have applied for benefits.
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