Staying Legal : A Guide to Phase 2 of the Immigration Amnesty Law : Many Options Exist to Meet Amnesty Requirements

The second phase of the legalization program began Nov . 7, 1988. In this phase, the hundreds of thousands of people who qualified to become temporary residents must apply for permanent residence. They have many options on how to proceed and important deadlines to meet.

Requirements

To gain permanent residence, all legal temporary residents must apply to the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service and meet the following requirements.

- Applicants must apply in time. Temporary residence lasts 30 months. All temporary residents must file their applications for permanent residence before the 30 months are up. They may file any time after receiving their temporary resident card, which is the one with the green stripe on it. An interview will be scheduled for a later date.

If you don’t apply before the 30 months are up, you will again be considered an illegal alien. - Applicants must “continuously reside” in this country since temporary residence was granted. Applicants are allowed to leave the country for no longer than 30 days at a time and no more than 90 days within the 30 months of temporary residence. Certain exceptions are allowed if the applicant demonstrates that the absence lasted longer because of circumstances beyond his control.

- Applicants cannot have a conviction on a felony or three misdemeanors since arriving in the United States.

- Applicants must be economically self-sufficient. This means that the applicant can support himself, is not a “public charge” (on welfare), nor is he planning to become a public charge. Those people who received special exemptions for having received cash assistance before Phase 1 cannot obtain a further exemption if they continued receiving cash assistance during temporary residence.

- Applicants must abide by all the country’s laws, including paying taxes and registering with the Selective Service if he is between 18 and 26 years of age.

- Some applicants will have to show a minimal understanding of English and U.S. government and history. Farm workers and some others are excluded from this requirement.

Fees and Documents

The application form should be accompanied by the documents necessary to prove that one has met the conditions described above. The INS will accept copies of original documents. The originals, however, should be presented upon request during a later interview. Documents in a language other than English should be accompanied by a translation summarizing the document.

In addition, the application should include payment of the specified fee: $80 for an individual, $240 for a family, including children under 18.

The application should include a recent color photograph of the applicant. Two more photos will be required at the time of the interview.

Applications can be turned in at any time, but the government will not necessarily act right away.

The INS recommends that the applicant keep one complete copy of his application, including the documentation.

Turning In the Application

The applications can be turned in at any government legalization center or mailed to the INS Processing Center in Laguna Niguel:

Regional Processing Facility

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service

P.O. Box 30030

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677-0030

Application Process

The INS will mail application forms to temporary residents as their time to apply for permanent residency approaches. However, if an applicant is missed, forms can be picked up at any INS legalization office. The INS will next contact the applicant for an interview or to pick up the permanent residence card.

Once the application is turned in, it will be processed by the government and a personal interview may be scheduled.

If the written application and supporting documents clearly meet all the legal requirements, the interview may be waived and the application immediately approved. In such cases, the applicant will be given an appointment to appear at an INS office to receive a temporary card for permanent residency. The “green card” will arrive later by mail.

AIDS Test

Those applicants who did not include in their application for temporary residency the results of a medical test for the human immunodeficency virus (HIV) must do so in their application for permanent residency. Those who have already met this requirement do not have to do so again.

The AIDS test is mandatory for all applicants older than 15. It is administered by many INS-approved doctors. You can also consider taking an anonymous test through your local health department or AIDS clinic before seeing the government-approved doctor. The doctor will give the applicant form I-693, which should be included in the application.

Applicants who test positive--which does not mean they have the AIDS disease-- may be able to obtain an INS waiver allowing them to qualify for permanent residence. The waivers will be granted for “humanitarian purposes” and to assure family unity, among other reasons. Penalties

The INS warns that it can prosecute applicants who knowingly lie or present false documents with their applications. They could face up to five years in prison.

Confidentiality

Under the law, all the information provided to the government is confidential and will be used solely to determine if an applicant qualifies for permanent residency. It will not be forwarded to other government agencies. The information furnished, nevertheless, must be verified by the INS.

Citizenship

After five years of permanent residency in the United States, one can, but is not required, to apply for U.S. citizenship. Citizens acquire all the rights provided in the Constitution--especially the right to vote.