How to prepare while immigration reform mulled
Congress is considering broad immigration reform including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Passage in a divided Senate, however, is far from certain. A more likely scenario for 2021 is passage of a bill for green cards for individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Temporary Protected Status and certain farmworkers.
Meanwhile, don’t be scammed into “getting on a list” or paying for help “preparing” to apply under the proposed legislation. If an immigration reform bill passes Congress, it will take months before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services begins accepting applications.
The pending bill requires that most undocumented immigrants have been here since Jan. 1, 2021 or before. Qualified applicants will get Lawful Prospective Immigrant status, valid for six years. After five years, those with Lawful Prospective Immigrant can apply for permanent residence — a green card. Given the Jan. 1 cutoff, you should gather proof that you were in the United States on or before that date.
Examples are school records, taxes, pay stubs, employment records, bank records, leases, rent receipts, utility bills, receipts from sending money abroad, medical records, vaccination records, benefit receipts, court records, marriage certificates, divorce judgments and birth or baptismal certificates of children born in the U.S.
Save items going as far back as you can, but you’ll need at least one document proving you were here on or before Jan. 1, 2021. Then, you will want to have at least one item for every three months from that date.
You will also need your birth certificate and proof of identity. Examples of proof of identity are a home country passport, a consular identification card, and a state-issued I.D. or driver’s license.
Finally, if you have ever had a run-in with the police, get your arrest and/or court records. Any legalization program will exclude some individuals with criminal records.
The legislation has many other pro-immigrant provisions, including rules that make it easier for relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents to get green cards.
I’ll be reporting on the bill as it moves through Congress.