Certain Aliens Allowed to File for Amnesty Under Old Law

Certain aliens who were unable to apply for legalization under the 1986 amnesty law will now be allowed to file their applications from February 1, 2009 through January 31, 2010.

This announcement issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on November 3, 2008 was pursuant to an order of a federal district court in Seattle which had earlier approved a settlement agreement between the USCIS and the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project.

The settlement agreement is the culmination of a national class action lawsuit filed more than twenty years ago. The lawsuit challenged the policy of the then Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of denying legalization applications for failure to meet the “known to the government” requirement.

Under the amnesty law, known as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, applicants were required to prove that they were in unlawful status prior to January 1, 1982 and that such unlawful status was “known to the government”.

Many aliens were not able to apply because of the strict standard imposed by the USCIS in determining whether the unlawful status was “known to the government”. Many of those who filed were also denied.

The settlement agreement will make it easier for applicants to meet the specified legal standard. Applicants will have to file a class membership application and an application for legalization on Form I-687.

Those who had previously filed but whose applications were denied must also file a class membership worksheet and a motion to reopen their applications on Forms I-290B.

Individuals whose applications have not been adjudicated do not have to file another legalization application although they have the option to file for class membership in order to alert the USCIS of their pending cases.

Members of the class include those who entered the U.S. as a nonimmigrant prior to January 1, 1982 and who violated their status in a manner known to the government.

Their violation of status will be considered as known to the government if documentation, such as quarterly or annual address reports, (or lack of it) existed in any government records or if INS records such as school and employer reports of status violations are missing in their A files.

A violation will also be deemed known to the government if the individual whose facially valid “lawful status” was obtained by fraud or mistake, whether such “lawful status” was the result of a reinstatement or change of nonimmigrant status or adjustment of status.

In order to qualify, the above class members should have between May 5, 1987 and May 4, 1988 attempted to file a complete legalization application, but such application was rejected or they were advised of their ineligibility or were refused application forms and thus, failed to file.

If they were able to file under the original filing period, such application should not have been fully adjudicated or it was denied or terminated due to their inability to meet the “known to the government requirement”.