DOJ Issues Proposed Regulations for Adjustment of Indochinese Parolees

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Obtaining Lawful Permanent Residence Status

DOJ ISSUES PROPOSED REGULATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF INDOCHINESE PAROLEES
Immigrants' Rights Update, Web Edition, July 15, 2002

The U.S. Dept. of Justice has issued proposed regulations implementing a provision of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act of 2001 that authorizes the attorney general to adjust the status of certain Indochinese parolees to lawful permanent residence. The three-year application period does not begin until the regulations are finalized.

Eligibility. Natives of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos may adjust their status to lawful permanent residence if they:

were inspected and paroled into the U.S. before Oct. 1, 1997, from the Orderly Departure Program in Vietnam, a refugee camp in East Asia, or a displaced person camp administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand;
were physically present in the U.S. prior to and on Oct. 1, 1997;
file an adjustment application within the three-year application period; and
are otherwise admissible to the U.S.—however, some grounds of inadmissibility do not apply to these applicants, and certain other grounds may be waived.

The spouses and children of persons who adjust under this section are not entitled to derivative adjustment.

Grounds of Inadmissibility. Several grounds of inadmissibility—including those involving public charge, unlawful presence, and previous removal—do not apply to adjustment applications filed under this law. The attorney general may waive certain other grounds of inadmissibility—including those relating to health, misrepresentation, and document fraud—to prevent extreme hardship to the applicant or to his or her U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent, son, or daughter. Applicants may also apply for any other waiver of inadmissibility available under section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, including a section 212(h) waiver of certain criminal grounds.

Application Procedure. All applications under this law must be submitted to the Nebraska Service Center for adjudication by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals do not have the authority to decide these applications. Persons who have filed an application with the INS and are in immigration court proceedings may seek the consent of INS counsel to filing a joint motion for administrative closure. Applicants with a final order of removal, deportation, or exclusion may seek a stay of removal from the INS while their applications are pending.

Cap. Because the law limits the total number of adjustments to 5,000, the INS will assign a number to every application that is properly filed and adjudicate cases in the order in which they are submitted. In cases that require waivers to overcome any criminal, fraud, immigration violator, citizenship ineligibility, or illegal voting ground of ineligibility, the INS will assign a number only if and when the waiver is granted.

Written comments on the proposed regulations must be submitted to INS on or before Sept. 9, 2002.

67 Fed. Reg. 4,402-10 (July 9, 2002).