June 21, 2002

WASHINGTON - The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) today reminded those eligible Hondurans and Nicaraguans to re-register immediately for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to maintain TPS and employment authorization for the 12-month period beginning on July 5, 2002 and ending on July 5, 2003.

Completed re-registration applications for TPS must be mailed to the appropriate Service Center and postmarked on or before July 2, 2002. Applicants should not delay in mailing their re-registration applications. Re-registration is necessary even though INS published a notice in the Federal Register on May 3, 2002 extending the TPS Employment Authorization Document (EAD) validity period from July 5, 2002 to December 5, 2002. The automatic EAD extension is designed only to prevent gaps in employment authorization while re-registration applications are processed, but it does not relieve TPS beneficiaries of the responsibility to timely re-register for TPS benefits.

On May 1, 2002, INS announced a one-year extension of the designation of Honduras and Nicaragua for TPS until July 5, 2003. The TPS extension notice was published in the Federal Register on May 3, 2002. This extension of TPS covers an estimated 105,000 Hondurans and approximately 6,000 Nicaraguans who have already applied for TPS.

Hondurans and Nicaraguans currently registered under TPS who desire an extension must re-register by filing both the TPS application (Form I-821) and an application for employment authorization (Form I-765) with the appropriate INS Service Center. For re-registration, there is no fee for Form I-821. However, a $120 fee must accompany Form I-765 if an applicant requests employment authorization. If the applicant does not require employment authorization or already has employment authorization, Form I-765 is still required but no fee is necessary. Applicants for an extension of TPS benefits do not need to submit new fingerprints and therefore do not need to submit a $50 fee. However, children beneficiaries of TPS who have reached the age of fourteen but were not previously fingerprinted must pay the $50 fingerprint fee with the application for extension. An applicant may request a waiver of TPS-related application fees in accordance with the regulations.

This extension does not allow Nicaraguans or Hondurans who entered the United States after December 30, 1998 to file for TPS. This extension covers only Nicaraguans and Hondurans who have been continually present in the United States as of January 5, 1999 and who have continually resided in the United States since December 30, 1998. An extension of TPS does not change the required dates of continuous physical presence and residence in the United States. Late registration is possible in limited circumstances.

TPS registrants who need to travel outside the United States during the coming year must receive advance parole from their local INS office prior to departing the United States. Failure to do so may jeopardize their ability to return to the United States. Advance parole allows an individual to travel abroad and return to the United States. Advance parole is issued on a case-by-case basis. Individuals who are granted TPS may apply for advance parole by filing Form I-131 at their local INS district office or with an INS Service Center.

*Extracted From INS News Release June 21, 2002

June 07, 2002

The President has announced his intention to ask Congress to create the Department of Homeland Security. This new department will incorporate the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and a number of other government agencies into a unified border security and domestic defense department.

I want all of you to know that I strongly support the creation of this new cabinet-level department and that I consider this an important and very positive development for the security of our nation and for the mission and employees of the INS. In this new structure, the INS will become a key part of one of the largest agencies in the federal government, and we will be partners in what is the most important mission of our government: protecting the American people and ensuring the safety of our institutions and our precious freedoms.

The new Department of Homeland Security holds many advantages for the mission of the INS. First, border security has been a primary mission of the INS for many years. By moving this undertaking to a much larger agency, we will better leverage our ability to achieve this mission with the addition of other disciplines and additional resources.

Second, the INS is particularly well situated for the transition to this new department. We have long recognized that the INS needs to be restructured, and we have taken many fundamental steps in that direction. However, there has been the lingering question as to what the final new structure would look like. We now know how the INS will be restructured. The President's plan will pre-empt all other restructuring proposals and we can now work toward what will be the final INS structure. In reviewing the President's plan, it is reassuring to see that we have indeed been going down the correct path all along.

Action is required now to make the President's plan a reality. Toward that end, I am today forming an Implementation Task Force to work with the Office of Homeland Security to ensure a smooth transition into the new department. I will personally chair the task force and its membership will be reflective of the many elements of the INS. The Office of Restructuring will be merged into the Implementation Task Force and will be a major player in its activities.

The plan that the President unveiled last night will bring both the service and enforcement functions of the INS into the new department. There will be a stronger separation between those two responsibilities, as our own plan reflects, but the new department will also accommodate communication between the service and enforcement functions, a critical element to the success of our mission.

Of course, this new department will have to be created through the passage of legislation, but the initial outline announced by the President has INS well situated for this transition. Until the new department is created, we should remember that our day-to-day work is just as important as ever. We are the guardians of the borders and our nation still depends on us to inspect new arrivals, protect the borders and ports, and adjudicate benefit applications. As the legislation progresses and this new department takes on greater definition, I will continue to keep you informed. This is a new and great day for the INS, one in which the mission of border security has taken on a whole new national prominence. Congratulations on the good work you have done in the past, and the future good work I know you will do in aggressively writing this important new chapter in America's history.

*Extracted From INS Statement June 07, 2002

June 06, 2002

WASHINGTON - The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) announced the issuance of a final rule for adjustment-of-status application procedures under the Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act legalization provisions, known as LIFE Legalization. The final rule was published in the Federal Register June 4, 2002, and ensures that those eligible to apply for legalization benefits under the provisions of the Life Act are able to do so by June 4, 2003. INS is announcing a new filing deadline of June 4, 2003 to comply with the Congressional mandate of allowing a one-year filing period commencing with the publication of the final rule. This will provide ample time for eligible applicants to apply for benefits under the final regulations.

"With the issuance of the final rule for benefits under the LIFE Act provisions, we are hopeful that more eligible applicants will submit their applications for lawful permanent residency in the United States," said INS Commissioner James Ziglar. "We believe the new filing deadline will provide a golden opportunity for all eligible applicants to become lawful permanent residents."

In order to qualify for adjustment, eligible applicants must file a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, with the $255.00 filing fee supported by documentation establishing that by October 1, 2000, they filed a written claim for class membership in one of three lawsuits commonly referred to as CSS, LULAC and Zambrano. Eligible applicants must also establish that they entered the United States before January 1, 1982, and thereafter resided in continuous unlawful status through May 4, 1988, and that they were continuously physically present in the United States from November 6, 1986, through May 4, 1988.

The final rule contains clarifications that should assist applicants in applying for permanent residence. One such example is that the final rule clarifies the standards used to determine whether an individual has filed an application for class membership. The rule clarifies that under certain specific circumstances, an alien who was the spouse or child of a person who filed a written claim for class membership is eligible to file an application for LIFE Legalization.

INS has attempted to resolve all difficulties raised during the comment period. One such resolution is that INS has added, through the final rule, a provision that allows an adjudication of a LIFE Act application under the pre-LIFE Act 245A standards of Immigration and Nationality Act if the applicant is eligible for such relief but not under section 1104 of the LIFE Act.

The LIFE Act also provides that certain spouses and children of eligible applicants under the LIFE Legalization will be protected from removal and be eligible for employment authorization for the period of time in which they have been afforded Family Unity protection. Aliens who might benefit from the Family Unity provisions of the LIFE Act Amendments are those who:

1. Are currently in the United States;

2. Are the spouse or unmarried child of an alien who is eligible for adjustment under LIFE Legalization; and

3. Entered the United States before December 1, 1988, and were residing in the United States on such date.

Eligible applicants must also demonstrate basic citizenship skills and be eligible for admission to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Life Legalization also provides for a stay of removal or deportation and work authorization for eligible applicants under this law while their adjustment applications are pending.

On June 1, 2001, the Department of Justice published an interim rule in the Federal Register that implemented section 1104 of the LIFE Act and the LIFE Act Amendments by establishing procedures for certain class action participants to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. The interim rule provided a 1-year application period from June 1, 2001, to June 4, 2002 for those individuals applying for adjustment of status pursuant to section 1104 of the LIFE Act. The interim rule also provided for a stay of removal and work authorization for certain spouses and unmarried children of those aliens eligible to adjust status under section 1104 of the LIFE Act.

*Extracted From INS News Release June 06, 2002