THIS IS A
SUMMARY OF THE REGISTERED PROVISIONAL IMMIGRANT STATUS* portion of the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act".
Please keep in mind - this is just a PROPOSED bill in the Senate and is by no means LAW this is simply the first stride of what will likely be a grueling marathon. This summary is to help any that would care to understand this section. To read the proposed bill in it's entirety please click here and for this specific summary go to sections 2101 and 2102 starting on page 59 and ending on page 110.
For now, I am simply providing a concise summary to help you understand and keeping my opinions out of it. Once all section summaries are complete, I will provide my complete unadulterated opinion. I will not be publishing ALL section summaries - but feel in order to formulate a complete opinion I should read each.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—
1.
Provide
evidence, that alien meets the following
requirements:
b.
Be
physically present in the United States on the date on which the alien submits
an application for registered provisional immigrant status;
c.
Have
been physically present in the United States on or before December 31, 2011.
d.
Have
maintained continuous physical presence in the United States from December 31,
2011, until the date on which granted status as a registered provisional
immigrant.
i. BREAK IN PHYSICAL
PRESENCE.— IN GENERAL.— an alien who is
absent 6 months from the United States without authorization after the date of
the enactment of this BILL does not meet the continuous physical presence
requirement. Exceptions to the break
exist if said absences are brief, casual, and innocent.
2.
Submits
a completed application before the end of the period set forth in subsection [not defined yet].
– Will be 1 year period of registration once published in Federal
Registry – with a possible extension to 18 months.
3.
Fees
and Penalties
a.
Processing
fee to the Department of Homeland Security in an amount determined DHS [Unknown at this time].
b. PENALTY.—MOST
aliens who are 21 years of age or older and are filing an application will pay
a $1,000 penalty to DHS. May be considerations for families filing together.
4.
In
general have a clean background check.
Background ineligabilities would include—
a. A felony conviction (other than
one in which an essential element was the alien’s immigration status or a
violation of this Act).
b. 3 or more misdemeanor offenses
if the alien was convicted on different dates for each of the 3 offenses. [Does
not include traffic].
c. Any offense under foreign law,
except for a purely political offense, which, if the offense had been committed
in the United States, would render the alien inadmissible.
d. Unlawful voting
e. The Secretary (DHS) knows or has reasonable grounds to believe,
is engaged in or is likely to engage in any terrorist activity
5. DEPENDENT
SPOUSE AND CHILDREN.—the spouse or child of a registered provisional immigrant may
also apply if
a.
Is
physically present in the United States— on the date on which the registered
provisional immigrant is granted such status; AND
b.
before
December 30, 2012 AND
c.
meets
all of the eligibility requirements above.
6.
PAYMENT
all Federal income tax liabilities as assessed in accordance with section 6203
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Submission of Proof required.
7.
Other
Grounds for INELIGABILTY.
a. Was, on the date Act was
introduced in the Senate— an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence
b. An alien admitted as a refugee
under section 207 or granted asylum under section 208
c.
An alien who, according to the records of the Secretary or
the Secretary of State, is lawfully present
in the United States in any
nonimmigrant status on the date Act was introduced in the Senate, despite
any unauthorized employment or other violation of nonimmigrant status.
The initial period of authorized admission
for a registered provisional immigrant— will be 6 years unless revoked for
cause - may be extended for additional 6-year terms if:
1.
the
alien remains eligible for registered provisional immigrant status [see above];
2.
the
alien meets the employment or education requirements
a.
was
regularly employed throughout the period of admission as a registered
provisional immigrant, allowing for brief periods lasting not more than 60 days; and
b.
is not
likely to become a public charge (as determined under section 212(a)(4)); or
c.
is able
to demonstrate average income or resources that are not less than 100 percent
of the Federal poverty level throughout the period of admission as a registered
provisional immigrant.
3. CLARIFICATION
OF STATUS.—An alien granted registered provisional immigrant status—
a.
is
lawfully admitted to the United States; and
b.
may not
be classified as a nonimmigrant or as an alien who has been lawfully admitted
for permanent residence.
4. Provisional
Immigrants are INELIGIBILITY FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS.— An alien who has been
granted registered provisional immigrant status under this section is not
eligible for any Federal means-tested public benefit (as such term is defined
in section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1613)).
ADJUSTMENT OF
STATUS OF REGISTERED PROVISIONAL IMMIGRANTS.
Registered provisional immigrant may
adjust the status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence
if the registered provisional immigrant satisfies the eligibility requirements
below:
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—
1.
The
alien was granted registered provisional immigrant and remains eligible for
such status.
2.
Has
maintained a CONTINUOUS PHYSICAL PRESENCE in the U.S.
3.
PAYMENT
OF all Federal TAX liabilities.
4.
Met the
EMPLOYMENT OR EDUCATION REQUIREMENT.—
a.
was
regularly employed throughout the period of admission as a registered
provisional immigrant, allowing for brief periods lasting not more than 60
days; and
b.
is not
likely to become a public charge (as determined under section 212(a)(4)); or
c. can
demonstrate average income or resources that are not less than 125 percent of
the Federal poverty level throughout the period of admission as a registered
provisional immigrant.
d.
EDUCATION
PERMITTED.— to satisfy this requirement
5. ENGLISH
SKILLS.— as set forth by INA ACT 312 or is satisfactorily pursuing a course of
study to achieve an understanding of English and knowledge and understanding of
the history and Government of the United States, as described in section
312(a).
6. BACK OF
THE LINE.—The status of a registered provisional immigrant may not be adjusted
to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residency until those aliens that
filed for permanent residency prior to the signing of this act have received
their adjustment of status.
----------------
END NOTE
* Border
Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
Section
3 Effective Date Trigger
(c)TRIGGERS.—
(1)
PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTERED PROVISIONAL IMMIGRANT STATUS.—Not
earlier than the date upon which the Secretary has submitted to Congress the
Notice of Commencement of implementation of the Comprehensive Southern Border
Security Strategy and the Southern Border Fencing Strategy under section 5 of
this Act, the Secretary may commence processing applications for registered
provisional immigrant status pursuant to section 245B of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, as added by section 2101 of this Act.
(2)
ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF REGISTERED PROVISIONAL IMMIGRANTS.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided in 8 subparagraph (B), the Secretary may not adjust
the status of aliens who have been granted registered provisional immigrant
status, except for aliens granted agriculture card status under section 2201 of
this Act or described in section 245D(b) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act, until the Secretary, after consultation with the Comptroller General of
the United States, submits to the President and Congress a written
certification that—
(i) the
Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy has been submitted to Congress
and is substantially deployed and substantially operational;
(ii) the
Southern Border Fencing Strategy has been submitted to Congress, implemented,
and is substantially completed;
(iii)
the Secretary has implemented a mandatory employment verification system
to be
used by all employers to prevent unauthorized workers from obtaining employment
in the United States; and
(iv) the
Secretary is using an electronic exit system at air and sea ports of entry that
operates by collecting machine readable visa or passport information from air
and vessel carriers.
(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary shall permit
registered provisional immigrants to apply for an adjustment to lawful
permanent resident status if—
(i)
(I)
litigation or a force majeure has prevented one or more of the conditions
described in clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A) from being
implemented; or
(II) the
implementation of subparagraph (A) has been held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States or
the Supreme Court has granted certiorari to the litigation on the
constitutionality of implementation of subparagraph (A); and
(ii) 10
years have elapsed since the date of the enactment of this Act.
