U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Your Complete Guide, 2nd Revised Edition
~ Updates and Errata ~
December 2000
245(i) Extended!
Congress, on December 9, 2000, voted to restore immigration law Section 245(i) until April 30, 2001. Section 245(i) is the law that allows most applicants for permanent residence to have the USCIS interview them here, the process called "adjustment of status." By being interviewed here, out-of-status applicants avoid the three and ten year bars to permanent residence. You?ll get the 245i benefits so long as you have a relative petition, employment petition, or a labor certificate application pending before the April 30, 2001 deadline. If you start a case before April 30, 2001, we say that your 245(i) rights are "grandfathered."
Under USCIS interpretation of the 245(i) law, a grandfathered applicant can interview here no matter how he qualifies for residence. Suppose a U.S. citizen files for her sister prior to April 30, 2001. Due to a backlog in the quota for siblings of U.S. citizens, the sister may not qualify for permanent residence for 12 years or more. Once that time comes, the USCIS will interview her here.
Page 119 Oath Wavier for Disabled Citizenship
Applicants
Congress passed a law that allows the USCIS to waive the taking of the oath in naturalization cases. The law allows the waiver if the applicant is unable to understand, or communicate an understanding of, the oath?s meaning because of a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment. Under old law, a physically or mentally disabled person need not say the oath, but the applicant must at least have the ability to understand that he or she is accepting the responsibilities of citizenship. Now, even severely disabled people, unable to understand the oath, now qualify for naturalization.
Page 138 Major Change in Automatic Citizenship
Under recent Congressional amendments to the immigration and nationality act, a permanent resident child gets automatic (derivative) citizenship when only one parent naturalizes, even if the parent is married and the other parent is not a U.S. citizen. Under prior law, a child with married parents would have gotten automatic citizenship only when both parents naturalized. Where the child had only one citizen parent, the parent had to file for a certificate of citizenship for the child. That?s no longer required. Also, the old law didn?t give derivative citizenship to the permanent resident children of NATIVE U.S. citizens. The new law does. Under the new law, a child gets automatic citizenship where:
The child, (including adopted children) has at least one United States citizen parent (by birth or naturalization);
The child is under 18 years of age. To benefit the child must be under 18 on February 27, 2001.
The child is currently residing permanently in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the United States citizen parent;
The child is a lawful permanent resident.
A child who is under 18 who meets the above requirements will become a U.S. citizen on February 27, 2001.
Page 158 Visa Waiver Program Made Permanent
Congress have made the Visa Waiver Program Permanent