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The bill would create an earned adjustment program for long-term undocumented immigrants and provide an opportunity for illegal aliens and their families to become invested stakeholders in the country if they can demonstrate that they have met all of the following requirements:
• Passed national security and criminal background checks;
• Resided in the U.S. for at least 5 years preceding the date of introduction;
• Worked a minimum of 3 years in the U.S. preceding the date of introduction, and 6 years after the date of enactment;
• Paid all federal and state taxes;
• Registered for Military Selective Service;
• Demonstrated knowledge of English language and American civics requirements;
• Paid a $2,000 fine, in addition to required application fees.
Those aliens who cannot prove the 5-year residency or 3-year pre-introduction work requirements for earned adjustment would be given “deferred mandatory departure status.” This status would authorize them to stay and work in the U.S. for 3 years, but would require them to return home to apply for a visa and then be readmitted through legal channels. This provision seeks to distinguish between immigrants who have long-term ties to the U.S. and those who are recent arrivals. An alien in deferred mandatory departure status could apply for readmission as an immigrant or nonimmigrant while still in the U.S. or from any location outside the U.S., but would not be granted admission until he or she had actually departed the U.S.
To reduce the existing backlog of visa applications from family members of U.S. citizens and legal residents, this legislation would exempt immediate family members from existing caps on family-based immigrant visas. This exemption only applies to the spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens, and the spouses and children of legal residents.