Dear Atty. Lou, I am writing this letter for my cousin who lives in Texas. She came here to the U S in 1986 on a tourist visa. She filed for LULAC in 1989 through an attorney in Los Angeles CA. She got a 2 year temporary work permit and when it expired, she went to the INS office in Texas but she was told her name was not in the system. She was issued a parole visa to go home to the Philippines in 1991 and was able to come back. She lost her passport and temp green card when she went home so she got new passport and her parole visa was all she had coming back here so she never was able to follow up on her case anymore since then. She wants to know if maybe she got her immigrant visa but moved so she never got it. My cousin called her former attorney in Los Angeles and was told she did not reach the quota. Does that mean she is out of status since then or maybe there is a way to find out if her name is still in the system? She’s thinking of marrying her live-in US citizen boyfriend of 8 years to legalize her status but she does not know the procedure. Thank you kindly for any assistance you can give her. Cousin N Dear Cousin N, The legalization under Section 245A of the Immigration Nationality was for those who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and resided continuously in US in unlawful status since Janaury 1, 1982 and through the date of the application. If the applicants were in the US before January 1982 and left thereafter, they had an opportunity to apply for legalization if they can prove that were in the US before January 1982. This was the decision in the case of League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)v. INS extending the filing of legalization beyond 1988 in limited circumstances. Although this legalization was enacted more than twenty (20) years ago, there are still class members or applicants who are still in limbo about their immigration status. Your cousin’s case is one of these applicants. Unless she can show that she was in the US before 1982 she may not have been eligible for green card based on legalization provisions or LULAC. Applicants under this legalization were granted temporary work authorization and travel documents while their application is pending. This is the reason why your cousin was able to travel to the Philippines. The information you provided is lacking to enable me to assess whether your cousin was eligible under the LULAC case. If you want more information from the immigration service, she may request under the Freedom of Information Act. As regards her marriage to her US citizen fiancé, this may be another way of obtaining her immigrant visa. She must possess proof though that was validly admitted and inspected during her last entry to the US. I hope this information is helpful. Atty. Lou *(Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq is a partner at the Tancinco Law Offices, a Professional Law Corp. Her office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 818, San Francisco CA 94102 and may be reached at 415.397.0808; email at law@tancinco.com or check their website at tancinco.weareph.com/old. The content provided in this column is solely for informational purpose only and do not create a lawyer-client relationship. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. This column does not disclose any confidential or classified information acquired in her capacity as legal counsel. Consult with an attorney before deciding on a course of action. You can submit questions to law@tancinco.com
