New Immigration Law

President Obama proposed a new rule last week that would allow certain illegal immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses or parents to stay here while they apply for hardship waivers, the first step for many before they can submit applications for legal residency. Without waivers, illegal immigrants can be barred from reentering the U.S. for up to 10 years.

For many years, people with immigration issues have been hoping to see an immigration law reform or any type of new immigration law benefiting immigrants. Presidents in the past and current president Obama have been dealing with numerous immigration issues, new immigration policies, immigration reform or new immigration law that would affect many immigrants’ lives. President Obama finally came up with a proposal that attracted the attention of many immigrants waiting for a new immigration law and new immigration reform. It would be interesting to see when and how president Obama’s new immigration law will be implemented if it will ever be.

Under the current rule, those who seek waivers have to go to their native countries and wait for the applications to be processed by U.S. officials, which could take months or years.

The proposed rule — even though it could affect tens of thousands of immigrants — is limited. It doesn’t change the fact that to get waiver, families must prove that deportation would cause extreme hardship to the U.S. relative. And if they succeed in getting waivers, the immigrants still would have to return to their native countries to apply for green cards.

It’s uncertain how long it would take an individual to get a green card. But some attorneys say that with a hardship waiver, the waiting period could just be a few weeks.

The proposal angered Republicans, who accused Obama of bypassing Congress and passing a “back-door amnesty” through this and other recent changes.

Victoria, a U.S. citizen who lives in East Los Angeles, said she had hoped to marry her boyfriend of six years and petition for him to become a legal resident. But after an attorney told them that he would have to return to El Salvador to apply for the waiver and could get stuck there for 10 years, they decided to postpone a wedding and continue living together in California.

Under the new proposal, many immigrants might not have to leave the US while their waiver is being processed, which means that they can stay with their family in the US while their case is being processed.

Many people who have been waiting for a new law in immigration, new immigration reform and new immigration law are cautiously expecting this new proposal to become a new immigration policy or new immigration law anytime soon.

For more information, please contact Immigration Attorney, Phillip Kim, at (619) 752-5379 today.

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