President Obama addressed the nation tonight and has laid out a plan for executive actions on immigration allowing some individuals to stay in the US, work legally, and not fear deportation.
The President still wants to work with Congress regarding comprehensive immigration reform that he believes is common-sense and helps our country to be a better place.
The plan that he outlined tonight will include:
- An expansion of deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) to include a larger class of individuals who arrived to the US as children. Eligibility will be expanded to cover those who entered the US before the age of 16 and before January 1, 2010. The relief will expand to 3 years instead of 2 and there is no age limit.
- Parents of US citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident children will be eligible for deferred action as well and will be eligible for work authorization. They will have to have been in the US for at least 5 years. Have children as of today who are US citizens or lawful permanent residents and have no other factors that would make them ineligible.
- I-601A waivers that allow individuals with unlawful presence to get a waiver approval here in the US before traveling to their home country for their immigrant visa interview will be expanded to include spouses and children of lawful permanent residents. Previously this was only for spouses and children of US citizens.
Additional priorities include strengthening border security, replacing the "secure communities" program, promoting citizenship, revising deportation policies among others. Find a full list of the announced reform here: http://www.dhs.gov/immigration-action
Please note that there is nothing to file for as of today 11/20/2014 and beware of scammers that will charge you for a process that is not yet available. There may be a process in place if you qualify in early 2015. You should work with a skilled immigration lawyer or nonprofit when possible for the best outcome in your case.
