Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929
This bill rewrites the registry provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) at Section 249 to broaden who can access the registry benefit. It replaces the old requirement that qualified individuals must have "entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972" with a broader standard that applies to “long-term residents of the United States.” It also changes the eligibility test to require that an applicant “entered the United States at least 7 years before the application date.” The changes take effect 60 days after enactment. In short, more people who have lived in the U.S. for a long time would be able to use the registry pathway to obtain the benefit under Section 249, which is commonly a route to lawful permanent residency (green card) through a long-term residence status.
Key Points
- 1The bill renames and reframes Section 249 (Registry) to apply to “long-term residents of the United States” rather than those who entered before a specific date.
- 2The eligibility standard is updated to require that the person entered the U.S. at least 7 years before the date of their application.
- 3The existing registry mechanism remains, but the pool of eligible individuals is widened beyond those who entered before 1972.
- 4The effective date of the changes is 60 days after enactment of the bill.
- 5The bill is titled “Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929” and has been introduced in the House with referral to the Judiciary Committee.