A new bill before Congress would restore the 1929 Immigration Act of establishing a rolling eligibility date for the registry. Thus, allowing individuals who have lived in and contributed to the United States for many years to access this lawful pathway to permanent status and, ultimately, citizenship. According to the bill sponsors,
“As many as 8.3 million individuals could be initially eligible to adjust status if the registry date is advanced to January 1, 2016, including 7.3 million individuals who are undocumented and who have lived in the U.S. for 19 years on average.”
The proposed bill seeks to update the date of eligibility to January 1st, 2019. Under the existing regulations, eligibility for immigration registry requires individuals to have entered and stayed in America since January 1st, 1972.
On March 9, 2023, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Representative Lou Corea (D-CA) presented a new immigration registry bill titled “Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929” with 48 other original co-sponsors. The Registry Act of 1929 enabled immigrants to apply for permanent residence in the U.S. if they had arrived before 1921 and met certain requirements. This legislation has been amended on multiple occasions, most recently in 1986 when the cutoff date was changed to January 1, 1972, known as the 1986 Amnesty Act.
In proposing the bill to restore the 1929 Immigration Act, Corea said:
“So if you’re an undocumented person in the US and you got here before 1972, you can apply to change your status — that is, trying to apply for a legal green card. It’s not automatic, but you get it. And what our bill does is simply updates that date to 2015.
We need immigrants. Right now we have, 10, 11 million undocumented workers in the United States. Fifty percent of all farmworkers are undocumented. We need more farm workers.
Every day, the U.S. Chamber calls me and says we need workers. Every day, small businesses call me and say we need workers. How do we fill those jobs we need to fill in the United States?”
Godoy Law Office has offices in Oak Brook, Illinois, serving clients in all 50 states.
We can help ensure you correctly complete every step of your naturalization application to become an American citizen. We will work to provide the best opportunity for a successful outcome. A skilled immigration attorney can put their experience to work for you to achieve your American Dream. If you need help with an immigration issue, please contact our office at 630-912-0322.
