Quite a few people are asking about whether there will be a new amnesty program or a change in policy that allows them to be here legally. At this point, no one is certain whether a new law will be passed by Congress or what it will end up looking like. Even though I do not know the specifics or even whether or not a law will pass, I am hopeful that something will be done this year for the millions of undocumented persons in the US--especially important for the Bronx community and surrounding NYC boroughs.
One thing is certain, once a new law does pass many people are going to be putting their documents together and trying to get ready to present their best application to USCIS. I tell anyone who asks that it is never too early to start looking for relevant documents and to start putting them together. If a comprehensive immigration reform law passes this year like we all hope it will, everyone will be scrambling to put those documents together.
What kinds of documents am I talking about? I suggest that people start to put these documents together:
- Pay stubs,
- Rent receipts,
- Tax returns & W2 forms,
- Bank statements,
- Western union receipts,
- Bills,
- Birth & marriage certificates
- Doctor’s records,
- Photo IDs,
- Government receipts and letters,
- Regular mail with your name and date sent on it,
- Anything relating to your immigration case, and
- Documents that have your name and date of birth on them
It is not clear how many years you may need to collect these types of documents for, so I would recommend putting them together for 10 years of presence in the US if possible. I hope to put up more helpful tips for preparation for the passage of a new immigration law this week.