Biden’s Immigration Plan for Undocumented Immigrants

One of President Joe Biden’s first acts is sending Congress a proposed sweeping immigration plan that includes an eight-year pathway to citizenship for approximately 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status.

The bill would allow undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. to apply for temporary legal status. After five years, those immigrants could apply for permanent legal status (green card). To qualify they must pass background checks, pay taxes and fulfill other basic requirements. After obtaining a green card it would be a three-year path to naturalization, if they decide to pursue citizenship. To apply, applicants must be physically present in the United State before January 2, 2021.

For those who are now under DACA or qualify for it, as well as agricultural workers and people under temporary protected status, the road could be even quicker.

Of course, this bill will have to be passed by Congress, and even though both the House and Senate have a Democratic majority, some Republicans will still need to be onboard in order for it to pass. So surely there will be bumps along the road and probably some adjustments. It will take time.

Nevertheless, there is reason for hope. If you –or loved ones– fall under this category, this would be a good time to start taking some important measures to enhance your –or their – probabilities of being accepted:

If you have not done so before, start keeping records of both your work history and tax filings. These are important!

“Good character”, which of course, includes not having any felonies is very important. But even though drug and alcohol abuse, DUIs, domestic violence, and similar may not count as felonies, they will reflect on you character and may affect your chances. If any of these have been issues for you, now is a good time to start cleaning up your act.

Consider hiring an immigration lawyer. Unfortunately, even when someone fulfills all the requirements, acceptance of an application isn’t always a given: Red tape, accidentally giving the wrong information – even mistakes within the system itself, can be detrimental. Having an experienced immigration lawyer who will advocate for you and make sure everything is done right is the best investment you can make – even more so when you have something in your past that may cause you problems. They can look into it and see if there is a legal way this can be resolved.

Why wait? Find out now if there is a way you can obtain legal status NOW. As mentioned, even though the new president is introducing this new bill now, there are no assurances as to when, if and how it will be passed. BUT, at our law offices, Solis Law, throughout the years we have discovered a path to legal status for many individuals who thought they didn’t have one. There are certain provisions under the law that many are not aware of.