The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (USCIS) recently published a proposal to expand the forgiveness program that exists today.

This program began in 2013 and its main objective was to allow relatives of Americans to seek a pardon for being in the country without documents before starting the process to get legal immigration status citizens.

The closest relatives to accept the forgiveness program right now are parents, spouses and unmarried children under 21 years old.

However, under the new proposal, the USCIS wishes to extend to the families of not only American citizens but legal residents of the country forgiveness program.

Current forgiveness program has been well received by the immigrant population and other benefits including:

It lets ask forgiveness without having to leave the country by the barrier of immigrant 3-10 years of their illegal presence.

  1. significantly reduces the risk of not being able to return to the country if your application is denied.
  2. Reduces the separation of families when the immigrant has had to wait for your forgiveness in their country of origin.
  3. It includes not only the immediate family but the new proposal will also benefit employment-based petitions.
  4. It includes relatives of permanent residents in addition to American citizens.

Although it is true this new proposal is a hope in the right direction USCIS to include more immigrants in their forgiveness program, it is not yet formally established and still needs to demonstrate the extreme pain that his relatives would suffer due to separation.

The latter requirement is still quite difficult to prove so the services of an immigration attorney with experience in the preparation and application of forgiveness to ensure greater chance of success is considered indispensable.

For more information on this and other topics hear the program “The truth of the law” every day at 7:30 am and drop the application on your phone.

For questions about a case can be directed to our line in the cabin during the progam at 1-855-744-4744.

Attorney Stefan Latorre has offices in Charlotte, Monroe, Greensboro and Hickory in North Carolina; Columbia and Greenville in South Carolina and Jacksonville in Florida.