Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 21:08:04 GMT Server: WebSitePro/1.1h Accept-ranges: bytes Content-type: text/html Last-modified: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 18:14:26 GMT Content-length: 5932 Law Offices of Cyrus D. Mehta
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
December 5, 1997

PREPARED BY THE LAW OFFICES OF CYRUS D. MEHTA

Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate from Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, practices immigration law in New York City. He is the National Chair of the Young Lawyers Division of the American Immigration Lawyers Association for 1997-98 and frequently lectures on various immigration subjects at legal seminars, workshops and universities. He may be contacted at 212-686-1581 or cyrusmehta@aol.com.


PRESIDENT SIGNS CJS APPROPRIATIONS BILL:
AMENDED 245(i) PROGRAM TAKES EFFECT;
DESIGNATED FINGERPRINT SERVICES TO BE ELIMINATED

President Clinton Signs FY98 Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Bill:

The President on November 25, 1997 signed into law the FY98 Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary (CJS) Appropriations bill, thereby enacting the amended §245(i) program and beginning the countdown to the elimination of all Designated Fingerprinting Services (DFS).

Amended §245(i) Program:

The CJS bill contains the amended §245(i) program passed by both Houses of Congress in mid-November. The enactment of this legislation terminates the "old" §245(i) program temporarily extended in the Continuing Resolutions. The amended §245(i) program contained in the CJS bill does the following:

DFSs will be eliminated after December 3rd:

The CJS bill includes a provision that requires INS to assume all fingerprinting responsibility for naturalization and other benefits, and effectively eliminates all Designated Fingerprint Services (DFS). These provisions take effect after December 3, 1997, seven days after the CJS bill was signed. Applications postmarked after December 3 must include fingerprints taken by a new Application Support Center (for naturalization applications) or law enforcement agency (for other benefits), as explained below. Applicants who submit DFS prints after that date will be required to resubmit prints taken by an Application Support Center or law enforcement agency. For further information, please refer to our previous article "INS ANNOUNCES NEW NATURALIZATION PROCESS AND FINGERPRINT POLICY TO ENSURE INTEGRITY AND IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE".

New Application Support Centers for Naturalization Applications:

To fulfil this new fingerprinting function, the INS will be opening new fingerprinting facilities known as "Application Support Centers" (ASCs), separate from existing INS District Offices. All naturalization applicants will be required to have their fingerprints taken by an ASC. INS has announced that the first ASCs will open in the next several weeks in the following six metropolitan areas that account for about 70 percent of citizenship applications: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York and San Francisco. INS plans to open more than 80 ACSs nationwide over the next several months. In addition, INS announced it will dispatch mobile fingerprinting units to areas not easily accessible to an ASC, and to service applicants unable to get to an ASC (such as the homebound and elderly). A list of ASC sites will be posted on our web site as soon as it is released by INS.

Naturalization applicants under the new system will be required to be fingerprinted by the INS (at an ASC) after they have filed their application. After receiving a citizenship application, INS will send the applicant a letter that sets out a specific window of time during which the applicant should go to an ASC to have his or her fingerprints taken. INS has stated that this new system will ensure more accurate fingerprints and will reduce delays in the naturalization process caused by kickbacks of unreadable prints.

Law Enforcement Agencies for Other Benefits:

Initially, only naturalization applicants will have fingerprints taken at ASCs. Applicants for benefits other than naturalization will be required to have their prints taken by local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) that have registered with the INS. INS has indicated that, in light of the elimination of DFSs, an additional 250 LEAs have registered with the INS to take fingerprints. A list of LEAs will be posted as soon as it is released by INS. Local lists are also available at District Offices.

More information on the new fingerprinting procedures is available on the INS web site (http://www.ins.usdoj.gov).


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