USCIS Issues Memo on INA Section 245(k)
Posted Jul 31, 2008
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The USCIS recently released a memo interpreting the provisions of section 245(k) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This section applies to most employment-based adjustment of status (I-485) filings. It allows applicants to overcome certain prohibitions against eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence for violations of immigration law, where the violations total 180 days or less. This can be an extremely helpful provision, as many applicants have brief periods of inadvertent violations due to misunderstandings of the law and mistakes of many varieties. The provision is not new; it was established in a law passed in November 1997.
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The detailed memo interprets the provision, including the applicability, issues of how violations are counted and aggregated, and the method of counting days of unauthorized employment. Since this is an important and frequently-used provision, the subtle differences in interpretation can be very significant. We will be analyzing the memo in detail and providing further explanation in a future issue of the MurthyBulletin.