[pdf] T Visa and U Visa Adjustment to Lawful Permanent Residency Regulations (December 12, 2008) (+)

The Department of Homeland Security is amending its regulations to permit aliens in lawful T or U nonimmigrant status to apply for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident. This rule provides that family members of a principal T or U nonimmigrant granted or seeking adjustment of status may also apply for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident. This rule also
provides for adjustment of status or approval of an immigrant petition for certain family members of U applicants who were never admitted to the United States in U nonimmigrant status.

[pdf] LSC Proposed Regulation: Restrictions on Legal Assistance to Immigrants (2013) (+)

This proposed rule updates the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) regulation on legal assistance to immigrants. The proposed rule implements the Violence Against Women Act of (VAWA)2005 by creating a new anti-abuse path to legal representation by LSC funded agencies. This is the first update of the Legal Services regulations since 1997 and should be read together with the final regulations. These proposed rules, and their preamble, are an important part of the regulatory history of legal services access for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and other U visa criminal activities.

[pdf] Federal Register: New Classification for Victims of Criminal Activity for Eligibility for ‘‘U’’ Nonimmigrant Status (U Visa Regulations) (September 17, 2007) (+)

Federal Register for new classification for victims of criminal activity for the eligibility for ‘‘U’’ nonimmigrant status. This interim rule amends Department of Homeland Security regulations to establish the requirements and procedures for aliens seeking U nonimmigrant status. The U nonimmigrant classification is available to alien victims of certain criminal activity who assist government officials in investigating or prosecuting such criminal activity.

[pdf] Documentation of Nonimmigrants Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended- Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) (+)

This rule makes the final the interim rule amending the Department’s regulations pertaining to foreign students and exchange visitors who enter the United States in F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa categories. The new regulations will establish the verification and reporting procedures required by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) foreign student monitoring system known as Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

[pdf] Final Specification of Community Programs Necessary for Protection of Life or Safety Under Welfare Reform Legislation (January 16, 2001) (+)

This publication contains the final version of the Attorney General’s Order which was issued pursuant to sections 401 and 411 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The Order specifies the types of community programs, services, or assistance for which all aliens remain eligible. This publication also responds to comments submitted regarding the Order.

[pdf] Federal Register: Proposed Asylum Regulations (+)

This rule proposes to amend the Immigration and Naturalization Service regulations that govern establishing asylum and withholding eligibility. This rule provides guidance on the definitions of “persecution” and “membership in a particular social group,” as well as what it means for a persecution to be “on account of” a protected characteristic in the definition of a refugee.

[pdf] Guidance on the Interpretation of “Federal Public Benefits” Under the Welfare Reform Law (June 15, 1999) (+)

This is a memo pertaining to the revisions on the guidance on the interpretation of “Federal Public Benefits” under the Welfare Reform Law. Its purpose is to amend advice given to Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grantees about the definition of “Federal Public Benefits” for non-qualified aliens under the 1996 Welfare Reform Law for Health and Human Services (HHS) programs, as it applies to use of LIHEAP funds for weatherization of multi-unit buildings.

[pdf] Field Guidance on Deportability and Inadmissibility on Public Charge (March 26, 1999) (+)

The Department of Justice is publishing a proposed rule in this issue of the Federal Register which proposes to establish clear standards governing a determination that an alien is inadmissible or ineligible to adjust status, or has become deportable, on public charge grounds. Before the proposed rule becomes final, the Immigration and Naturalization Service is publishing its field guidance on public charge issues as an attachment to this notice. This will help alleviate public confusion over the meaning of the term “public charge” in immigration law and its relationship to the receipt of Federal, State, and local public benefits. This field guidance will provide aliens with better guidance as to the types of public benefits that will and will not be considered in public charge determination.

[pdf] HHS: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA); Interpretation of “Federal Public Benefit” (August 4, 1998) (+)

This notice with comment period interprets the term “Federal public benefit” as used in Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), Pub. L. 104-193, and identifies the HHS programs that provide such benefits under this interpretation. According to section 401 of PRWORA, aliens who are not “qualified aliens” are not eligible for any “Federal public benefit,” unless the “Federal public benefit” falls within a specific exception. A “Federal public benefit” includes “any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license” provided to an individual, and also “any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public, or assisted housing, post-secondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit.” Under section 432, providers of a non-exempt “Federal public benefit” must verify that a person applying for the benefit is a qualified alien and is eligibile to receive the benefit.

[pdf] Guidance on Standards and Methods for Determining Whether a Substantial Connection Exists Between Battery or Extreme Cruelty and Need for Specific Public Benefits (December 11, 1997) (+)

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, provides that certain categories of aliens who have been subjected to battery or extreme cruelty in the United States are “qualified aliens” eligible for certain federal, state, and local public benefits. To be qualified under this provision, an alien must demonstrate, among other things, that there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the need for the public benefit sought. This notice provides guidance to benefit providers regarding substantial connection determinations.

[pdf] Interim Guidance on Verification of Citizenship, Qualified Alien Status, and Eligibility Under Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (November 17, 1997) (+)

Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (“PRWORA”) requires the Attorney General, by February 1998, to promulgate regulations requiring verification that an applicant for federal public benefits is a qualified alien eligible to receive federal public benefits under the Act. Amendments to the PRWORA by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 also require the Attorney General, within the same time period, to establish fair and nondiscriminatory procedures for applicants to provide proof of citizenship. Amendments to the PRWORA by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 require the Attorney General, by November 3, 1997, to issue interim verification guidance that sets forth procedures that benefit providers can use to verify citizenship, qualified alien status, and eligibility under Title IV of the PRWORA prior to issuance of the final regulations. In accordance with this last statutory requirement, the Attorney General, in consultation with federal benefit-granting agencies, has developed this interim guidance.

[pdf] Request for Comments on the Attorney General’s Specification of Community Programs Necessary for the Protection of Life or Safety Under the Welfare Reform Act (+)

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 vests in the Attorney General the authority to specify non-means-tested, government-funded community programs, services, or assistance that are necessary for the protection of life or safety and for which all aliens remain eligible. On August 23, 1996, the Attorney General issued an Order implementing that authority and making a “provisional specification.” Before the provisional specification is finalized, the Department is publishing this notice to solicit the input of federal, state, and local agencies operating programs or providing services or assistance that may be covered by that Order.

[pdf] 1997 LSC Kennedy Amendment Regulations (+)

This final rule revises the Legal Services Corporation’s (“LSC”) rules regarding representation of immigrants. The revisions implement a statutory provision included in the Corporation’s FY 1997 appropriations act, which permits the use of a recipient’s non-LSC funds for legal assistance to otherwise ineligible immigrants who are the victims of domestic abuse.

[pdf] Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA); Interpretation of “Federal Means-Tested Public Benefit” (August 21, 1997) (+)

This notice with comment period interprets the term “Federal means-tested public benefit[s]” as used in title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), Pub. L. 104-193, to include only mandatory spending programs of the Federal Government in which eligibility for the programs’ benefits, or the amount of such benefits, or both, are determined on the basis of income or resources of the eligibility unit seeking the benefit. At HHS, the benefit program programs that fall within this definition (and are not explicitly excepted from the definition by Section 403(c)) are Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

[pdf] Determination of Situations that Demonstrate a Substantial Connection Between Battery or Extreme Cruelty and Need for Specific Public Benefits (July 24, 1997) (+)

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, provides that certain categories of aliens who have been subjected to battery or extreme cruelty in the United States are “qualified aliens” eligible for certain federal, state, and local public benefits. To be qualified under this provision, an alien must demonstrate, among other things, that there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the need for the public benefit sought.The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, provides that certain categories of aliens who have been subjected to battery or extreme cruelty in the United States are “qualified aliens” eligible for certain federal, state, and local public benefits. To be qualified under this provision, an alien must demonstrate, among other things, that there is a substantial connection between the battery or extreme cruelty and the need for the public benefit sought. Through this notice, the Attorney General declares what circumstances demonstrate such a substantial connection.

[pdf] VAWA Self-Petitioning Regulations – Interim Rule (March 26, 1996) (+)

Federal Register: Petition to Classify Alien a s Immediate Relative of a United States Citizen or as a Preference Immigrant; Self-Petitioning for Certain Battered or Abused Spouses and Children. This interim rule amends the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“the Service”) regulations to allow a spouse or child to seek immigrant classification if he or she has been battered by, or subjected to extreme cruelty committed by, the citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent. It also permits a spouse to seek classification if his or her child has been battered by, or subjected to extreme cruelty committed by, the citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse. A
qualified spouse or child who is living in the United States but is not a permanent resident may use the procedures established by this rule to self-petition for immigrant classification.