Bill is introduced to end penalty for citizenship

Rep. Ed Case (D-HI)

A bill to ensure that family members who have petitioned to immigrate to the United States are not penalized as a result of an award of citizenship to a sponsoring parent or spouse was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 23, according to the Federal Register.

Introducing the bill, Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) said: “If a legal resident sponsor of immigration applicants becomes a U.S. citizen, the petition he or she filed as a legal permanent resident is essentially moved from the second preference category to the first preference category with accompanying alteration of the category priority date.

“While this is not a problem for most, as the wait list for the first preference category is generally shorter, it has become a problem for some, primarily our families from the Philippines. It is here that, unfortunately, the quota for unmarried sons or daughters of American citizens is longer than that for unmarried sons and daughters of legal permanent residents.

“As a result, the wait time for some petitions is in fact lengthened, even though their preference status is improved,” he said in his speech in the House, according to the Federal Register.

Rep. Case said that his office had been involved in many cases in which constituents were “caught in a contradictory situation” because of the existing regulations.

Stating that the new bill would “end this unwitting penalty of citizenship and allow the approved petition, originally filed by a legal permanent resident, to keep that given priority date or place in line should a reclassification of a sponsor occur,” Rep. Case said: “This will ensure that a family member will not have to wait for a longer period just because his or her petitioner became a U.S. citizen.”

“We should not continue to penalize both those who we welcome to the responsibility of citizenship and their families. I urge the bill’s passage,” Rep. Case said.

(Compiled from the Federal Register

by Shibi Alex Chandy)