Schakowsky Opposes Proposed New Green Card Rule
| For Immediate Release: September 21, 2007 | Contact: Peter Karafotas (202) 226-6898 |
SCHAKOWSKY OPPOSES PROPOSED NEW GREEN CARD RULE | ||
Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) sent a letter yesterday to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to express her disapproval of a proposed rule that would require lawful permanent residents to renew green cards which have no expiration dates. The proposed rule could affect as many as 750,000 permanent residents who received green cards without expiration dates between 1979 and 1989. Schakowsky believes that the rule would place an unreasonable burden on lawful permanent residents. Under the proposed rule, permanent residents would be expected to pay $370 for renewing their green card and apply for a replacement card within 120 days. A copy of the letter is attached below. September 20, 2007
I am writing to express serious reservations regarding DHS Docket No. USCIS-2005-0056, which would require lawful permanent residents to renew green cards which have no expiration dates. It is my understanding that the proposed rule could affect as many as 750,000 permanent residents who received green cards that did not list expiration dates between 1979 and 1989. If this estimate is correct, I believe the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed rule places an unreasonable burden on residents who are already living in the United States legally. I have several concerns with the proposed rule. First, the required fee of $370, which lawful permanent residents must pay when submitting their application for renewal presents a new and unexpected cost. This amount of money is prohibitive to many legal low-income residents who simply cannot afford to incur such an expense. CIS should consider reducing or eliminating this fee altogether; especially since card holders of the green card in question have followed the letter of the law and are not at fault for the fact that their card has no expiration date. Second, the new regulation allows card holders only 120 days to apply for a replacement card. This simply is not enough time to inform the estimated 750,000 permanent residents of this proposal, some who have lived in this country for 18 years and have no idea that their green card must be renewed. I am especially concerned that while your office acknowledges that "extensive outreach program to alert the affected group... should be conducted, the ruling states only that this outreach program will be conducted by posting "program announcements and question-and-answer (Q&A) documents to the USCIS website;... and "distributing fliers and pamphlets at USCIS field offices.... This approach is not acceptable considering that residents needing to apply for renewal will have no reason to visit a USCIS field office or go to its website since they should have no reason to believe that their green card is about to expire. I hope that you will consider my concerns and I look forward to hearing back from you in a timely manner. Sincerely,
____________________________ |