Under President Obama’s immigration reform plan, more than 4 million undocumented immigrants will become eligible for temporary legal status. Many of them have started preparing their documents. Supporting documents they need to submit will depend on their situation and not all the applicants will be required to submit the same documents. They need to submit evidence to prove that they qualify for immigration benefits offered by the President.
Following are some supporting they need to collect before they file applications for temporary legal status under President Obama’s executive action.
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Immigration papers (if they initially entered into the U.S. on non-immigrant visas)
- School records
- GED certificates or diplomas they obtained
- Discharge papers from the U.S. armed forces (applies to those who have served in the U.S. military)
- Bank statements
- Tax records
Applicants need not limit themselves to the above documents and they can also submit other evidence that will help them prove that they are eligible for temporary legal status. Applicants for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) found creative ways and technology to supplement their DACA applications. They used Facebook posts, Tweets and pictures with date stamps to prove that they have been living here for many years and that they were present in the country on the date the DACA program was implemented. Similar to that, immigration authorities may accept other documents they submit to prove their eligibility for temporary legal status under Obama’s new order.
Curacao, one of the largest Hispanic retail department store chains, has announced that it will provide the immigrants seeking to apply for temporary legal status with secure information on the store’s databases acquired by it over the last 30 years. Secure information on the store’s databases will include store visit dates. This will help the undocumented immigrants prove that they have been living here for many years.
Those who had applied for credit at Curacao in the past, people who have unpaid old debts or inactive accounts can make use of this opportunity and contact one of the Curacao stores and request them to search their records. According to Ron Azarkman, Curacao’s CEO, the store will do its best to help undocumented immigrants acquire the documents needed to prove that they are eligible for temporary legal status under the new rule. Other stores in the U.S. are also likely to make announcements similar to Curacao and come forward to help the undocumented immigrants. Immigrants seeking to apply for legal status under the new rule need to watch out for such announcements that will help them acquire the required documents.