23.14 Adjustment of Status for Certain Syrian Nationals Granted Asylum (Public Law 106-378). (Added AD01-29).

(a) Eligibility .

Public Law 106-378 provides for the adjustment of status of a principal alien as well as an alien who is the spouse, child, or unmarried son or daughter of a principal alien.

(1) Principal alien .

In order to be eligible for adjustment under this law, the principal alien must:

(A) Be a Jewish national of Syria;

(B) Have arrived in the United States after December 31, 1991, after being permitted by the Syrian government to depart from Syria;

(C) Be physically present in the United States at the time of filing the application to adjust status;

(D) Apply for adjustment of status under Public Law 106-378 no later than October 26, 2001, or, have applied for adjustment of status under another provision of law prior to October 27, 2000, and request to have the basis of that application changed to Public Law 106-378;

(E) Have been physically present in the United States for at least one year after being granted asylum;

(F) Not be firmly resettled in any foreign country; and

(G) Be admissible as an immigrant under the Act at the time of examination for adjustment of status.

(2) Dependant spouse, children, or unmarried sons or daughters .

The dependant spouse, child, or unmarried son or daughter of an eligible Syrian national may also adjust status under Public Law 106-378 if he or she meets the requirements of (D), (E), (F) and (G) as listed above. While the dependent must be in the United States in order to apply for adjustment of status, and must have been in asylee status for at least one year, the dependent need not have entered before December 31, 1991 or any other specific date, need not be a national of Syria, and need not be Jewish . (NOTE: If the dependent is not in the United States, he or she may not benefit from the provisions of Public Law 106-378. Instead, if the overseas dependent is either the spouse or child (unmarried and under age 21) of the principal applicant, the principal applicant should be advised that he or she may file Form I-730 on behalf of such overseas dependent. There is no provision in Pub. L. 106-378 for the issuance of an immigrant visa to either a principal alien or a dependent who is outside the United States.)

(b) Filing Information .

(1) Application and fees .

Eligible Syrian nationals have 2 filing options: (A) Filing a new application, or (B) Requesting that the basis of a pending application for adjustment of status be converted to Public Law 106-378.

(A) New applications .

Eligible Syrian nationals must file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, with all associated forms and filing fees or fee waiver requests, unless otherwise stated in this memorandum. Applicants must submit a $25 fingerprinting service fee. New applications must be received by the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) on or before close of business on October 26, 2001. Applicants are instructed to mark “ SYRIAN ASYLEE P. L. 106-378 ” on the outside of their envelopes.

(B) Forms I-485 already pending .

(i) Pending Applications Filed prior to October 27, 2000 .

Eligible Syrian nationals who filed an application for adjustment of status with INS prior to October 27, 2000, on another basis of law are also eligible to request that the basis for their application for adjustment of status be converted to Public Law 106-378. These requests also must be submitted to the NSC, and there is no filing deadline for the request . Applicants are instructed to mark “ SYRIAN ASYLEE P. L. 106-378 ” on the outside of their envelopes. Since there is a limit of 2,000 adjustments under this law, applicants have been instructed to make this request as soon as possible.

(ii) Pending Applications Filed on or after October 27, 2000 .

Eligible Syrian nationals who filed an application for adjustment of status with INS on or after October 27, 2000, on another basis of law are also eligible to request that the basis for their application for adjustment of status be converted to Public Law 106-378 following the same procedures as (2)(A) above. Under the terms of the statute, these requests are considered to be new applications, and as such, must be submitted to the NSC prior to October 26, 2001 .

In any case, if an applicant makes this request and the pending application and/or the associated A-File is not located at the NSC, the NSC should request the A-File prior to adjudicating the application.

(iii) Simultaneous Filing .

An applicant with Form I-485 already pending may choose the option of filing a new Form I-485 with the NSC based on Public Law 106-378 instead of making a request for conversion. Such an applications must be submitted as a new application under paragraph (A) above.

(2) Medical . Each applicant is subject to the medical examination requirement as set forth in 8 CFR 245.5.

(c) Adjudication Criteria .

(1) Jewish National of Syria .

The applicant fulfills this requirement if line 16 of the applicant’s asylum claim lists his or her religion as Jewish. If that information is not available, USCIS may accept the applicant’s claim that he or she is Jewish. No proof other than the information found on the application for asylum or the applicant’s own statement may be requested for this requirement. For proof of Syrian nationality, the Service will accept standard evidence, for example, a passport or birth certificate.

(2) Arrived in the United States after 12/31/91, after Being Permitted by the Syrian Government to Depart from Syria .

USCIS will accept standard evidence, for example, a passport or I-94, as proof of arrival. USCIS systems such as USCIS or RAPS may also contain the date of arrival and can be utilized as proof.

(3) Admissibility .

An applicant must be admissible as an immigrant at time of examination. An applicant may request any waiver found at 212(g), (h), (i), and (k) of the Act, to the extent that he or she is eligible for the waiver. Additionally, the ground of inadmissibility at section 212(a)(4) of the Act, relating to public charge, is automatically waived. (NOTE: Although the alien has been granted asylee status, since he or she is applying for adjustment under Pub. L. 106-378 and not under section 209 of the Act, he or s he is not eligible for the more generous waiver provisions of section 209(c) of the Act.)

(4) Visa numbers .

No visa numbers should be assigned to those Syrian nationals whose status is adjusted under Public Law 106-378. The appropriate adjustment code (see below) should be used on the I-181.

(5) Date of adjustment .

A date one year prior to the date of approval is used as the date of adjustment on the I-181. The notation referring to Public Law 106-378 should be made on the Form I-181 as the law under which the adjustment occurred.

(6) Decision .

(A) New applications .

(i) If an applicant is eligible for adjustment of status under Public Law 106-378, USCIS should adjust the applicant under Public Law 106-378 and subtract one from the 2,000 limit.

(ii) If an applicant is ineligible for adjustment of status under Public Law 106-378, USCIS should deny the application.

(B) Applicants with pending applications .

(i) If an applicant is eligible for adjustment of status under both Public Law 106-378 and section 209 of the Act, USCIS should adjust the applicant under Public Law 106-378 and subtract one from the 2,000 limit.

(ii) If an applicant is ineligible for adjustment of status under Public Law 106-378, USCIS should examine the reason for the alien’s ineligibility. If the reason does not also make the alien ineligible to adjust status under section 209 of the Act, USCIS should provide the applicant with notice (1) that he or she is ineligible under Public Law 106-378, and (2) that the Form I-485 will be returned to the queue for asylum-based adjustment.

(iii) If an applicant is ineligible for adjustment of status under both Public Law 106-378 and section 209 of the Act, the pending Form I-485 should be denied.

(d) New Adjustment Codes .

Applications adjusted under the provisions of Public Law 106- 378 must be identified by a separate immigrant adjustment code recently created for this kind of asylee. Use of a distinct immigrant code enables the NSC to count the number of Syrian asylees who adjust. The new immigrant codes used for the adjustment of the Syrian asylees are as follows:

CODE	DESCRIPTION
SY6	Syrian national who was granted asylum and adjusts to permanent resident status under Public Law 106-378
SY7	Syrian national spouse of a principal SY6 applicant, who was adjusted to permanent resident status under Public Law 106-378.
SY8	Syrian national child or unmarried son or daughter of a principal SY6 applicant, who was adjusted to permanent resident status under Public Law 106-378.

Note:

The codes SY7 and SY8 apply only to spouses, children or unmarried sons or daughters of a principal Syrian asylee. These individuals adjust as dependent family members and count toward the 2,000 limitation stipulated in Public Law 106-378.

(e) Required Field Office Action .

Field offices are to identify all potentially eligible Syrian asylee adjustment applications and forward them and the related A-files to NSC within 30- days of this memorandum. The appropriate code, “SY6, SY7 or SY8” and reference to Public Law 106-378 must be noted. A-files are to be routed to the NSC in separate batches, with individual cover sheets attached to the outside face of each file reflecting “ SYRIAN ASYLEE P. L. 106-378 ” . If, for whatever reason, a field office cannot accomplish this goal, they are to provide a report to their respective region identifying each case, explaining the reason(s), and advising the anticipated date of completion of the A-file transfer. Regions are requested to review the report and take appropriate action.

(f) Service Center Action on Approved Asylee Applications .

The NSC must review all asylum adjustment cases received via Direct Mail as well as all cases forwarded to them from the field to cull out those Syrian nationals whose applications contain evidence of Syrian nationality, arrival in the United States after December 31, 1991, and a grant of asylum or asylee dependent status. The NSC must also retrieve A-files belonging to qualifying Syrian applicants inappropriately coded as “AS” adjustments, and take corrective action. A list containing the names of Syrian asylees has already been provided to the NSC to help in this regard. The NSC will also track the total number of cases approved. After the NSC approves 2,000 principal beneficiaries under this law, the NSC will stop adjudicating applications, and will notify HQ ISD and HQ ADN that the numerical limitation has been reached.

(g) Supplemental Filing Instructions .

The Form I-485 supplemental filing instructions are being modified to instruct qualified applicants to identify themselves by writing “ SYRIAN ASYLEE P. L. 106-378 ” in Part 2, Block 2. Since many qualified Syrian asylees may be unaware of their special classification or the correct way to claim it, the NSC should review all newly submitted asylee adjustment applications, and, when appropriate, endorse the Form I-485 as described above. When an applicant’s eligibility to adjust under Public Law 106-378 has been verified, the adjudicator will check the “other” block in the “Section of Law” portion of the FOR INS USE ONLY Section of Form I-485 and will enter the notati on, “ Public Law 106-378 . ”

(h) Conclusion .

Segregating the Syrian asylum adjustments for proper adjudication is essential to preserve the use of the 10,000 visa numbers authorized annually for other asylees who are eligible to adjust their status. If you have questions regarding the adjudication of Syrian-processed asylum adjustments, please contact your center or regional representative.