INS: Information on Aliens Applying for Permanent Resident Status (Fact
Sheet, 06/08/95, GAO/GGD-95-162FS).
This fact sheet provides information on aliens applying to the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to adjust their status to
lawful permanent residents. Recent legislation allows aliens who
entered without inspection, worked illegally, or overstayed their visas
to apply for permanent resident status without leaving the country. GAO
provides data on (1) the number of aliens applying for permanent
resident status under the legislation, (2) revenue that has been
received as a result of these aliens' applications, (3) denial rates for
these applications, and (4) the impact of these applications on INS'
workload.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: GGD-95-162FS
TITLE: INS: Information on Aliens Applying for Permanent Resident
Status
DATE: 06/08/95
SUBJECT: Citizenship
Resident aliens
Immigrants
Immigration and naturalization law
Immigration or emigration
Illegal aliens
Refugees
Naturalization
IDENTIFIER: Los Angeles (CA)
Phoenix (AZ)
San Francisco (CA)
Seattle (WA)
Hawaii
Anchorage (AK)
**************************************************************************
* This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a GAO *
* report. Delineations within the text indicating chapter titles, *
* headings, and bullets are preserved. Major divisions and subdivisions *
* of the text, such as Chapters, Sections, and Appendixes, are *
* identified by double and single lines. The numbers on the right end *
* of these lines indicate the position of each of the subsections in the *
* document outline. These numbers do NOT correspond with the page *
* numbers of the printed product. *
* *
* No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although figure *
* captions are reproduced. Tables are included, but may not resemble *
* those in the printed version. *
* *
* A printed copy of this report may be obtained from the GAO Document *
* Distribution Facility by calling (202) 512-6000, by faxing your *
* request to (301) 258-4066, or by writing to P.O. Box 6015, *
* Gaithersburg, MD 20884-6015. We are unable to accept electronic orders *
* for printed documents at this time. *
**************************************************************************
Cover
================================================================ COVER
Fact Sheet for the Honorable
Dana Rohrabacher,
House of Representatives
June 1995
INS - INFORMATION ON ALIENS
APPLYING FOR PERMANENT RESIDENT
STATUS
GAO/GGD-95-162FS
Permanent Resident Status
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
x - x
INS - Immigration and Naturalization Service
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-261313
June 8, 1995
The Honorable Dana Rohrabacher
House of Representatives
Dear Mr. Rohrabacher:
This fact sheet responds to your request for information on aliens
applying to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to
adjust their status to lawful permanent residents. The fiscal year
1995 Department of Justice appropriation act amended the Immigration
and Nationality Act of 1952 by adding subsection 245(i), which
permits certain aliens (e.g., those aliens in the following
categories: entered without inspection, worked illegally, or
overstayed their visa) to apply for permanent resident status without
leaving the country.\1
We agreed with your office to obtain data on the (1) number of aliens
applying for permanent resident status under this amendment, (2)
revenue that has been received as a result of these aliens'
applications, (3) denial rates for these applications, and (4) impact
of these applications on INS' workload. We agreed to provide these
data, where available, for INS' Western, Central, and Eastern regions
and for the Western Region's district offices. To meet our
objectives, we obtained permanent resident status application data
from INS Headquarters and its Western Region and discussed the impact
of the amendment with INS headquarters and Western Region officials,
including officials we visited in the region's Los Angeles and
Phoenix district offices. We did not verify the data INS provided to
us.
We performed our work between February and May 1995. We provided a
draft of this fact sheet to the Attorney General for oral comments.
On May 17, 1995, we met with Justice officials, who represented the
Department, including the Chief, INS Operations and Support Programs
Branch. The officials generally agreed with the information in this
fact sheet and provided clarification and technical corrections,
which we have incorporated where appropriate.
--------------------
\1 Public Law 103-317, 8 U.S.C. 1255(i).
BACKGROUND
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1
Aliens who legally enter the United States may apply to INS to change
their status to lawful permanent residents.\2 The aliens are to file
an application (Form I-485) with INS and pay a processing fee of
$130. In fiscal year 1994, before the 1995 amendment, 202,911 aliens
(an average of about 16,900 per month) applied for permanent resident
status. Under the 1995 amendment, aliens, who for example entered
without inspection, may apply for permanent resident status without
leaving the United States. Before the amendment, those aliens had to
leave the country and apply for permanent resident status while
outside of the United States.
Aliens who apply for permanent resident status under subsection
245(i) also are to file a Form I-485 and pay the $130 processing fee;
however, these aliens must pay an additional $650 supplemental fee
(for a total of $780).\3 Certain dependents of legalized aliens and
children under the age of 17 are exempt from paying the $650
supplemental fee. Subsection 245(i) became effective in October 1994
and remains in effect through September 1997.
The revenue from the fees is to be deposited into the Immigration
Examinations Fee Account.\4 This account also contains revenue from
fees INS collects for processing other applications and petitions for
immigration benefits. Fee revenue is to be used for expenses in
providing immigration adjudication and naturalization services and in
collecting, safeguarding, and accounting for fees. INS collects fees
and processes applications at 4 service centers and 33 district
offices.
--------------------
\2 8 U.S.C. 1255.
\3 Subsection 245(i) authorizes aliens who were previously barred
under subsection 245 to apply for permanent resident status.
Subsection 245(i) also requires aliens to pay a sum of five times the
fee required for processing of applications. This is in addition to
the application processing fee, which is now $130.
\4 8 U.S.C. 1356(m).
RESULTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2
From October 1, 1994, to February 24, 1995, 175,940 aliens\5
applied for permanent resident status, as shown in table 1. Of
those, 79,423 (approximately 15,900 per month) filed applications
under subsection 245(i). These subsection 245(i) applications
represented 45 percent of all applications for permanent resident
status from October 1994 to February 1995. Of the 79,423 subsection
245(i) applications, 18,792 (24 percent) were exempt from the $650
supplemental fee.
Table 1
Legal Alien and Subsection 245(i)
Permanent Resident Status Applications
Received, by INS Region, October 1,
1994, Through February 24, 1995
Exempt Percent
Subsection subsection subsection
Legal alien 245(i) 245(i) 245(i)
Region applications applications\a applications Total applications
------ ------------ -------------- -------------- ======== ----------------
Wester 23,683 29,471 8,235 53,154 55%
n
Centra 17,736 17,930 5,874 35,666 50
l
Easter 55,098 32,022 4,683 87,120 37
n
================================================================================
Total 96,517 79,423 18,792 175,940 45%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a These numbers include those aliens who were exempt from paying the
$650 supplemental fee.
Source: INS.
As shown in table 1, INS received 96,517 legal alien applications.
For the same 5-month period in fiscal year 1994, it received 81,424
legal alien applications. The increase between the two 5-month
periods was about 20 percent.
As shown in table 2, the number of all permanent resident status
applications received monthly in the Central and Eastern regions
increased from October 1994 to December 1994, peaked in December
1994, declined in January 1995, and increased in February 1995. As
shown in table 3, this same trend occurred for the subsection 245(i)
applications.
Table 2
Number of All Permanent Resident Status
Applications Received, by Month, October
1, 1994, Through February 24, 1995
Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
Region 1994 1994 1994 1995 1995 Total
----------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ =======
Western 10,172 10,291 15,787 9,356 7,548 53,154
Central 4,507 6,989 9,011 7,516 7,643 35,666
Eastern 12,703 17,976 21,317 16,290 18,834 87,120
============================================================
Total 27,382 35,256 46,115 33,162 34,025 175,940
------------------------------------------------------------
Note: These numbers include legal alien and subsection 245(i)
applications.
Source: INS.
Table 3
Number of Subsection 245(i) Applications
Received, by Month, October 1, 1994,
Through February 24, 1995
Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb.
Region 1994 1994 1994 1995 1995 Total
----------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ =======
Western 6,113 5,544 7,524 5,351 4,939 29,471
Central 1,463 3,727 4,824 3,549 4,367 17,930
Eastern 2,751 7,017 7,812 6,168 8,274 32,022
============================================================
Total 10,327 16,288 20,160 15,068 17,580 79,423
------------------------------------------------------------
Note: These numbers include those aliens who were exempt from paying
the $650 supplemental fee.
Source: INS.
As shown in table 4, the estimated revenue from the application fees
for this period was $61.7 million, of which subsection 245(i)
application fee revenue accounted for $49.1 million (80 percent).
Also, the trend of the fee revenue received was similar to the trend
for all permanent resident status applications received during this
period. That is, revenue received peaked in December 1994 and
declined in January 1995.
Table 4
Legal Alien and Subsection 245(i)
Applications Fee Revenue Received, by
Month, October 1, 1994, Through February
24, 1995
(Dollars in millions)
Percent
Legal Subsection subsection
Month aliens 245(i) Total 245(i)
-------------------- ------ ---------- ====== ----------
Oct. 1994 $2.2 $7.1 $9.3 76%
Nov. 1994 2.5 10.4 12.9 81
Dec. 1994 3.4 12.3 15.7 78
Jan. 1995 2.4 8.9 11.3 79
Feb. 1995 2.1 10.4 12.6 83
============================================================
Total $12.6 $49.1 $61.7 80%
------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding.
Source: INS.
As shown in table 5, the subsection 245(i) applications comprised 52
percent of applications for permanent resident status received in the
Western Region's eight district offices. Receipts in the Los Angeles
and San Francisco District offices comprised 76 percent of all
permanent resident status applications and 82 percent of all
subsection 245(i) applications received in the region. In Los
Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, and San Francisco, which received the
largest number of both types of applications in the region, the
subsection 245(i) applications represented between 50 and 57 percent
of all permanent resident status applications received in the region.
Table 5
Legal Alien and Subsection 245(i)
Permanent Resident Status Applications
Received in the Western Region District
Offices, October 1, 1994, Through March
1995
Legal
alien Subsection Percent
applicatio 245(i) subsection
District ns applications Total 245(i)
---------- ---------- -------------- ======== ----------
Anchorage 224 18 242 7%
Hawaii 1,235 153 1,388 11
Los 14,805 18,337 33,142 55
Angeles\a
Phoenix 2,564 3,405\b 5,969 57
Portland\c 1,279 261 1,540 17
San Diego 2,018 1,983 4,001 50
San 8,767 10,439 19,206 54
Francisco
Seattle 2,461 827 3,288 25
============================================================
Total 33,353 35,423 68,776 52%
------------------------------------------------------------
\a Data were through March 17, 1995, but were not available for the
week of December 26, 1994.
\b Data for the Tucson suboffice were not available for October 1994.
\c Numbers were calculated on the basis of estimated applications
received.
Source: INS.
Tables 6 and 7 provide data on the number of all applications and
subsection 245(i) applications received in the Western Region's eight
district offices. Consistent with the national trend, most of the
districts experienced an increase in the number of both types of
applications received through December 1994. For January and
February, the total number of applications received decreased, but
some districts experienced an increase during these months.\6
Table 6
Number of All Permanent Resident Status
Applications Received in the Western
Region District Offices, by Month,
October 1, 1994, Through March 1995
Dist
rict Oct. 1994 Nov. 1994 Dec. 1994 Jan. 1995 Feb. 1995 Mar. 1995 Total
---- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ========
Anch 33 36 45 43 47 38 242
ora
ge
Hawa 261 234 199 203 226 265 1,388
ii
Los 5,289 6,155 8,038 5,167 3,518 4,975 33,142
Ang
ele
s\a
Phoe 478 641 982 1,147 1,207 1,514 5,969
nix
Port 146 192 286 214 374 328 1,540
land
San 425 551 628 709 892 796 4,001
Die
go
San 2,053 2,549 3,597 2,996 3,150 4,861 19,206
Fra
nci
sco
Seat 239 455 438 523 801 832 3,288
tle
================================================================================
Tota 8,924 10,813 14,213 11,002 10,215 13,609 68,776
l
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: These numbers include legal alien and subsection 245(i)
applications.
\a Data were through March 17, 1995, but were not available for the
week of December 26, 1994.
Source: INS.
Table 7
Number of Subsection 245(i) Applications
Received in the Western Region District
Offices, by Month, October 1, 1994,
Through March 1995
Dist
rict Oct. 1994 Nov. 1994 Dec. 1994 Jan. 1995 Feb. 1995 Mar. 1995 Total
---- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ========
Anch 2 2 1 2 3 8 18
ora
ge
Hawa 30 23 15 22 27 36 153
ii
Los 3,484 3,506 3,628 2,871 2,105 2,743 18,337
Ang
ele
s\a
Phoe 89\b 316 551 693 734 1,022 3,405
nix
Port 7 28 42 50 50 84 261
lan
d\c
San 78 204 411 339 439 512 1,983
Die
go
San 803 1,260 1,702 1,733 1,982 2,959 10,439
Fra
nci
sco
Seat 72 85 160 105 181 224 827
tle
================================================================================
Tota 4,565 5,424 6,510 5,815 5,521 7,588 35,423
l
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Data were through March 17, 1995, but were not available for the
week of December 26, 1994.
\b Data for the Tucson suboffice were not available for October 1994.
\c INS estimated data.
Source: INS.
From October 1994 through February 1995, INS denied 8 percent, or
6,983 of the 88,911 the legal alien applications it completed.\7
On a monthly basis, the denial rate for the applications ranged
between 4 and 6 percent for this period. As shown in table 8, the
denial rate for four of the seven Western Region district offices
with data ranged from 2 to 9 percent from October 1994 through March
1995. Hawaii did not deny any applications. Nationwide and Western
Region denial data were not available for the subsection 245(i)
applications.
Table 8
Denial Rate for All Permanent Resident
Status Applications Received in Selected
Western Region Districts, October 1,
1994, Through March 1995
Percen
Approv t
District ed Denied Total denied
-------------------------- ------ ------ ======== ------
Hawaii 93 0 93 0
Los Angeles 12,315 1,178 13,493 9
Phoenix 2,247 109 2,356 5
Portland 1,000 20 1,020 2
San Diego 1,375 23 1,398 2
------------------------------------------------------------
Source: INS.
We discussed the impact of the subsection 245(i) applications on
their workload with Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle
district officials. These officials said that their estimated
processing time per application had increased for all permanent
resident status applications. The application processing time in
Los Angeles nearly tripled from 4.5 to 12.5 months,
Phoenix increased threefold from 4 to 12 months,
San Francisco doubled from 6 to 12 months, and
Seattle doubled from 2.5 to 5 months.
Anchorage and Hawaii officials said that the subsection 245(i)
applications did not affect their processing time. Portland
officials did not have an estimate of the impact of the subsection
245(i) applications on their processing time.
In addition to the almost 80,000 subsection 245(i) applications INS
had received since October 1994, it expected to receive another
82,000 applications before the end of fiscal year 1995. To meet this
workload, in April 1995, the Department of Justice notified Congress
of a proposed reprogramming action that, among other things, would
provide INS additional resources to enhance its application
processing capability. According to Justice, these resources are to
fund staffing, overtime, and records support.
Justice officials pointed out that all types of applications (e.g.,
naturalization) are increasing and affecting INS' workload.
--------------------
\5 This number excludes applications from asylees and refugees.
\6 We did not include March 1995 data in our discussion because data
were only available for first half of March 1995.
\7 INS officials pointed out that a more valid analysis of denial
rates than we used would have been to compare the total of
pre-October 1994 consular and INS denials, excluding aliens barred
from adjusting their status to permanent resident because they
entered without inspection, worked illegally, or overstayed their
visa, to the total post-October 1994 consular and INS denials. INS
recognized that such an analysis was beyond the scope of our work.
AGENCY COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3
The Department of Justice officials said that the scope of our work
did not enable us to address other issues related to subsection
245(i). Specifically, they said that while subsection 245(i)
applications have increased INS' workload, we did not address the
impact on overseas processing of applications by the consular
offices. The officials pointed out that a decrease in the overseas
workload could occur because under subsection 245(i) aliens can now
apply for permanent resident status while in the United States, but
if aliens had to leave the country to apply, the overseas workload
would increase. They added that we did not analyze the impact of
subsection 245(i) provisions on deterring illegal immigration. We
recognize that these issues would have to be addressed to evaluate
the full impact of subsection 245(i). However, this was beyond the
scope of our work.
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.1
We are sending copies of this fact sheet to the Attorney General and
other interested parties, and we will also make copies available to
others upon request.
Major contributors to this fact sheet were James M. Blume, Assistant
Director; Michael P. Dino, Evaluator-in-Charge; and Pamela V.
Williams, Communications Analyst. If you need any additional
information or have any further questions, please contact me on (202)
512-8777.
Sincerely yours,
Laurie E. Ekstrand
Associate Director, Administration
of Justice Issues