New Alien Registration Requirement

President Trump has issued an Executive Order that directs the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that aliens uphold with their duty to register with the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"). The administration will treat failure to comply with the registration requirement as a civil and criminal enforcement priority.

All aliens 14 years of age or older who were not registered and fingerprinted (if required) when applying for a U.S. visa and who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer, must apply for registration, and fingerprinting. Similarly, parents and legal guardians of aliens below the age of 14 must ensure that those aliens are registered. Within 30 days of reaching his or her 14th birthday, all previously registered aliens must apply for re-registration and fingerprinting.

USCIS has established a new form, G-325R, Biometric Information (Registration), and an online process by which unregistered aliens may register and comply with the law. 

Who is already registered?

• Lawful permanent residents.
• Aliens paroled into the United States, even if the period of parole has expired.
• Aliens admitted to the United States as nonimmigrants who were issued Form I-94 or I-94W (paper or electronic), even if the period of admission has expired.
• All aliens present in the United States who were issued immigrant or nonimmigrant visas before their last date of arrival.
• Aliens DHS has placed into removal proceedings.
• Aliens who have been issued an employment authorization document.
• Aliens who have applied for lawful permanent residence using Forms I-485, I-687, I-691, I-698, I-700, and provided fingerprints (unless waived), even if the applications were denied.
• Aliens who have been issued Border Crossing Cards.

Who is not registered?

• Aliens present in the United States without inspection and admission or inspection and parole who have not otherwise registered (aliens who crossed the border illegally).
• Canadian visitors who entered the United States at land ports of entry and were not issued evidence of registration.
• Aliens who submitted one or more benefit requests to USCIS, including applications for deferred action or Temporary Protected Status, who were not issued evidence of registration.

Who Must Register?

• All aliens 14 years of age or older who were not registered and fingerprinted (if required) when applying for a visa to enter the United States and who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer. They must apply before the expiration of those 30 days.
• The parents or legal guardians of aliens less than 14 years of age: Parents or legal guardians must apply for the registration of aliens less than 14 years of age who have not been registered and remain in the United States for 30 days or longer, before the expiration of those 30 days.
• Any alien, whether previously registered or not, who turns 14 years old in the United States, within 30 days after their 14th birthday.

Note: American Indians born in Canada who entered the United States under section 289 of the INA, and members of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas who entered the United States under the Texas Band of Kickapoo Act, are not required to register.

If you have already complied with your duty to register and been fingerprinted (if required) in connection with your current stay in the United States of 30 days or more and have not reached your 14th birthday in the United States since registering, you do not need to submit Form G-325R. If you have not previously registered and must now register, you may do so by filing Form G-325R online. 

Once an alien has registered and appeared for fingerprinting (unless waived), DHS will issue evidence of registration, which aliens over the age of 18 must carry and keep in their personal possession at all times.

Registration is not an immigration status, and registration documentation does not create an immigration status, establish employment authorization, or provide any other right or benefit under the INA or any other U.S. law. 

Additional Information: Information on alien registration requirements can be found here.  

If you have questions about new alien registration, please reach out to Meghan Carrig, Erica Chiodo, Chelsea Latta, David Wilks, or any member of our Immigration Practice Group.

Disclaimer:

This client alert is a form of attorney advertising. Hodgson Russ LLP provides this information as a service to its clients and other readers for educational purposes only. Nothing in this client alert should be construed as, or relied upon, as legal advice or as creating a lawyer-client relationship.