Illegal immigrants are flocking to immigration offices to apply for visas as a Monday deadline approaches. Illegal immigrants
deluge INS with visa
applicationsStaff and wire reports
Some Immigration and Naturalization Service centers are extending hours today and Monday, while immigrant advocacy groups and attorneys are working late to help last-minute filers with their applications.
In Hawaii the immigration office at Honolulu Airport will be open until midnight Monday, said district Director Donald Radcliffe. There will be no weekend hours, and the main office at 595 Ala Moana will open for regular Monday business hours.
Radcliffe said the Hawaii office has been getting 10 visa applications a day, about double the normal business. "Compared to the mainland, it is insignificant," he said.
"We're getting long lines at the district offices," said Elaine Komas, an immigration spokeswoman in Washington. "We're getting a tremendous increase in the volume of calls."
She said that in March the agency received the largest number of visa applications ever for a one-month period. Over a three-month period the agency has handled more than a million calls per month, a 33 percent increase over the typical month.
The Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act that took effect in December allows an estimated 640,000 illegal immigrants to apply for visas without first returning to their home countries and applying from there. That is significant because most illegal immigrants are barred from re-entering the United States once they leave.
A visa allows an immigrant to stay in the country and reserves a place for the immigrant to later apply for a green card, which signifies permanent legal residency.
To apply for a visa, an immigrant must be sponsored and have a close relative who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Then the immigrant must pay $225 in application and fingerprinting fees and a $1,000 fine for entering the country illegally.