U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office for Immigration Review

Office of the Director
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2400
Falls Church, Virginia 22041

January 14, 1999

DOJ Extends Deadline for Supplementing NACARA Motions to Reopen

Certain Aliens Who Have Filed NACARA Motions to Reopen with EOIR Have More Time

To Complete and Submit Their Accompanying Applications for Suspension/Cancellation

The Department of Justice will soon publish a final rule on motions to reopen under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 (NACARA). This final rule will extend the deadline to submit accompanying applications and supporting documentation for suspension/cancellation relief for NACARA-eligible nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, and certain former Soviet bloc countries WHO HAVE TIMELY FILED MOTIONS TO REOPEN THEIR CASES with the Immigration Court. Under the previous interim rule on NACARA motions to reopen, applicants were required to file their accompanying applications and supporting documentation for suspension/cancellation no later than February 8, 1999.

The new deadline will be linked to publication in the Federal Register of the interim or final rule implementing section 203 of NACARA. The Department published the proposed rule on section 203 on November 24, 1998. Once effective, this rule will implement a program for asylum officers at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to adjudicate certain claims of suspension /cancellation for NACARA-eligible aliens.

After the public comment period for the proposed section 203 rule closes on January 24, 1999, the Department will consider all comments and will then publish the interim or final rule implementing section 203. Persons who filed a motion to reopen under NACARA will then have 150 days from the date of publication of the section 203 rule to submit all additional documents, including the new suspension/ cancellation application, Form I-881. This will provide ample time after the rule is published for NACARA-eligible applicants who have filed their motions to reopen to gather supporting documents and prepare their applications for suspension/cancellation.

Upon publication of the 203 rule, the Department will release another notice outlining application procedures and specifying the actual date of the new deadline.

--EOIR--