Summary

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.

GAO found that: (1) 175,940 aliens applied for permanent resident status from October 1994 to February 1995; (2) the estimated revenue received as a result of the applications totalled $49.1 million; (3) the denial rates for subsection 245(i) applications ranged between 4 and 6 percent per month; (4) the processing time per application increased for all permanent resident status applications; and (5) the subsection 245(i) applications represented between 50 and 57 percent of all permanent resident status applications received in the western region.