Immigration expands list of documents for Cubans born outside the Island

Immigration expands list of documents for Cubans born outside the Island

Associated Press

July 8, 2006, 5:52 PM EDT

MIAMI -- The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has expanded the
list of documents that people born to Cuban parents outside Cuba can use
to apply for permanent residency in the United States.

For years, the agency routinely rejected green card applications that
did not include a Cuban birth registry, citizenship certificate or
passport to prove Cuban citizenship.

Now, as a result of a June 30 decision from immigration authorities, the
U.S. government will also accept several other documents, including a
Cuban Civil Registry document, as long as they are signed by an
appropriate Cuban official and prove Cuban citizenship, a CIS
spokeswoman said Saturday.

The decision could potentially impact thousands of Cuban nationals who
have been turned down for green cards in the past, including a large
number of Venezuelans with Cuban parents.

"This further defines the documents that you can present to our agency
so that more people can benefit from the Cuban Adjustment Act,'' CIS
spokeswoman Ana Santiago said. "We're just letting everyone know that if
you bring forth a documents that expressly states you have Cuban
citizenship, that will be valid to start the process of applying for (a
green card).''

Liliana Lozano Buschini sued the federal government after her green card
application was denied at the Miami immigration office last year,
according to her lawyer Stephen Bander.

Buschini, who had a certified letter from a Cuban government official
and a Venezuelan birth certificate, assumed she would qualify under the
Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows Cubans to apply for U.S. residency
after more than a year in the United States. She did not have a Cuban
passport, birth certificate or government-issued citizenship certificate.

"When we were bringing this suit, it wasn't just for Liliana. There's a
lot of people in Miami who have the same facts as her who were being
mistreated by the Miami (immigration office),'' Bander said Saturday.
"It's a big victory.''

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