Subject: IFCSS HQ NR-4060: INS Officer on the Implementation of S1216

From: IFCSS HQ <ifcss>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1992 14:13:52 -0500

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IFCSS Headquarters News Release No. 4060:     October 28, 1992
          INS OFFICER ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF S1216
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Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS)
   733 15th Street, N.W., Suite 440, Washington, D.C.20005
         Tel. (202)347-0017  Fax: (202)347-0018
                Email: [email-masked]

                  INS Officer on S1216
                  ==================== 

Dear fellow Chinese student and scholars:

     Since President Bush signed S1216, many students have
responded to the IFCSS call and shared their concerns with the HQ
about the implementation of the Act. Based on these concerns, IFCSS
officers contacted Department of Justice.

     On Oct. 28, Heping Shi, chairman of IFCSS Committee of Public
Relations and Government Affairs, talked with INS officer Pearl
Chen, who is currently in charge of S1216. Heping Shi raised a
number of questions, to which the INS officer provided the
following response.

     1. INS will not accept any application before July 1, 1993,
because the Act provides that the president has up to that date to
determine and certify that it is safe for Chinese students to
return.

     2. INS hopes that those who are currently in the process of
applying for permanent residence will continue with their
applications, because there is a chance that the president will
determine and certify that it is safe for the students to return.
Even if he does not, the 80,000 potential applications will take
quite some time to be processed. Therefore, it is better to apply
through normal means than to benefit from the Act.

     3. Since the promulgation of the President's Executive Order,
some students have been back to China for family or business
reasons. The Act provides that those whose physical presence in
China is longer than 90 days will not be eligible to apply. As for
those who stayed for less than 90 days, they are covered by the
Act. However, since the basic premise of the Act is that these
students are unable to return home, the necessity of the Act will
be in serious doubt if large numbers of students go back and return
to the U.S. without trouble.

     4. INS has not yet started working on the implementation
regulations and time-table. Right now, virtually nothing is going
on, for INS believes it still has plenty of time to get prepared
before July 1, 1993.

     Towards the end of the conversation, Heping Shi and Pearl Chen
discussed what IFCSS could possibly do to assist INS in the
implementation and both expressed the wish to keep in touch.

     At present, IFCSS is continuing to collect questions about the
Act so as to provide INS with input. If you have some concerns,
please contact IFCSS HQ (202) 347-0017. 

     Thank you for your attention.

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*                 IFCSS Headquarters Office                         *
*                 =========================                         *
*                                                                   *
* President:      Geng Xiao  Assistant to the President: Shi Heping * 
* Vice-President: He Baoping     Executive Director: Zhang Qingsong *
*                                                                   *
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
*IFCSS Stands for advancement of human rights and democracy in China*
*IFCSS protects the rights and interests of CSS in U.S. Your support*
*is vital to IFCSS's success. To donate: Please make checks payable *
*to "IFCSS" and send to:                                            *
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*   "IFCSS, 733 15th St. N.W., Suite 440, Washington D.C., 20005"   *
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