Section 245(i) Expired in 2001. Here Is Who Can Still Use It.
If someone filed an immigration petition or a labor certification on your behalf before May 1, 2001, you may be able to apply for a green card from inside the United States even if you entered without inspection, overstayed your visa, or worked without authorization. That option comes from Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and it is one of the few pathways that forgive those bars to adjustment of status (the process of applying for a green card from inside the U.S.).
The key word in that sentence is “may.” Section 245(i) expired more than twenty-five years ago, and only people who are “grandfathered” under the provision can still use it. If no qualifying petition was filed on your behalf by April 30, 2001, this provision does not apply to you. Understanding the difference is critical, because filing incorrectly can result in rejection of your application and loss of the fees you paid. In some circumstances, it can also lead to referral to immigration court.
If you believe you may be a grandfathered beneficiary and want to know whether 245(i) applies to your situation, call Brooks Law Firm at (617) 245-8090 to schedule a free consultation. An immigration attorney can review your case and walk you through your options.
What Section 245(i) Does and Why Congress Created It
Under normal immigration law, a person who entered the United States without being inspected at a port of entry, who overstayed their authorized stay, or who worked without authorization generally cannot apply for a green card from inside the country. Section 245(a) of the INA requires that applicants were inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States, and Section 245(c) bars adjustment for people who worked without permission or failed to maintain lawful status.
Section 245(i) was Congress’s exception to those bars. It allowed certain people to pay a $1,000 penalty and adjust their status from inside the United States despite falling into one of those barred categories. In practical terms, it meant that a person who entered without inspection could still get a green card without leaving the country, as long as they met all other requirements and paid the penalty.
This matters because the alternative, called consular processing, requires leaving the United States and applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad. For someone with significant unlawful presence, departing the country triggers a three-year or ten-year bar on returning, depending on how long the person was present without authorization. Section 245(i) let people avoid that risk entirely by adjusting status without ever leaving.
Section 245(i) Expired on April 30, 2001
Section 245(i) was never intended to be permanent. Congress created it in 1994 as a temporary provision. It first expired on January 14, 1998. Despite what you may have read elsewhere, Congress did not make the law permanent in 1998. The opposite happened: the provision lapsed, and only people whose petition had been filed on or before that date were protected, or “grandfathered.”
In December 2000, Congress passed the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act, commonly called the LIFE Act (Pub. L. 106-553 and 106-554), which temporarily revived Section 245(i) and extended the filing deadline to April 30, 2001. The LIFE Act also added a new requirement: anyone relying on a petition filed after January 14, 1998, and on or before April 30, 2001, must have been physically present in the United States on December 21, 2000, the date the LIFE Act took effect.
April 30, 2001 was the final expiration date. Section 245(i) has not been renewed since. As of August 2026, no legislation to revive it has been enacted, and only Congress could change that.
Only Grandfathered Beneficiaries Can Still Use Section 245(i)
You may qualify as a grandfathered beneficiary if all of the following are true. You are the beneficiary of a qualifying immigrant visa petition (Form I-130, I-140, I-360, or I-526) or a labor certification application (Form ETA-750) that was properly filed on or before April 30, 2001. The petition or application must have been approvable when it was filed, meaning it met the legal requirements at the time, regardless of whether it was later denied or withdrawn.
If the petition was filed after January 14, 1998, you must also have been physically present in the United States on December 21, 2000. This physical presence requirement applies only to principal beneficiaries, meaning the person named on the petition. Derivative beneficiaries, such as a spouse or unmarried child under 21, do not need to prove they were in the country on that date.
An important protection for grandfathered beneficiaries is that the grandfathering survives even if the original petition is no longer active. If the petitioner died, withdrew the petition, went out of business, or if the marriage that was the basis for the petition ended in divorce, you may still be grandfathered as long as the petition was approvable when it was originally filed. You do not have to adjust status on the basis of that same petition. A person grandfathered through a family petition can later adjust through an employer-sponsored petition, for example, and still use the 245(i) protection to forgive the entry or status bars.
Filing Requires Form I-485, Supplement A, and a $1,000 Penalty
Filing under Section 245(i) requires two forms: Form I-485, the standard application for a green card, and Supplement A to Form I-485, which is the form specific to 245(i). The $1,000 penalty is a statutory sum paid with Supplement A. There is no fee waiver for financial hardship. However, applicants who are under 17 and unmarried are exempt from the penalty, as are spouses and children of legalization beneficiaries who filed for Family Unity benefits on Form I-817. For everyone else, the $1,000 is required. It is separate from the I-485 filing fee, which is also required.
You must also meet every other requirement for adjustment of status. That means you need a currently valid immigrant petition, your priority date must be current in the Visa Bulletin (or you must be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, which means no wait), and you must be admissible to the United States or have an approved waiver covering any grounds of inadmissibility.
One inadmissibility ground deserves special attention because 245(i) does not cure it and no general waiver exists. If you accrued more than one year of unlawful presence in the United States, left the country, and then re-entered without inspection, you are subject to a permanent bar under INA 212(a)(9)(C). This bar cannot be overcome unless you leave the country, remain abroad for at least ten years, and then apply for permission to return. If you have entered the United States more than once, this is one of the most important things to review with an attorney before filing.
Adjustment of status is discretionary, which means that even if you meet every requirement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the federal agency that processes green card applications, can still deny the application as a matter of discretion. A May 2026 USCIS policy memorandum (PM-602-0199) directs officers to treat adjustment of status as an extraordinary form of relief and to require applicants to affirmatively demonstrate they merit a favorable exercise of discretion. This policy creates no new eligibility requirements and does not prohibit filings, but it means that preparation, supporting evidence, and the strength of the case as a whole matter more than ever.
Section 245(i) Is Not an Unlawful Presence Waiver
There is a common confusion between Section 245(i) and the unlawful presence waiver filed on Form I-601A. They serve different purposes. The I-601A is used by people who must leave the United States for consular processing and want to avoid triggering the three-year or ten-year reentry bars. Section 245(i) serves a different purpose entirely: it allows people to adjust status from inside the country despite the bars under Section 245(c), such as entering without inspection or working without authorization. A person using 245(i) does not need an unlawful presence waiver because they are not leaving the country.
Section 245(i) is also not a pathway that is currently open to new applicants. The filing deadline passed more than twenty-five years ago, and unless Congress acts to revive it, no new petitions can establish grandfathering.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Section 245(i) still available?
Only for people who are grandfathered. A qualifying petition or labor certification must have been filed on your behalf on or before April 30, 2001. No new filings can establish eligibility.
What is the $1,000 penalty for?
It is a statutory sum that Congress required as the price of adjusting status despite the bars under Section 245(c). It is paid with Supplement A to Form I-485. It cannot be waived for financial hardship, although applicants under 17 who are unmarried and certain Family Unity beneficiaries are exempt. It is separate from the I-485 filing fee.
Do I need to prove I was in the United States on December 21, 2000?
Only if the qualifying petition was filed after January 14, 1998. If it was filed on or before that date, the physical presence requirement does not apply. Derivative beneficiaries are also exempt from proving their own presence regardless of when the petition was filed, although USCIS may ask them to show that the principal beneficiary was present on that date.
What if the person who filed the petition for me has died or we divorced?
You may still be grandfathered. The key question is whether the petition was approvable when it was originally filed. You can file a new petition through a different sponsor and still use your 245(i) grandfathering.
Can my family members use 245(i) too?
It depends on when the relationship began and how the family member entered the country. A spouse or child whose relationship to the grandfathered person already existed when the qualifying petition was filed is grandfathered in their own right and can use 245(i) independently, even on a different petition later. If the relationship began after the petition was filed but before April 30, 2001, the law is unsettled: a federal immigration appeals decision supports grandfathering, but USCIS currently takes a narrower view. This is worth reviewing with an attorney.
A spouse or child acquired after April 30, 2001 is not grandfathered at all. They can only benefit by adjusting as a derivative on the same petition, at the same time as the grandfathered family member, and some petition types do not allow derivatives. Each person files their own Form I-485. If a family member was lawfully admitted or paroled into the United States and is not subject to the Section 245(c) bars, they do not need to file Supplement A or pay the $1,000 penalty and can simply adjust under Section 245(a).
Talk to an Attorney Before You File
Section 245(i) cases involve decades-old petitions, complicated eligibility timelines, and a discretionary standard that has tightened considerably since a May 2026 policy change. Filing incorrectly can result in rejection and loss of fees. In some circumstances, a denied adjustment application for someone without lawful status can lead to a Notice to Appear (NTA), which is a notice telling you to appear in immigration court. The value of this provision is significant for the people it covers, but the details are specific enough that a case-by-case review with an attorney matters.
Reach out to Brooks Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation, and we will give you an honest look at where your case stands and what your options are. Call (617) 245-8090.
