Legislation to Protect Orphans, Widows and Widowers Introduced by Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Gillibrand (D-NY), and Leahy (D-VT)

On Thursday, June 11, 2009, Senators Robert Menendez, Kirsten Gillibrand and Patrick Leahy introduced the Orphans, Widows and Widowers Protection Act (S. 1427). This legislation would provide essential immigration protections for those impacted by the death of a sponsoring relative. The legislation imposes specific requirements that must be followed for each type of immigration filing – including naturalization, family based immigration and derivative beneficiaries of employment based immigration.