Green Card Provision Extended Until Friday

Congress has extended until Friday a controversial provision that allows certain illegal immigrants to pay a $1,000 fine and complete the green-card application process in the United States without having to return to their homelands.

Meantime, Capitol Hill negotiations are continuing on a compromise measure that would grandfather in hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who have pending green-card applications filed by relatives or employers.

The proposed accord would preserve the right of affected illegal immigrants to complete the green card application process even if their residency papers are not ready for months or years. Now being negotiated, officials said, is a plan to give U.S. relatives and employers a grace period of 30 days or more to file petitions on behalf of loved ones or prospective employees.