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Amendments

Amendments and Related Laws

Four amendments in sixty years, a conditional repeal, and the laws that surround the 1966 Act

Updated 11 min read18 sources cited

In sixty years, Congress has changed the text of the Cuban Adjustment Act only four times, and always at the margins. In 1976 it added a section on visas; in 1980 it reduced the required presence from two years to one; in 2000 and 2006 it protected spouses and children abused by the Cuban on whom their application depends1. The 1966 core (being Cuban, having been inspected and admitted or paroled, being admissible, the government's discretion, the thirty months of rollback) remains intact12. A fifth law, from 1996, did not change a word but set the condition for repealing it. Around it are other laws that do not amend it and without which it cannot be understood.

The guide for reconstructing this history is the note that the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives devotes to the Act under 8 U.S.C. § 1255, updated through Public Law 119-138 of November 3, 2026. That note credits exactly four laws as amendments and reproduces the 1996 provision separately1. Each has been checked here against its text as published by the Government Publishing Office (GPO).

Date Law What it did
October 20, 1976 Pub. L. 94-571, section 8 Added section 5, on the effect of adjustments on visas3
March 17, 1980 Pub. L. 96-212 (Refugee Act of 1980), section 203(i) Replaced "two years" with "one year"4
September 30, 1996 Pub. L. 104-208, division C (IIRIRA), section 606 Conditioned repeal; does not amend the text5
October 28, 2000 Pub. L. 106-386, division B, section 1509 Exempted abused spouses and children from living with the Cuban6
January 5, 2006 Pub. L. 109-162, section 823 Corrected a cross-reference and gave two years to widows, widowers, and divorced persons because of abuse7

The starting point: section 245(c)

The Adjustment Act was born as an exception. Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 governs adjustment of status, that is, becoming a permanent resident without leaving the country1. In 1958, Public Law 85-700 added a subsection (c) that made it inapplicable to natives of contiguous countries and of "adjacent islands"8, a statutory list that includes Cuba9. In 1960, Public Law 86-648 opened the section to those who had entered on parole, who until then could not use it10. And on October 3, 1965, the great immigration reform (Public Law 89-236) extended the exclusion in subsection (c) to natives of any country in the Western Hemisphere, effective December 1, 1965, and set, unless Congress legislated otherwise before June 30, 1968, a cap of 120,000 immigrants a year born in the independent countries of the hemisphere beginning with the fiscal year that started on July 1, 196811.

Cubans who had arrived on parole after 1959 had had a legal door since 1960 for adjusting their status, but subsection (c) closed it to them because they were born in Cuba. The 1966 law applies "notwithstanding the provisions of section 245(c)"2. Its section 3, in addition, protected adjustment applications filed before December 1, 1965 by people from any country of the hemisphere whom the 1965 reform had left out2.

1976: section 5 and visas

The immigration reform of October 20, 1976 (Public Law 94-571, the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976) changed the framework in which the Adjustment Act operated. It set the annual cap on Western Hemisphere immigrants at 120,000, extended the preference system to them, abolished the "special immigrant" category for those born in that hemisphere, and rewrote section 245: its subsection (c) stopped excluding those born in the hemisphere and instead excluded crewmen, those working without authorization, and transit passengers without a visa31. It took effect on the first day of the first month that began more than sixty days after enactment, that is, January 1, 19773.

Its section 8 added a section 5 to the Adjustment Act: approval of an adjustment under the law "shall not require the Secretary of State to reduce the number of visas authorized to be issued in any class" in the case of anyone who was in the United States on or before the effective date of the reform3. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) sums it up by saying that the 1976 reform exempted these adjustments from the numerical limits of the preference system12.

A necessary clarification: the 1976 reform did not reduce the presence requirement from two years to one. Its section 8 only adds section 53. The reduction came in 1980.

1980: from two years to one

The Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212), of March 17, 1980, is the law that introduced into the INA the definition of refugee that remains in force and the procedures for refugee admission and asylum4. In its section 203(i) it provided: "Section 203(g) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(g)), section 101(a)(3) of Public Law 95-145, and the first section of Public Law 89-732 are each amended by striking out 'two years' and inserting in lieu thereof 'one year'"4. Section 204(b)(1)(C) set the effective date of that change as "immediately before April 1, 1980"4.

The sentence reduced three two-year periods at once: that of section 203(g) of the INA, that of the 1977 law on Indochinese refugees (Public Law 95-145), and that of the Cuban Adjustment Act4. All three were set at the same year of presence that the new section 209 of the INA, created by the same law, required of refugees to become residents4. The federal regulation still records the history: the year of presence appears with the clarification "amended from two years by the Refugee Act of 1980"13.

1996: the conditional repeal

Two 1996 laws combine here.

The first is the Helms-Burton law, officially the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-114), of March 12, 1996. It seeks international sanctions against the Cuban government and plans U.S. support for a transition. Its section 203(c)(3) provides for the President to determine, at the appropriate time, that a democratically elected government is in power in Cuba, and its section 206 lists the requirements of that government, which are added to those that section 205(a) demands of a transition government: free and fair elections supervised by international observers, respect for civil liberties and human rights, progress toward a market economy, commitment to constitutional reforms, progress toward an independent judiciary and toward the return or compensation of property confiscated from U.S. citizens since January 1, 195914. The Helms-Burton law does not mention the Adjustment Act.

The second is the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), division C of the omnibus appropriations act of September 30, 1996 (Public Law 104-208). Its section 606, titled "Conditional repeal of Cuban Adjustment Act," is what connects the two: "Public Law 89-732 is repealed effective only upon a determination by the President under section 203(c)(3) of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-114) that a democratically elected government in Cuba is in power"5. Its subsection (b) protects applications pending on that date5.

The effect was twofold. The law became tied to a political change in Cuba, but also, in the words of a 1999 Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) memorandum, Congress "recently reaffirmed the availability of this adjustment provision, by enacting that the CAA is to continue in force until there is a democratic government in Cuba"15. The CRS describes it this way: attempts to set an expiration date for the law or to repeal it outright did not succeed, but in 1996 Congress provided that it would be repealed when Cuba became a democracy12. That presidential determination has not been made: the law remains in the Code as updated through November 20261.

2000: abused spouses and children

The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386), of October 28, 2000, includes as division B that year's Violence Against Women Act (VAWA 2000), and within it a title V called the Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000. Its section 1509 carries a title that explains its purpose: "Access to Cuban Adjustment Act for battered immigrant spouses and children"6.

Until then, a non-Cuban spouse or child could rely on the law only if they lived with the Cuban. Section 1509 added an exception: the spouse or child "who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty" may adjust status without showing that they live with the Cuban, and the government must apply section 204(a)(1)(H) of the INA in those cases. The change was retroactive: as if it had been included in subtitle G of title IV of the 1994 violent crime law (Public Law 103-322)6. The next section, 1510, gave the same protection to the spouses and children of beneficiaries of the NACARA law6.

2006: widows, widowers, divorced persons, and a corrected cross-reference

The Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-162) was enacted on January 5, 2006. Its section 823, "Petitioning rights of certain former spouses under Cuban adjustment," did two things7.

  • It replaced the cross-reference to section 204(a)(1)(H) with one to 204(a)(1)(J), retroactive to the 2000 law. The same law made an identical correction in the 1998 Haitian adjustment law (HRIFA), in its section 8247. Section 204(a)(1)(J) is the one that requires considering "any credible evidence" in abuse cases, according to USCIS16.
  • It added the last sentence now in force in section 1: a person who was the spouse of a Cuban and lived with them continues to be treated as a spouse for two years after the Cuban's death, or after the termination of the marriage if a connection between that termination and the abuse is demonstrated. For those already in that situation, the two years run from enactment of the law, if that date is later7.

The same law touched the Adjustment Act in two other places without changing its text. Its section 811 included abused spouses and children who apply for residence under it in the new statutory definition of "VAWA self-petitioner" (section 101(a)(51)(D) of the INA). According to USCIS, that makes them self-petitioners even if they never file a self-petition, with the confidentiality protection that entails716. And its section 814, whose title speaks of eliminating "abusers' control over applications," extended to those who can rely on the Adjustment Act certain Violence Against Women Act protections in deportation proceedings7.

The Refugee Act of 1980

Besides reducing the period, the Refugee Act created the framework against which the Adjustment Act is now compared: the definition of refugee based on persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on five grounds, asylum for those in the country, and adjustment of refugees and asylees after one year (section 209 of the INA)4. The CRS stresses that the Adjustment Act predates that law and does not use its definitions12; persecution is not among its requirements2. The difference is explained in What the Cuban Adjustment Act is.

Cuban and Haitian entrants (1980 and 1986)

According to the CRS, many of the Cubans who arrived through Mariel in 1980 did not meet the individual requirements for asylum, and the administration of Jimmy Carter classified them as "Cuban-Haitian Entrants" and admitted them on parole. The category does not exist in the INA; Congress defined it only for purposes of federal assistance, in title V of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-422), known as Fascell-Stone12. Section 202 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of November 6, 1986 allowed those who had arrived before January 1, 1982 and held the designation of Cuban or Haitian entrant, or were nationals of Cuba or Haiti, to become residents if they applied within the following two years and met other requirements17. Those who arrived through Mariel could also use the Adjustment Act; USCIS recognized for them a special rollback date, that of their parole in 1980, if they filed before February 1, 198716. The history is in The Mariel exodus.

NACARA (1997)

The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, title II of Public Law 105-100 of November 19, 1997, includes in its section 202 an adjustment for nationals of Nicaragua and Cuba continuously present since December 1, 1995 who applied before April 1, 2000. Unlike the text of the Adjustment Act, which mentions none, NACARA expressly exempts from four grounds of inadmissibility: public charge, labor certification, presence without admission or parole, and documentation (section 212(a)(4), (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A))18. On December 21, 2000, Public Law 106-554 allowed Cubans and Nicaraguans who came to meet its requirements through an amendment that same law introduced to file a motion to reopen their proceedings within 180 days1. NACARA targeted a closed group and had a deadline; the Adjustment Act has neither.

The Helms-Burton law (1996)

It does not amend the Adjustment Act, but its definition of a "democratically elected" government is now the key to its repeal, by cross-reference from section 606 of the IIRIRA145. The debate over that condition and over reform proposals is covered in Debate and future.

What has not changed

Since 2006 no law has modified the text: the Code note updated through November 3, 2026 records no later amendments1. As in 1966, the requirements remain: being a native or citizen of Cuba, having been inspected and admitted or paroled after January 1, 1959, being eligible to receive an immigrant visa and being admissible, the government's discretion, the thirty months of rollback, and sections 2 through 421. What has changed most in practice is not in the statute but in the policies on who comes to meet the entry requirement, covered in Parole and I-220A, and in the decisions of the courts, in Case law.

Every case depends on its facts; this page is not a substitute for advice from an immigration attorney or an accredited representative.

Notes and sources

  1. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, "8 U.S.C. 1255: Adjustment of status of nonimmigrant to that of person admitted for permanent residence," source credit, notes "Amendments," "Cuban Refugees: Adjustment of Status," and "Adjustment of Status of Certain Nicaraguans and Cubans," text current through Public Law 119-138 (November 3, 2026), accessed November 11, 2026. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/t8/s1255/ back back back back back back back back back

  2. Public Law 89-732, 80 Stat. 1161, November 2, 1966, facsimile of the United States Statutes at Large, U.S. Government Publishing Office, govinfo. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-80/pdf/STATUTE-80-Pg1161.pdf back back back back back

  3. Public Law 94-571 (Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976), 90 Stat. 2703, October 20, 1976, sections 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-90/pdf/STATUTE-90-Pg2703.pdf back back back back back

  4. Public Law 96-212 (Refugee Act of 1980), 94 Stat. 102, March 17, 1980, sections 201, 203(i), and 204(b)(1)(C). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-94/pdf/STATUTE-94-Pg102.pdf back back back back back back back

  5. Public Law 104-208, September 30, 1996, division C (Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996), title VI, section 606, "Conditional Repeal of Cuban Adjustment Act," 110 Stat. 3009-695. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-104publ208/html/PLAW-104publ208.htm back back back back

  6. Public Law 106-386 (Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000), October 28, 2000, division B, title V, sections 1509 and 1510, 114 Stat. 1530-1531. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-106publ386/html/PLAW-106publ386.htm back back back back

  7. Public Law 109-162 (Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005), January 5, 2006, title VIII, sections 811, 814, 823, and 824, 119 Stat. 3057-3063. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-109publ162/html/PLAW-109publ162.htm back back back back back back

  8. Public Law 85-700, 72 Stat. 699, August 21, 1958, section 1. https://www.govinfo.gov/link/statute/72/699 back

  9. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, "8 U.S.C. 1101: Definitions," subsection (b)(5), accessed November 11, 2026. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/t8/s1101/ back

  10. Public Law 86-648, 74 Stat. 504, July 14, 1960, section 10. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-74/pdf/STATUTE-74-Pg504.pdf back

  11. Public Law 89-236, 79 Stat. 911, October 3, 1965, sections 13, 20, and 21(e). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-79/pdf/STATUTE-79-Pg911.pdf back

  12. Congressional Research Service, "Cuban Migration to the United States: Policy and Trends," report R40566, June 2, 2009, pages 2 and 5. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20090602_R40566_5c818df5cf6f61aac828f7e487dfe38f29f6dce4.pdf back back back back

  13. Code of Federal Regulations, title 8, § 245.2(a)(2)(ii), 2025 annual edition; text unchanged in the eCFR as of November 9, 2026. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2025-title8-vol1/xml/CFR-2025-title8-vol1-sec245-2.xml back

  14. Public Law 104-114 (Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996), March 12, 1996, title and sections 203(c)(3), 205(a), and 206, 110 Stat. 785. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-104publ114/html/PLAW-104publ114.htm back back

  15. Doris Meissner, Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, memorandum "Eligibility for permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act despite having arrived at a place other than a designated port of entry," April 19, 1999, reproduced in appendix 23-4 of the USCIS Adjudicator's Field Manual. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-afm/afm23-external.pdf back

  16. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Adjudicator's Field Manual, chapter 23.11, "Cuban Adjustment Act Cases," subsections (h), (k), and (m)(3), accessed November 11, 2026. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-afm/afm23-external.pdf back back back

  17. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, "8 U.S.C. 1255a: Adjustment of status of certain entrants before January 1, 1982, to that of person admitted for lawful residence," note "Cuban-Haitian Adjustment" (Pub. L. 99-603, title II, section 202, 100 Stat. 3404), accessed November 11, 2026. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/t8/s1255a/ back

  18. Public Law 105-100, November 19, 1997, title II (Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act), section 202(a) and (b), 111 Stat. 2193. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ100/html/PLAW-105publ100.htm back