Lleij Schwartz

Dear Committee Members, I am writing to express my opposition to HB 1709 for the text of the bill, as written in Secs. II and III, as to my understanding, it would make it impossible to lawfully rent a residential property as individual who is married to a US citizen, having arrived on a K-1 visa and who is in the process of Adjustment of Status, as such an individual would not have the proper form of identification as listed under Sec, III (d) or (e). During the Adjustment of Status process, which is initiated when an individual files an I-485 form with USCIS, there is no update to duration of stay on the individuals I-94. This means that if the US citizen spouse wishes to rent an apartment or house, his or her alien spouse cannot be on the lease. According to the website of the Manchester field office of USCIS, 80 percent of Adjustment of Status cases through marriage are adjudicated within in 9 months. Not being able to rent a home for almost a year is an undue hardship placed upon the US citizen spouse. This hardship is particularly egregious as one of the primary pieces of evidence USCIS uses to determine a bona fide spousal relationship is a lease agreement with both spouses names listed. I strongly recommend to the committee that the bill be retracted and the language adapted to account for the issues listed above. A New Hampshire US citizen should not be punished for having a foreign spouse.