FINAL CALL FOR GREEN CARDS\INS advises legal residents to apply for documents before last-minute\rush.

Byline: Luz Villarreal Daily News Staff Writer

The 11th hour rush for new "green cards" is here.

March 20 is the final deadline for legal residents to apply for new Alien Registration Cards to replace those issued before 1979.

The deadline has been extended three times since the program was announced in June 1992. The last extension came after the March 20, 1995 deadline.

"The deadline will not be extended further," said Rico Cabrera, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service Los Angeles District Office. "This is the final date that we have imposed. People should come in as soon a possible to avoid the last-minute crunch."

The purpose of the Immigration and Naturalization Service card replacement program is to remove older cards from circulation that are easy to counterfeit and to provide all legal residents with a secure document that is universally recognized. The old cards, which date back to 1946, are commonly known as green cards because of wavy green lines over the bearer's photograph.

The new cards are pink and computer coded and contain each bearer's fingerprint, signature and photograph. The cards must also be renewed every 10 years.

Without the new cards, residents could lose verification of their status as legal U.S. residents. They could also have difficulty in obtaining employment, benefits and re-entry into the United States from abroad.

"The cards will be required by employers, by inspectors when you return from abroad and required if you are due for entitlement programs from state or federal agencies," Cabrera said. "People won't lose their legal status, but they lose their proof of status."

The program has not progressed without controversy. Critics accused the INS of failing to properly notify immigrants about the program until late in the year, causing thousands of panicked residents to rush to INS buildings just days before each deadline.

The $75 processing fee for the new cards also was challenged in a lawsuit, but was upheld in court. The INS will give waivers for special hardship cases.

Legal residents must apply for the cards in person at the INS building in downtown Los Angeles or through an INS approved outreach center. The outreach centers have their own additional charges. There are several centers in the San Fernando Valley. They include the following:

East Valley Multipurpose Senior Center in North Hollywood. In addition to the INS $75 processing fee, the center is charging $15. To make an appointment, call 766-5165.

San Juan Macias Orientation Immigrant Center in Pacoima. They charge their own $40 processing fee. To make an appointment, call 896-1156.

The Macias center will also assist residents with their paperwork from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. Residents will receive an appointment to meet with an INS officer at a later date and at a location other than the immigration building.

To receive a new card, residents must fill out an application, have two three-quarter inch color photographs, a $75 check or money order, a photocopy of their green card and the original green card.

Elderly and disabled residents can file their applications by mail if the trip to the INS building would be a hardship. They should send their application, materials and a doctor's note to U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Post Office Box 809, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053.

The new cards will not arrive for six to eight months because of the backlog. But applicants will be given a receipt, along with their old green card, to use as proof of legal residency.

INS officials are encouraging residents to become citizens to avoid the hassle of renewing their cards every 10 years. Citizenship cost $95.

"It's a one-time fee," said Elaine Komis, a spokeswoman for INS headquarters in Washington, D.C. "You will never have to worry about renewing your (green card) documents, which cost $75 a shot."

Legal residents with cards issued after 1978 do not have to apply for new cards until their cards expire.

To receive an application by mail or for more information, call [phone].