KIEV, November 8 - RAPSI. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko has filed amotion with the San Francisco Immigration Court on granting him temporary residence in the United States, his attorney Marina Dolgopolaya said on Thursday.

She added that the motion says nothing about the possibility of granting him political asylum.

Dolgopolaya said Lazarenko is presently at a state institution used by the U.S. immigration service to keep individuals who have filed papers for residence.The attorney said the hearings into the issue will commence in two or three weeks.

The former prime minister was detained for attempting to illegally enter the United States at a New York airport in February 1999 with a Panamanian passport. He then requested political asylum from the U.S. authorities. However, the U.S. Prosecutor's Office instead charged Lazarenko with extortion, fraud and money laundering worth $280 million.

The court sentenced him to nine years in prison and a $10 million fine.

His prison sentence ended on November 1. According to his attorney, after his release, Lazarenko was again detained by the U.S. immigration service. He will be detained until a decision is made on whether he can reside in the country, she said.