President Biden announced that a new process will take effect in late August permitting certain noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for lawful permanent resident status (green card status) without having to depart the United States. To date, an undocumented spouse of a U.S. citizen would require a waiver of admission to apply for residence in the United States, and the wait times could take years to process.

On June 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it will consider a new application process where it will determine, on a case-by-case basis, requests for certain noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens to secure lawful permanent resident status. Applicants who meet the following criteria will be considered:

• Have lived in the United States for 10 years or more
• Are married to a U.S. citizen prior to June 17, 2024
• Do not pose a threat to public safety or national security
• Are otherwise eligible to apply for adjustment of status to U.S. permanent residence presuming that criminal and background checks are cleared
• Merit the favorable exercise of discretion by the Department of Homeland Security

Those eligible to apply for these benefits will be able to apply for ‘parole in place’ status, evidencing they have been in the United States for at least ten years, and have married prior to June 17, 2024. This status would be effective for three years, and thereafter the applicant would be eligible to apply for permanent residence status. Stepchildren under the age of 21 may also benefit from such applications.

The ‘Parole in Place Program’ for immediate relative spouses and children of U.S. citizens is not expected to take effect until the end of the summer after a Federal Register notice detailing the application process and related information is published. The Department of Homeland Security indicated that any applications submitted prior to the effective date stated on the Federal Register notice will be rejected. They expect to receive more than 500,000 individuals to apply for such benefits.

In addition, the administration expects to streamline the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) eligibility criteria for the DACA program introduced by President Obama in 2012. DACA recipients will be able to expedite employment authorization documents if they have earned degrees in higher education and are seeking job changes in the same field of endeavor.

The new policy is widely expected to face legal challenges when published in the Federal Register. Our team will continue to monitor for any updates as they develop.

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