After the White House announced its New Process to Promote the Unity and Stability of Families, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting applications on August 19, 2024. This process will help ensure U.S. citizens with undocumented spouses and/or children can keep their families together during the permanent residence process.

While specific details regarding the form, fees and application process are not yet finalized or published, we know USCIS will evaluate each parole in place request on a case-by-case basis, considering if it serves a significant public benefit, or urgent humanitarian reason, and if the applicant deserves favorable discretion. The review will include the applicant's immigration and criminal history, background checks, national security and public safety vetting and any other pertinent information.

This new policy will expand existing parole in place procedures and help certain eligible noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.

Spouses of U.S. citizens are typically eligible to apply for permanent residence as an "immediate relative."  Three years after they become permanent residents, they have the option to apply for U.S. citizenship. However, there is often a catch for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens who entered the U.S. "without inspection," such as by crossing the U.S./Mexico border without prior approval, and they face significant challenges filing for permanent residency. In fact, the process is often so complex and risky that many of the estimated 1.2 million undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens are unable to obtain their green cards.

This is because, to apply for adjustment status to permanent residency while staying in the U.S., you must have initially entered the country legally, having been "inspected and admitted" or "inspected and paroled." In contrast, those who entered without inspection must leave the country to apply for an immigrant visa at a consulate abroad. Such travel abroad, if the undocumented spouse has resided in the U.S. for more than six months, will usually trigger a bar against reentering the U.S. for up to ten years for having been “unlawfully present.” While a waiver can be sought by demonstrating "extreme hardship" to the U.S. citizen spouse, the process takes years and is often an uncertain and risky proposition to the undocumented spouse.

This new process takes advantage of a program that allows the executive branch to grant "parole" to individuals who lack a lawful basis to enter or remain in the U.S. If the applicant remaining in the U.S. serves urgent humanitarian reasons or provides significant public benefits it is known as “Humanitarian Parole.” Humanitarian Parole allows temporary entry or stay in the U.S. for periods ranging from a few days to several years and beneficiaries can apply for work authorization to support themselves during their parole period. When this form of parole is granted to individuals already in the U.S., it is called “parole in place.” Individuals granted humanitarian parole, including parole in place, are considered to have been "inspected and paroled" under federal law, enabling them to apply for permanent residency within the U.S. and avoid travel and imposition of the problematic bar to reentry.

Based on the announcement from the White House, applicants will need to the meet following five criteria to qualify:

1. Be present in the United States without admission or parole;
2. Have been continuously present in the United States for at least 10 years as of June 17, 2024;
3. Have a legally valid marriage to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024;
4. Not have any disqualifying criminal history or otherwise constitute a threat to national security or public safety; and
5. Otherwise, merit a favorable exercise of discretion.

Through the newly expanded parole in place process, noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens and children, if approved, will be able to apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. The Department of Homeland Security estimates 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens, and 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 could be eligible for this process. The new parole in place policy will afford eligible applicants opportunities to work legally, to remain with in the U.S. with their families during their green card process, and ultimately, receive their green cards.