U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has created a filing guide for the new “Keeping Families Together” spousal parole process that started August 19, 2024. USCIS will reject any related filings received before that date.
Under the new process announced in June 2024, USCIS will consider, on a case-by-case basis, requests for certain noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens who have been continuously physically present without admission or parole in the United States for 10 years or more, have no disqualifying criminal convictions, do not pose a threat to national security and public safety and pass vetting, are otherwise eligible to apply for adjustment of status, and merit a favorable exercise of discretion.
If paroled, USCIS said, these noncitizens “will generally be able to apply for lawful permanent residence without having to leave the United States and be processed by a U.S. consulate overseas.” The Department of Homeland Security estimates that “500,000 noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens could be eligible to access this process; on average, these noncitizens have resided in the United States for 23 years. Approximately 50,000 noncitizen children of these spouses are estimated to be eligible to seek parole under this process.”
USCIS said that additional information on the application process, required fee, and other key information will be detailed in a forthcoming Federal Register notice.