United States | DHS Keeping Families Together reduces barriers for noncitizen spouses

The Department of Homeland Security today announced implementation of the Keeping Families Together process, which grants parole in place on a case-by-case basis to certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens.

Key Points:

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting requests from eligible individuals for this process starting today, Aug. 19. Eligibility requirements for noncitizen spouses and noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens can be found here.
• DHS estimates that 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens may meet these eligibility criteria.
• Eligible individuals must file Form I-131F, Application for Parole in Place for Certain Noncitizen Spouses and Stepchildren of U.S. Citizens, online after creating a myUSCIS account. USCIS will review submitted evidence supporting the existence of a legally valid marriage.
• The filing fee is $580. Fee waiver requests for Form I-131F will not be accepted.
• If granted parole, these noncitizen spouses and noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens, if otherwise eligible, could apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.

Additional Information: In its announcement, the agency stated, “Too often, noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens — many of them mothers and fathers — live with uncertainty due to undue barriers in our immigration system. This process to keep U.S. families together will remove these undue barriers for those who would otherwise qualify to live and work lawfully in the U.S., while also creating greater efficiencies in the immigration system, conducting effective screening and vetting, and focusing on noncitizens who contribute to and have longstanding connections within American communities across the country.”

More information about the process can be found here.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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