US Immigration to Begin Accepting Legalization Applications for Certain Undocumented Immigrants Next Month

By:  Richard Hanus, Esq.

July 17, 2024

The Biden Administration announced today that starting August 19, 2024,  U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/USCIS) will begin accepting legalization applications of certain undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens.  More than 500,000 foreign national spouses and 50,000 foreign national step children who entered the US without a visa stand to benefit from this “path to citizenship” program.

As a reminder, prospective applicants will be required to demonstrate that as of June 17, 2024, A) they have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years after entering the U.S. without lawful admission AND B) they are married to a U.S. citizen (or are the stepchild of a U.S. citizen).  Further, prospective applicants must not have any disqualifying criminal history in their record – with details about the type of criminal past that will disqualify an applicant still forthcoming.

Eligible applicants will be approved for “parole in place” designation and placed on track toward working legally in the U.S. and eventually, within a 3 year period, obtaining Green Card (permanent resident) status.  From there, eligibility to apply for U.S. citizenship will be within reach.

Prospective applicants are advised to start gathering evidence of their current legal marriage, the termination of previous marriages, as well as documentation establishing 10 years of continuous residence status leading up to and including June 17, 2024.  Examples of such documentation include: rent receipts or utility bills, school records (letters, report cards, etc.), hospital or medical records, attestations to residence by religious entities, unions, or other organizations, identifying you by name, official records from a religious entity confirming participation in a religious ceremony, money order receipts for money sent into or out of the United States, birth certificates of children born in the United States, dated bank transactions, automobile license receipts, title, or registration, deeds, mortgages, or rental agreement contracts, insurance policies, or tax returns or tax receipts.

As of this moment, U.S. immigration authorities have still not yet released a specific form to complete and file, or filing instructions – including designation of a filing fee or filing location.  Further details, however, will likely be released in the coming weeks.

In the face of all the excitement and hoopla generated by the announcement of this program, prospective applicants will still need to consider a number of important questions before spending money on legal and filing fees and submitting an application package with DHS/USCIS, including :

1. Will implementation of this program be halted by legal challenges and protracted litigation before it even has a chance to get off the ground?
2. Will my disclosure of personal information, including address, as part of the application process put me in an excessively vulnerable position as an undocumented immigrant who is now easily findable and identifiable by U.S. immigration authorities?
3. Will this program be summarily terminated if a new President from the Republican party is elected into office?

Many pundits and experts will be guessing about answers to these questions, but none will know for certain how the next few months will play out. With that in mind, each applicant will need to decide for themselves after considering the upsides of applying, their particular tolerance for risk and all other ascertainable factors.

Further developments when it comes to this new Parole in Place program will continue to be featured in this blog.  For the latest, most important U.S. immigration law news, be sure to sign up to receive “Richard’s Blog” (published biweekly) – at https://www.usavisacounsel.com/newsletter