In the past, to obtain permanent residency for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, in almost all cases the person who had migrated to the country had to return to their country of origin and wait to be processed abroad to apply for residency.
Official White House Photograph by Adam Schultz
President Joe Biden in the Oval Office on June 17, 2024.
On June 18, President Joe Biden announced a measure to allow undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for legal permanent residence without having to leave the country.
In the past, in order to obtain permanent residency for these couples, in almost all cases the person who had migrated to the country had to return to their country of origin and wait to be processed abroad to apply for residency.
He Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognize that waiting abroad “results in a prolonged, potentially indefinite period of separation from their U.S. citizen family members and causes significant hardship for all involved.”
To qualify for the new program, undocumented spouses must have resided in the United States for 10 years or more by June 17, 2024, be legally married to a U.S. citizen, and meet all relevant legal requirements—which have not yet been published in detail.
The president would exercise his authority to grant undocumented spouses “parole in place” (PIP), a term used to describe the admission of immigrants who are already in the country and entered without inspection, which would allow them to stay, obtain a work permit and gain a path to permanent residency.
Since 2010, undocumented spouses of Americans in the military have been eligible for a similar measure, with the goal of minimizing family separation.
According to DHS, approximately 500,000 undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens may be eligible for this process, and about 50,000 children of these spouses would also be eligible.
As part of this measure, the Biden administration also announced that beneficiaries of the program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) may receive work visas when they have received a job offer in a field related to their college degree.
So to talk about what is known so far about this new immigration measure, we invited Carlos Guevara, director of policies for The Immigration Hub, a national organization that promotes immigration policies.
More details in our conversation below.
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