Marco served honorably in the US military. After his honorable discharge, he got a job at a tech company in the Silicon Valley. His wife Maria entered the United States without inspection about seven years earlier. They had been married for two years and had a baby daughter. Marco and Maria came to us to see if they could obtain legal status for Maria.

When we met, Sean first discussed the I-601A waiver with Maria, but upon learning that Marco had been honorably discharged from the military, Sean suggested the DHS program for parole-in-place for military spouses. The President has had the legal authority to parole aliens for decades. Ronald Reagan used the parole power during the Mariel Boat Lift when tens of thousands of Cuban refugees began arriving in the United States in 1980.

In 2008, Michael Chertoff, then Secretary of Department of Homeland Security during the Bush Administration, made the first use of parole-in-place for the spouse of a US Army soldier who was missing in action.  Department of Homeland Security then began granting parole-in-place to other military spouses on a case-by-case basis, but without any specific, announced policy.  On August 15, 2013, USCIS issued a policy memorandum setting out the requirements for parole-in-place for military spouses.

Parole-in-place for military spouses is important because usually when the spouse of a US citizen enters the United States illegally, that spouse may not adjust status (obtain permanent residence while inside of the United States and without having to leave). The unlawful presence bars at INA 212(a)(9) prohibit an alien who was inside of the United States illegally for a year or more and who departs from reentering the United States for 10 years. While there are waivers for the 10 year bar, they are difficult to get and carry a more expensive legal fee.

We were able to get Maria's parole-in-place application approved in just 26 days at the USCIS San Francisco District Office. Once her parole was approved, we applied for her adjustment of status as the spouse of a US citizen, which is a fairly simple and inexpensive process that often does not require the help of an attorney. We do suggest that clients pursuing a spousal adjustment of status application use an attorney if they have prior immigration violations, a criminal history, or other unique problems and Maria did use our services to ensure that the spousal adjustment went smoothly. Maria received her permanent residence within four months of obtaining parole. From start to green card, Maria waited about five months.  Maria is now a US permanent resident and will be eligible to apply for US citizenship in three years.

Parole-in-place is available for the spouses of active duty US military service personnel, those honorably discharged from the United States military, and the US Ready Reserve if the reservist participated in at least forty-eight scheduled drills or training periods during each year of service and served on active duty for training at least fourteen days each year, or (2) participated in training at encampments, maneuvers, outdoor target practice, or other exercises at least fifteen days each year.