"Parole-in-Place" was an informal procedure that could be used in the past for some extraordinary cases, but now USCIS has formalized the practice in a Policy Memorandum dated 11/15/2013. In essence, USCIS has announced that Parole-in-Place is appropriate for spouses, children, and even parents of "Active Members of the U.S. Armed Forces, Individuals in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve or Individuals Who Previously Served in the U.S. Armed Forces or the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve."

What does this mean in reality? Here is a sample case: a U.S. citizen soldier has a wife from Mexico. The wife entered the United States without papers. Under normal circumstances, the U.S. citizen husband could sponsor the wife for a green card, but the wife would have to get a special waiver and go back to Mexico in order to get the green card at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez. The wife could not get the green card in the United States because she entered without papers.

With Parole-in-Place, however, the wife can be issued a legal entry document. In other words, she is "admitted" to the United States lawfully. Once the wife has that, the soldier/husband can sponsor his wife to get her green card here in the United States.

Call us at 919-788-9225 to see if Parole-in-Place can help you.