DHS’s Family Reunification Parole (FRP) Process: Requirements and Tips

In May 2023, DHS announced their new family reunification parole (FRP) process, which is available by invitation only to certain petitioners who filed an approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, on behalf of a principal beneficiary who is a national of Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, or Honduras, and their immediate family members. These processes allow an eligible beneficiary to be considered for parole into the United States only on a case-by-case basis while they wait for their family-based immigrant visa to become available.

Petitioners must meet the following requirements:

• You are either a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (have a Green Card);
• You filed Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for a principal beneficiary and USCIS approved it;
• You received a written invitation from the Department of State to file Form I-134A to request to be a supporter and initiate the FRP process on behalf of the principal beneficiary of your approved Form I-130, and their immediate family members. If you have not received a written invitation to apply and you file a Form I-134A, USCIS will not confirm your Form I-134A and the principal beneficiary will not be considered for a discretionary grant of parole under the FRP process; and
• An immigrant visa has not yet been issued to the principal beneficiary at the time you were issued the invitation to file Form I-134A.

Note: The Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) will email the invitation to petitioners at the email address of record for the approved Form I-130. If there is no email address of record, the NVC will mail the invitation to the petitioner’s mailing address of record. Please make sure the NVC has your current contact information and mailing address. To update your contact information or address, contact the NVC through their Public Inquiry Form.

Timing: Invitations will be issued on a rolling basis, based on U.S. government operational capacity, the expected period of time until the principal beneficiary’s immigrant visa becomes available, and consistency to ensure process integrity.

Beneficiaries must be eligible under DHS’s discretionary determinations

When making discretionary determinations about issuing an advance authorization to travel and granting parole, DHS will consider a beneficiary to be ineligible under these processes for Colombian, Salvadoran, Guatemala, or Honduran beneficiaries who:

• Have crossed irregularly into the United States, between U.S. ports of entry, after July 10, 2023, except DHS will not consider a beneficiary to be ineligible based on a single instance of voluntary departure pursuant to section 240B of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) or withdrawal of their application for admission pursuant to section 235(a)(4) of the INA;
• Have been interdicted at sea after July 10, 2023; or
• Have been ordered removed from the United States within the prior five years or are subject to a bar to admissibility based on a prior removal order.

Note: These ineligibilities do not apply to Cuban or Haitian beneficiaries under the FRP Process. However, CBP will consider any beneficiary’s previous immigration history and encounters with U.S. government entities when making a case-by-case determination for parole.

When submitting form, I-134A, petitioners should determine what financial information they have about their assets that will help USCIS determine their financial suitability. Some examples of financial evidence may include your federal income tax filing; bank statements; Form W-2 from your employer; pay stubs or pay statements from the past few months; and any proof of income coming into your household.

If approved, a beneficiary’s advance travel authorization under the FRP Process is valid for 90 days. Beneficiaries are responsible for securing their own travel via commercial air to the United States.