United States: Effective Immediately, USCIS Will Not Accept Form I-131F Applications Under the Keeping Families Together Parole Program

On November 7, 2024, a federal district court in Texas issued a declaratory judgment and a permanent injunction against the Biden Administration’s Keeping Families Together (KFT) parole-in-place program for certain undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens. According to an update on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) webpage, effective immediately, USCIS is taking the following steps to comply with the court’s order:

• Intake of new Form I-131F applications – a form used exclusively for the KFT program - will cease;
• Pending Form I-131F applications will not be adjudicated;
• Applicants with a future Application Support Center (ASC) biometrics appointment in support of a filed Form I-131F should consider that appointment cancelled immediately. Applicants who appear for such an appointment will be turned away.

According to USCIS, in the coming days, the agency will publish additional information on how it will handle pending cases and paid application fees.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.