Where parole in place and Keeping Families Together stand in 2026, and what Miami families can do now. Fitenko Law, Hallandale Beach. Call (305) 315-3425.
Reviewed by Ekaterina Fitenko, Esq. — Florida Bar #1064536. With 20+ years of experience in the legal field (Florida Bar licensed since 2025), she helps mixed-status spouses, military families, and parents of U.S. citizens weigh their options across Miami and South Florida.
Parole in place, or PIP, is a narrow immigration tool. For a person who entered the United States without inspection — meaning they crossed the border and were never formally admitted — parole in place treats them, on paper, as if they had been "paroled into" the country. That single legal fiction matters enormously, because one of the biggest barriers to a green card for spouses of U.S. citizens is exactly this: to adjust status inside the country under Section 245(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a person generally must have been "inspected and admitted or paroled." Parole in place is meant to supply that missing ingredient, letting a family fix status here in Miami rather than sending a spouse abroad and risking a multi-year bar.
In 2026, two very different things share the "parole in place" label, and confusing them is the most common and costly mistake we see at our Hallandale Beach office. One is Keeping Families Together — the broad 2024 program for spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens, which has been struck down. The other is military parole in place — an older, separate, and still-available discretionary process for the families of service members. This update walks through both, honestly, because the difference decides whether a family has a real option or a closed door.
Keeping Families Together (KFT) was announced by the Biden administration in June 2024 and opened for applications on Form I-131F on August 19, 2024, with a filing fee reported at $580. It was designed for undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens who had lived in the country for years, promising a discretionary grant of parole in place and, with it, a pathway to adjust status without leaving. For tens of thousands of mixed-status families across South Florida — Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Haitian, Russian-speaking, and Central American households alike — it looked like the door many had waited a decade to open.
The door closed almost immediately. Texas and a coalition of states sued in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas — State of Texas v. Department of Homeland Security, Case No. 24-cv-306, before Judge J. Campbell Barker. After an administrative stay in August 2024, the court issued a final judgment on November 7, 2024, vacating the Keeping Families Together process nationwide. The core holding: the parole statute (INA 212(d)(5)) authorizes parole of noncitizens "into the United States," and the court read that as not authorizing parole for people who are already physically here. As of early-to-mid 2026, USCIS is no longer accepting or adjudicating Form I-131F applications under this program. You can confirm the current posture directly on the government's page for Keeping Families Together at USCIS.gov.
Roughly 94,000 people are reported to have applied before the program was halted, each having paid the $580 fee. USCIS has been issuing refunds of those filing fees — reported at around $55 million in total — though as of early-to-mid 2026 you should confirm the current refund status for any specific case. What no refund can fix is the exposure. Every I-131F application contained a home address, a full immigration history, and an admission of unlawful presence. Families who filed put detailed information about themselves in front of the government, and the program that was supposed to protect them no longer exists.
Here is the honest picture. The district court's vacatur ended Keeping Families Together as an operating program. Intervening parties — mixed-status families and advocacy organizations — pursued an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, but the practical reality is that the current administration has no interest in reviving a broad parole-in-place program, and the Department of Homeland Security has publicly reframed parole as a strict, case-by-case tool rather than a category program. As of early-to-mid 2026, you should treat Keeping Families Together as unavailable and confirm the current litigation status before relying on any hope of revival. We do not counsel Miami families to wait on a program that has been vacated; we counsel them to build the strongest alternative that exists today. A seasoned Miami immigration attorney can map those alternatives to your specific entry history and marriage.
This is the part that gets lost in the headlines. Military parole in place is a completely separate program, and as of early-to-mid 2026 it remains available — though it, too, sits in a more restrictive discretionary climate, so confirm the current status before filing. It was not created by the 2024 initiative and was not swept away by the Texas ruling. It exists for the families of those who serve.
Military PIP is aimed at the spouse, parent, or unmarried child under 21 of someone who is on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, a member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve, or a veteran who previously served and was not dishonorably discharged. In a region with major installations and thousands of service members and veterans, this reaches more South Florida households than people expect — the spouse who entered without inspection years ago and later married a U.S. citizen now serving in the Navy or Coast Guard, for example. USCIS explains eligibility on its page for discretionary options for military members and their families.
Two differences matter. First, the form: military PIP is requested on Form I-131, the general travel and parole application — not the now-dormant I-131F. Second, the legal footing: because it rests on the government's long-standing, individualized use of parole for service-connected families, it did not fall with the broad spousal program. A grant is typically issued for a one-year period and, critically, can supply the "paroled" status that lets a spouse who entered without inspection adjust status to a green card from inside the United States.
The cost picture changed in late 2025. As of early-to-mid 2026 — and please confirm the current amounts before you file — a new fee framework tied to 2025 federal legislation reportedly imposes a $1,000 fee when a parole request is granted, and fee waivers that were previously available for the Form I-131 filing fee (reported around $630) are no longer offered for these requests. Discretion is also being applied strictly: USCIS is not required to grant PIP even when every eligibility box is checked, and background and discretionary factors are reviewed closely. Budgeting and a clean, well-documented filing matter more than ever. You can review the base form itself on the USCIS page for Form I-131.
For the broad population that pinned hopes on Keeping Families Together, 2026 means turning back to the durable, statute-based paths — the ones that were here before KFT and remain here after it. For a spouse of a U.S. citizen who entered with inspection (a visa, a parole, even a wave-through at a port of entry that was later documented), a straightforward marriage-based green card through adjustment of status may already be available — no parole in place needed at all. Many people assume they are stuck when they are not; the entry history is everything.
For a spouse who entered without inspection and has no military connection, the realistic route is usually consular processing abroad paired with a provisional unlawful-presence waiver (Form I-601A), filed and approved before departure to shrink the time apart. It is a harder road than adjusting here, but it is a real, lawful path with a defined process — and for the right facts it is far safer than waiting for a vacated program to return. As an experienced immigration lawyer in Miami will tell you, the correct strategy turns on one question answered honestly: how did you last enter the country, and can you prove it?
If you submitted an I-131F application under Keeping Families Together, take three steps. First, watch for and preserve any refund notice, and confirm the current refund status rather than assuming it is automatic. Second, do not file anything new in reliance on KFT — it is not a live program. Third, and most important, get a candid case review of what your I-131F filing disclosed and what alternative path fits your facts. Because that application documented unlawful presence and a manner of entry, the analysis is genuinely different depending on whether you entered with or without inspection, whether you have any prior removal order, and whether any of the enforcement priorities under current Florida immigration enforcement touch your situation. This is not a moment for guesswork. Families whose parole or CHNV-related status expired should also read our update on the end of CHNV parole in South Florida, since some households are affected by more than one change at once.
Assuming KFT will come back. It was vacated nationwide. Plan around what exists today. Confusing the two parole-in-place programs. Military PIP is alive; the broad spousal KFT program is not — filing the wrong form on the wrong theory wastes time and money. Filing without checking your entry history. A spouse who was actually inspected and admitted may not need parole in place at all. Ignoring the new fees. Budget for the reported $1,000 grant fee and the loss of fee waivers before you start, and confirm current amounts. Going quiet with the government. If you have a pending case or a prior filing, missing a notice can create problems that are far harder to undo than to prevent.
At Fitenko Law PLLC in Hallandale Beach, we help Miami and South Florida families cut through the noise of a fast-moving policy year and find the path that is actually open to them. That starts with the questions that decide everything: exactly how you entered, what you may have already filed, whether there is a military connection in the family, and whether adjustment of status or consular processing with a waiver is the safer route for your facts. Ekaterina Fitenko brings 20+ years of experience in the legal field, is Florida Bar licensed since 2025, and works with Russian-, Ukrainian-, and Spanish-speaking families across the region. We give you a clear-eyed plan, not false hope.
The best next step is a paid strategy session: $200 for 20 focused minutes with an attorney, and that $200 is credited toward your fee if you retain the firm. In that session we tell you plainly whether parole in place applies to you, what your real alternatives are, and what it will cost. Call (305) 315-3425 or email fitenkolaw@gmail.com to book. You can also reach us through our contact page or learn more about the firm.
No. The Keeping Families Together parole-in-place process for spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens was vacated nationwide by a federal court in late 2024, and as of early-to-mid 2026 USCIS is not accepting or adjudicating Form I-131F applications under it. Confirm the current status before relying on any change.
As of early-to-mid 2026, yes — military parole in place is a separate program that remains available on a discretionary, case-by-case basis for the spouse, parent, or unmarried child under 21 of an active-duty service member, a Selected Reserve member, or an eligible veteran. It is requested on Form I-131. Because the discretionary climate is strict, confirm the current status before filing.
USCIS has been issuing refunds of the Form I-131F filing fees for applications submitted under the vacated program. Watch for a refund notice and confirm the current refund process for your specific case rather than assuming it happens automatically.
It depends on your entry. A spouse who was inspected and admitted or paroled may be able to pursue a marriage-based green card through adjustment of status without needing parole in place. A spouse who entered without inspection and has no military connection usually looks at consular processing abroad paired with a provisional unlawful-presence waiver. The right path turns on your documented entry history.
As of early-to-mid 2026, plan for the Form I-131 filing fee (reported around $630) plus a reported $1,000 fee if the parole is granted, with fee waivers no longer available for these requests. Confirm the current amounts before filing, as fees have changed recently.
Any filing puts detailed information in front of the government, and 2026 is a strict discretionary environment. That is exactly why an individualized review matters before you submit anything — so you understand your exposure, your eligibility, and your best path first. For families worried about enforcement, reviewing your situation with counsel before acting is the safer course.
The initial consultation is a paid strategy session: $200 for 20 minutes with an attorney, credited toward your fee if you retain the firm. Call (305) 315-3425 or email fitenkolaw@gmail.com to schedule.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law and policy in 2026 are changing quickly; program availability, fees, and litigation outcomes can shift. For guidance on your specific situation, speak with a licensed attorney. Fitenko Law PLLC, Hallandale Beach, serving Miami and South Florida.
Fitenko Law PLLC, 600 Three Islands Blvd, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009. Phone: (305) 315-3425. Email: fitenkolaw@gmail.com