Reuniting Families Act: Immigration Streamlining and Partnership Equality
This act aims to facilitate family reunification for immigrants by accelerating visa processes and broadening family definitions. It introduces new provisions for permanent partners, increases visa availability, and offers protections for children and those who have lost loved ones, as well as streamlining refugee processes.
Key points
Spouses, permanent partners, and minor children of green card holders will be reclassified as "immediate relatives," significantly speeding up their immigration process by exempting them from visa limits.
The act formally recognizes "permanent partners" (including same-sex partners) as equivalent to spouses for all immigration purposes, extending family-based benefits to committed relationships regardless of legal marriage status.
It increases the overall number of available family-sponsored and employment-based visas and allows the government to "recapture" unused visas from past years, which should help shorten long waiting lists.
Children of visa applicants will be protected from "aging out" (turning 21 and losing eligibility) during the long process. Immigration applications can also continue if the sponsoring relative passes away, and spouses and children of certain non-immigrant visa holders will gain work authorization.
The law prioritizes family reunification for refugees, expands eligibility for refugee programs to all nationalities, and sets deadlines for processing refugee applications, aiming for faster decisions.
Introduced
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