Family Reunification Parole for Guatemalans in 2026: Terminated, What the Court Paused, and the Route That Remains

The Family Reunification Parole process for Guatemalans let a US citizen or permanent resident with an approved family petition bring a Guatemalan relative to the United States before the immigrant visa was available. It no longer exists. This page gives the dates, what the termination notice says, what a federal court has paused, and the route that is left.

In short: DHS created FRP for Guatemalans on July 10, 2023 and terminated it as of December 15, 2025 (Federal Register notice 2025-22744). The notice set January 14, 2026 as the end of parole for people already paroled in. On January 24, 2026 a federal court in Massachusetts stayed that part, and USCIS says the parole-termination notices it sent are not currently in effect while the injunction lasts. The government has appealed that order to the First Circuit; as of October 20, 2026 there is no ruling on the appeal. New FRP requests are over. The route that remains for a relative with an approved I-130 is the immigrant visa, with the interview at the US Embassy in Guatemala City. General information, not legal advice.

Timeline

The government appealed the injunction to the First Circuit on March 25, 2026 (No. 26-1314, consolidated with No. 26-1628). As of October 20, 2026 the appeal docket shows briefing under way and no ruling, and USCIS’s page still says the termination notices are not in effect. Re-check uscis.gov/FRP before relying on this timeline. Docket dates are from CourtListener’s copy of the court record, which can miss entries.

What FRP was

The 2023 notice described the process this way: certain Guatemalan principal beneficiaries of an approved Form I-130 and their immediate family members would receive advance authorization to travel to the United States and seek a discretionary grant of parole for a period of up to three years, instead of waiting outside the United States for their immigrant visas.

How it worked, per USCIS:

1. It was by invitation only. Invitations went by mail or email to certain petitioners whose I-130 was already approved, using the contact details held by the National Visa Center.
2. The invited petitioner filed Form I-134A (a request to be a supporter and declaration of financial support), one per beneficiary.
3. If USCIS confirmed it, DHS vetted the beneficiary and considered advance travel authorization.
4. The beneficiary flew to a US airport and asked CBP for parole, which was discretionary.
5. Once paroled, the beneficiary could ask for work authorization and, when the immigrant visa became available, apply to adjust status.

USCIS listed three ineligibilities for Guatemalan beneficiaries: crossing irregularly between ports of entry after July 10, 2023 (with an exception for a single voluntary departure or withdrawal of an application for admission), being interdicted at sea after that date, or having been ordered removed within the prior 5 years or being subject to a bar to admissibility based on a prior removal order.

What the December 2025 termination notice changed

Two more points from the notice:

• No filing fee was involved. The notice states there was no fee for the petitioner to file Form I-134A and no fee for a beneficiary to seek consideration under the FRP programs.
• Parole at the border is still discretionary. The notice says CBP may still consider a request for parole case by case, for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, and that if parole is not granted a person may be removed or processed for another disposition. That is the general parole power, not a program.

What the court paused, and what it did not

USCIS’s FRP page opens with this alert: on January 24, 2026 the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction in Svitlana Doe v. Noem, No. 25-cv-10495, staying parts of the December 15 notice «to the extent that it terminates previously granted individual parole and employment authorization issued to aliens paroled into the United States pursuant to the FRP programs prior to the aliens’ originally stated parole end dates». USCIS adds that the termination notices sent to parolees are stayed and «Affected aliens may disregard the information in those notices while the injunction is in effect.»

What that means in plain terms:

• Covered: a Guatemalan already paroled in under FRP, whose parole and work permit the notice would have cut short. Under the order, those run to their original end dates for now.
• Not covered by that language: new invitations, pending I-134A requests and pending travel authorizations. The injunction text quoted by USCIS is about previously granted parole and work authorization.
• Temporary: it is a preliminary injunction, and USCIS says it disagrees with the decision and is complying pending further action in the case. On March 25, 2026 the district court denied the government’s motion for reconsideration or a stay, and the government appealed both the injunction and that denial to the First Circuit (Nos. 26-1314 and 26-1628, consolidated). The government’s opening brief was tendered on October 2, 2026. As of October 20, 2026 the appeal docket shows no ruling, and USCIS’s page (last updated January 27, 2026) still carries the alert. A ruling on the appeal could change this.

Anyone whose parole end date is close should speak to an immigration attorney about which benefit they can apply for; the notice itself says parolees may apply for any immigration benefit or status for which they are eligible.

The route that remains: the immigrant visa

FRP was always a bridge built on an approved I-130. The termination notice describes the path it bypassed: the relative waits abroad until the priority date is current, then goes through consular processing with the State Department, with biometrics, an in-person interview and civil documents.

For a Guatemalan relative, that means:

The 2023 notice explained why FRP existed with a Visa Bulletin example: in May 2023 a Guatemalan married child of a US citizen (F3 category) would have a visa available only if the I-130 had been filed more than 14 years earlier. Ending FRP did not shorten that wait.

Not the same thing

• Advance parole for DACA travel is a different document. For approved TPS holders, USCIS issues Form I-512T travel authorization; pending TPS applicants may request advance parole (checked October 31, 2026, USCIS). See DACA renewal and TPS and Guatemalans.
• Reunificación familiar for foreigners moving to Guatemala is a Guatemalan residency topic, unrelated to US parole: see the spouse visa for Guatemala.

Related

• Visa Bulletin for Guatemalan family petitions: this month’s cut-off dates for the queue FRP used to bridge
• Immigrant visa interview in Guatemala City
• Asylum for Guatemalans in the US
• What happens when a deportation flight lands

Sources, read on 24 September 2026: Federal Register notice 2025-22744, Termination of Family Reunification Parole Processes for Colombians, Cubans, Ecuadorians, Guatemalans, Haitians, Hondurans, and Salvadorans, 90 FR 58032 (December 15, 2025); Federal Register notice 2023-14473, Implementation of a Family Reunification Parole Process for Guatemalans, 88 FR 43581 (July 10, 2023); USCIS Family Reunification Parole Processes page (last updated January 27, 2026). Read on 25 September 2026: Justice Action Center case page for Svitlana Doe v. Noem (plaintiffs’ counsel), for the January 10, 2026 restraining order. Read on 20 October 2026: USCIS Family Reunification Parole page, and CourtListener’s copy of the District of Massachusetts docket (No. 1:25-cv-10495, ECF 257, 258, 288, 289, 291 and 304) and of the First Circuit docket in Nos. 26-1314 and 26-1628. General information, not legal advice.