How to File Form I-131 for Parole in Place: Evidence and Fees

To file Form I-131 for parole in place, submit a paper application with Box 8.A checked in Part 1 (or Box 10.H if you’re renewing), attach evidence of the service member’s military status, your qualifying family relationship, your identity, and favorable discretionary factors, and mail the complete packet with no filing fee to the USCIS lockbox in Montclair, California. This process applies only to military parole in place — family members of active-duty service members, Selected Reserve members, and veterans who were not dishonorably discharged.¹ The separate Keeping Families Together program for spouses of U.S. citizens used a different form (I-131F) and was vacated by federal court order on November 7, 2024; USCIS is not accepting those filings.²

Confirm You Qualify Before You Start

Military parole in place is for the spouse, widow or widower, parent, son, or daughter of a qualifying service member. The service member can be on active duty, in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve, or a veteran with an honorable or general discharge. They can be living or deceased.³

Parole in place is discretionary. A qualifying military relationship weighs heavily in your favor, and absent a criminal conviction or other serious adverse factors, USCIS generally treats military-connected parole as an appropriate exercise of discretion.⁴ There is no published list of automatically disqualifying offenses; the officer weighs the nature and severity of any offense against the positive factors in your case. If you have any arrest history, plan to disclose it fully. An undisclosed arrest that surfaces in the background check is worse than the underlying record.

Filling Out Form I-131

Download the current edition of Form I-131 directly from the USCIS website. Third-party sites sometimes host outdated versions, and USCIS will reject any filing that uses mixed or expired editions.⁵ Before mailing, check that the edition date and page numbers show at the bottom of every page and that every page comes from the same edition.

The form covers many immigration purposes, so the box you check in Part 1 controls where your application ends up. For an initial military parole in place request, check Box 8.A. If you already have parole and need another year, check Box 10.H for re-parole.¹ The wrong box routes your case to the wrong queue.

Military parole in place cannot be filed online. It must be submitted on paper.⁶

Documents to Include With the Form

Your packet needs to establish three things: qualifying military service, your family relationship to the service member, and favorable discretionary factors.

Proof of Military Service

For active-duty and Selected Reserve members, include a photocopy of both sides of the current military ID card. For veterans, include DD Form 214, the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.⁷ National Guard members can submit NGB Form 22.¹ Lost discharge papers can be replaced through the National Personnel Records Center.

Proof of the Family Relationship

Spouses: a government-issued marriage certificate, plus divorce decrees or death certificates showing any prior marriages were legally ended.
Children: a birth certificate naming the service member or the service member’s spouse as a parent.
Parents: the service member’s birth certificate showing your name, together with evidence that the service member supports the parole request.

Proof of enrollment in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) also serves as supporting evidence of the relationship.¹

Identity and Photos

Include a copy of your valid foreign passport or another government-issued photo ID. Any foreign-language document needs a certified English translation with a signed statement from the translator confirming completeness and accuracy. Add two identical, color, passport-style photographs.¹

Favorable Discretionary Evidence

Meeting the basic eligibility criteria is necessary but not sufficient. Give the reviewing officer concrete reasons to say yes: a letter from the service member explaining how your presence supports their ability to serve, tax returns, community involvement, letters from employers, clergy, or neighbors. Thin packets with no context leave discretion doing all the work.⁴

Where to Mail It and What It Costs

Military parole in place has no filing fee. Do not include a check, money order, or payment form; a payment can confuse intake processing.³

As of July 21, 2025, every military parole in place application must be mailed to the USCIS facility in Montclair, California. Local USCIS field offices will reject Form I-131 filings for military parole in place postmarked on or after that date.⁸ The address (for USPS and for FedEx, UPS, and DHL) is:

USCIS
Attn: I-131 PIP
10 Application Way
Montclair, CA 91763-1350

Put together the packet in a logical order. A short cover letter listing everything enclosed, with your name and any Alien Registration Number, goes on top. Then the completed Form I-131, evidence of military service, relationship documents, identity documents, photographs, and supporting letters. Use clips rather than staples so the pages separate cleanly for scanning. Copy the entire packet before mailing so you can rebuild it if anything is lost in transit.

After You Send the Packet

USCIS mails Form I-797C, the Notice of Action, once it receives your filing. The receipt number on that notice lets you track your case through your USCIS online account or the USCIS Contact Center.⁹

Next comes a biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Center, where staff take your fingerprints, photograph, and signature for background checks.¹⁰ The appointment notice arrives by mail, so keep your address current. To reschedule, use your USCIS online account at least 12 hours before the appointment. Missing biometrics without rescheduling can stall the case.

If the officer reviewing your file needs more information, USCIS sends a Request for Evidence listing exactly what is missing and setting a deadline.¹¹ This is where most eventually-denied cases fall apart. Answer with the specific documents requested, and submit well before the deadline. A missed or thin RFE response can produce a denial on the record as it stands.

What You Get if You’re Approved

Approval produces a Form I-94, the Arrival/Departure Record, documenting that you have been “inspected and paroled.” Retrieve it electronically through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. Military parole is granted in one-year increments. The “Admit Until Date” on the I-94 is your actual expiration date; don’t confuse it with the OMB expiration date printed on the form itself.

Parole in place by itself does not authorize employment. To work legally, file a separate Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, using eligibility category (c)(11) for parolees.¹² Once approved, the Employment Authorization Document lets you work and apply for a Social Security number. The I-765 does carry a fee, so check the current USCIS fee schedule before mailing it.

Renewing Before the Year Runs Out

Military parole in place lasts one year. To extend it, file a new Form I-131 with Box 10.H checked in Part 1, sent to the same Montclair address.¹ File well before your current parole expires. If it lapses before the renewal is decided, you may start accruing unlawful presence again, which can complicate a pending adjustment case.

Mistakes That Delay or Sink Applications

Checking the wrong box in Part 1. It’s 8.A for initial military parole in place, 10.H for re-parole. Any other box misroutes the case.
Mailing to a local field office. Since July 2025, only the Montclair, California lockbox accepts these filings.⁸
Using an outdated edition of Form I-131, or mixing pages from different editions.⁵
Including a check or money order. There is no fee for military parole in place.
Thin discretionary evidence. Basic eligibility gets you to the officer’s desk. Concrete letters, records, and context are what get an approval.

If your case has complications — a criminal record, a complex family situation, or a deceased service member with lost service records — talk to an immigration attorney before filing. Military legal assistance offices on base often provide free initial consultations for service members and their families.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Discretionary Options for Military Members, Enlistees and Their Families
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Keeping Families Together
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration Options for Family of Certain Military Members and Veterans
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part B Chapter 2 – Eligibility Requirements
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Downloading and Printing Immigration Forms
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
7
National Archives. DD Form 214 Discharge Papers and Separation Documents
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797 Types and Functions
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request for Evidence (RFE)
12
Department of Homeland Security. FRTF Filing Guide – Application for Employment Authorization Based on Parole-in-Place