The "Reuniting Families Act" seeks to significantly reform the U.S. immigration system, primarily by enhancing family unity and reducing visa backlogs. It proposes to recapture hundreds of thousands of unused immigrant visas from fiscal years 1992 through 2025 for both family-sponsored and employment-based categories, while also increasing the annual worldwide levels for these visas. A key provision exempts beneficiaries of approved petitions with priority dates over ten years old from direct numerical limitations, aiming to clear long-standing queues.

A major change involves reclassifying spouses, permanent partners, and minor children of lawful permanent residents as "immediate relatives," making them exempt from annual visa caps. This reclassification is intended to significantly shorten waiting times for these family members. The bill also substantially increases the per-country limits for immigrant visas, moving from 7% to 20% for single foreign states and from 2% to 5% for dependent areas, which will help alleviate backlogs for individuals from high-demand countries.

To promote family unity, the bill repeals the three- and ten-year and permanent bars to admissibility for certain previously removed aliens, with exceptions for aggravated felonies. It also introduces an exception for misrepresentation of citizenship for individuals under 21 at the time of the misrepresentation. Furthermore, it grants the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General broad discretionary authority to waive grounds of inadmissibility and deportability for humanitarian reasons, family unity, or public interest.

The legislation provides crucial relief for vulnerable populations, including orphans, widows, and widowers, by allowing them to retain immediate relative status and ensuring their visa applications proceed even after the death of a qualifying relative. It also includes the "Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act," exempting certain family members of Filipino veterans from numerical visa limits. Protections are extended to minor children of K-visa applicants by fixing their age at the time of petition filing, and the bill ensures equal treatment for all stepchildren by removing previous age restrictions.

A significant aspect of the bill is the comprehensive integration of "permanent partner" and "permanent partnership" throughout the Immigration and Nationality Act. This includes defining these terms and amending numerous sections to grant permanent partners the same immigration benefits as spouses, covering areas such as visa allocation, adjustment of status, waivers, and naturalization. This change aims to provide legal recognition and pathways for same-sex and other committed relationships that cannot legally marry.

The bill also addresses the needs of refugee families by prioritizing reunification with U.S. relatives and ensuring timely adjudication of refugee applications. It expands Priority 3 family reunification processing to all nationalities and allows for the inclusion of partners of any gender if legal marriage was not an option. Finally, the bill seeks to promote diversity by increasing the annual number of diversity visas and making visas available to individuals affected by the "Muslim and African bans" or COVID-19 related restrictions.