Form I-817, or the "Application for Family Unity Benefits," is an immigration-related form issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It is used to request benefits under a special program for family members of immigrants who filed for amnesty or Special Agricultural Worker (SAW) benefits in the 1980s, where the primary applicants are still awaiting green cards, or where the family members are still on the waiting list for green cards based on the primary applicant's receipt of lawful permanent resident (green card) status and subsequent sponsorship petition.

A grant of Family Unity allows the family members to stay in the U.S. legally and receive a work permit during this long wait.

Why is this taking so long? Many of the legalization cases were tied up in class-action lawsuits for a number of years, which have only recently been addressed by legislation by Congress. Also, even after the primary applicant gets a green card, their spouses and children must typically wait for around five years for a green card to become available to them, because of annual limits in this "family preference" category. 

Do not be confused by the generic-sounding name "Family Unity." This is a very narrow program, and has nothing to do with immigrants' eligibility for green cards based on family reunification.