An advance parole is a document that allows an individual to re-enter the United States without an immigrant visa or non-immigrant visa after having traveled abroad. In addition, it must be granted before he or she leaves the U.S. If they have not obtained advance parole before traveling abroad, then there is a great possibility that they may not be permitted to re-enter the United States upon their return without obtaining the kind of visa.
Advance Parole does not guarantee admission into the United States. Individuals who have obtained Advance Parole are still subject to the inspection process at the port of entry. It takes about two to three months to process an Advance Parole application. Moreover, this document is renewable and is valid up to one year and during that period, an alien may make multiple entries into the United State. Renewal application must be filed at least 120 days before the previously issued advance parole expires.
Two Main Functions Of Advance Parole—This enables an individual to come back to the United States after traveling abroad without obtaining a visa to enter the United States AND/OR preserves the pending Adjustment of Status pending with the USCIS or other application for protected status that the alien has filed.
You May Apply for advance parole if you currently reside in the United States and have a personal or bona fide reason to travel temporarily abroad. Examples of a personal or bona fide reason to travel temporarily abroad may include an application for adjustment of status pending, being granted benefits under the Family Unity Program, being granted temporary protected status, having an asylum application pending. Note: You do not require an advance parole if you have applied for adjustment of status and are maintaining H-1 status (temporary workers in specialty occupations) or L-1 status (intra-company transferees), or are a dependent in H-4 or L-2 status.
You May Not Apply for advance parole if you are in the United States without a valid immigration status, a beneficiary of a private bill, in removal proceedings, currently in a valid non-immigration status, subject to the two year foreign residence requirement due to having held J-1 status.
Your application must include the following:
To Apply, you must prove that you have a personal or bona fide reason to travel abroad. Your application must include the following (a) USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Document; (b) Two identical color photographs taken within 30 days of filing the application, showing full face (passport style) and with your head bare (unless you are wearing a headdress as required by a religious order of which you are a member), has a white background and be no larger than a 2×2 inches, with the distance from the top of the head to just below the chin about 1 and ¼ inches and glossy, un-mounted, un-retouched and printed on thin paper. Note: lightly print you A# or your name if you have no A# on the back of each photo using a pencil; (c) Copy of your current passport; (d) Copy of the USCIS Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Document issued to you while you entered the United States; (e) Copy of the receipt notice or other evidence that your application for Green Card is pending with the USCIS; (f) Copies of documents which indicate your current status.
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You may apply for advance parole if you currently reside in the United States and have a personal or bona fide reason to travel temporarily abroad.
Examples of a personal or bona fide reason to travel temporarily abroad may include:
You do not require an advance parole if you have applied for adjustment of status and are maintaining H-1 status (temporary workers in specialty occupations), L-1 status (intra-company transferees), or are a dependent in H-4 or L-2 status.
You may not apply for advance parole if you are:
It takes about two to three months to process an advance parole application. After that, the document is renewable and valid up to one year, during which time an alien may make multiple entries into the United States. Renewal application must be filed at least 120 days before the previously issued advance parole expires.
Schedule your consultation with the Skokie advance parole attorney at Gambacorta Law by calling 1-847-737-4301 or contacting us online.
Advance parole is issued to aliens who do not have permanent residence status, while a re-entry permit is issued to permanent U.S. residents. Re-entry permits look like a passport while advance paroles are single pieces of paper bearing the photo of the alien.
In a nutshell, an alien with an advance parole still needs a foreign passport to enter the U.S., while a permanent resident to the U.S. with a re-entry permit does not need a foreign passport to enter the county.
Advance parole is valid for a year while a re-entry permit is valid for two years.
An Application for Adjustment of Status is not deemed abandoned just because an applicant uses advance parole to travel outside the U.S. Advance parole may be granted for any business or personal reason.
For instance, a foreign national who has a pending Adjustment of Status case may re-enter the U.S. with their advance parole document while preserving their Adjustment of Status application.
H or L status holders who travel outside the U.S. without seeking advance parole are not considered as having abandoned the Status of Adjustment application if the following conditions are met:
They are in possession of a valid H or L status before traveling abroad
They come back to the US with a valid H-1 or L-1 visa
They resume employment with the same employer for whom H or L status was issued prior to departure from the U.S.
In such a situation, the alien needs to have a valid H-1B or L-1 visa or apply for an H-1 or L-1 visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad.
Successful adjudication of your immigration case through the numerous deadlines and complex processes can be extremely difficult without help from an experienced immigration lawyer. At Gambacorta Law, we can help you through the preparation of your petitions and applications, coach you for your USCIS interview, and clear out issues on your green card, visas, and many others.
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