A new Board of Immigration Appeals ruling has changed a long-standing interpretation of advance parole, potentially putting some immigrants at risk of three- or 10-year US re-entry bars if they leave the country after accruing more than 180 days of unlawful presence.
The central development
Advance parole is a travel authorization that can allow certain people with pending immigration applications or specific immigration protections to leave the United States and seek permission to return while their cases remain pending. Going forward, however, international travel on advance parole can have significantly different consequences for people with qualifying periods of unlawful presence. The decision, issued August 13 in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, overturns a 2012 BIA precedent that had allowed certain foreign nationals with unlawful presence to travel internationally on advance parole without triggering the unlawful presence bars. Travel on advance parole that occurred before the August 13 decision will not be treated as having triggered the unlawful presence bars under the new rule.
For more than a decade, the BIA’s 2012 decision in Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly held that travel using advance parole did not constitute a “departure” for purposes of the three- and 10-year unlawful presence bars. The BIA said the new interpretation applies prospectively.
The ruling could affect several groups that have historically relied on advance parole for international travel.
How this developed
The impact could be particularly important for people who previously viewed advance parole as a way to travel internationally without activating the unlawful presence bars.
