Parole, in the
immigration laws of the United States, generally refers to official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the United States, under the supervision of the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
without formal admission, and while remaining an applicant for admission.
Parole has been used since 1956 by presidents of both parties to respond to humanitarian and refugee crises.
Categories
Among the categories of parole are port-of-entry parole, humanitarian parole, parole in place, removal-related parole, and advance parole (typically requested by persons inside the United States who need to travel outside the U.S. without abandoning status, such as applicants for
LPR status, holders of and applicants for
TPS, and individuals with other forms of parole).
Parole has also been used systematically by some
presidential administrations to bring into the United States targeted groups of foreign nationals, many instances of which can be classed as
refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
-related parole programs,
family reunification parole programs, and
Cuban parole programs.
The use of broad parole authority has been controversial and subject to limitations and modification over time.
Humanitarian
Humanitarian parole is granted in
exceptional circumstances and on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the DHS.
Uniting for Ukraine
The Uniting for Ukraine program allows Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members to enter the US for a period of two years if a US sponsor agrees to financially support them. It was implemented in response to the
Ukrainian refugee crisis
An ongoing refugee crisis began in Europe in late February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Over 6 million refugees fleeing Ukraine are recorded across Europe, while an estimated 8 million others had been Internally displaced person, ...
due to
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
As of December 2023, over 170,000 Ukrainians had been paroled into the US through Uniting for Ukraine.
Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans
Modeled after the Uniting for Ukraine program, citizens of these four Latin American countries could be paroled into the US for a period of two years if a US sponsor agreed to support them. The program allowed a combined total of 30,000 people per month from the four countries to enter the US. The program was implemented in response to high numbers of people from these countries crossing into the US at the southwest border.
Family reunification
Cuba and Haiti
Under the Cuban Family Reunification Parole and the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, certain eligible U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are eligible to apply for parole for their family members in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
or
Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
. If the family member is granted parole, the family member would then be allowed to enter the U.S. before their immigrant visas were available. After entering the U.S. under parole, the family member would need to wait for their
priority date
Priority date is a United States immigration concept – it is the date when a principal applicant first reveals his or her intent of immigration to the US government. For family-sponsored applicants, the priority date is the date an immigration ...
to arrive before applying for
lawful permanent resident status, although the family member would have the option of applying for discretionary
work authorization in the meantime.
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras
In 2014, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
established the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program to provide certain children, youth, and family members escaping violence, persecution, or other humanitarian situations in
El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
,
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
, and
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
with an opportunity to enter the United States as
refugees
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
or parolees.
In its current form, the CAM Program allows parents or
legal guardians 18 years of age or older who are in the United States as
lawful permanent residents, or with
Temporary Protected Status, parole for more than one year, deferred action for more than one year, deferred enforced departure, withholding of removal, or with a pending asylum application or
U visa petition filed prior to May 15, 2021, to apply for their children and other eligible family members to come to the United States as refugees or parolees.
In order for any household member to be eligible, the "qualifying child" must be under the age of 21 at the time of application, unmarried, and a national of El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras and physically located in the country of origin or another of the three countries.
Other eligible family members include parents of the qualifying child living in El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras and their other children and spouse in certain cases; primary caregivers and siblings of a qualifying child; and the unmarried child of a qualifying child under the age of 21.
After a qualifying parent or legal guardian files an application (an Affidavit of Relationship) with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration through a U.S. Resettlement Agency, the children and eligible family members undergo a pre-screening interview with the
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations related organization working in the field of migration. The organization implements operational assistance programmes for Human migration, migrants, including internally displa ...
in the country where they are located, complete a DNA test (where applicable), and go through a refugee interview with
USCIS
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and immigration system.
History
The USCIS is a successor to the Im ...
.
Applicants may not have counsel present during interviews.
All applicants are initially considered for refugee status.
Individuals determined to be ineligible for refugee status are automatically considered for parole on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or for significant public benefit.
Refugee status denials cannot be appealed, but a Request for Review is available for individuals denied refugee claims and denied parole status in some instances and must be filed within 90 days of being notified of the negative decision.
Individuals granted refugee and parole status must complete a medical exam and clear security vetting prior to traveling to the United States.
Refugees must apply for legal permanent residence after one year of being in refugee status and may apply for citizenship after holding legal permanent residence status for approximately five years.
If a person is approved for parole, they may lawfully enter and live temporarily in the U.S. without accruing unlawful presence for the parole period.
CAM parolees are eligible to apply for work authorization and may apply for another form of immigration relief to secure a permanent status.
At this time, CAM parole is issued for a three-year period and is renewable.
The CAM Program has been operational in various iterations. During the initial CAM Program, operating from 2014 to 2017, more than 12,000 individuals applied, with about 3,000 entering the United States before the
Trump administration terminated it through a series of actions in 2017 and 2018. Advocates sued the Trump administration for terminating the CAM Program unlawfully in a case called ''S.A. v. Trump''. The litigation resulted in a settlement agreement that continues to be enforced as of January 2023. Through this litigation, since 2019, over 1,600 individuals have been paroled into the United States.
The
Biden administration
Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...
restarted the CAM Program in two stages. Since March 2021, when it reopened the CAM Program only for some applications filed originally between 2014 and 2017 (those that had not received an interview before their case was closed), approximately several hundred CAM beneficiaries have reached the United States.
Since September 2021, when the Biden administration reopened the CAM Program for new applications, an estimated several hundred new applications were filed. In the first year of accepting new applications, no case was completed and resulted in a beneficiary traveling to the United States.
Since restarting the Program, it has operated at a fraction of the capacity that it did in its first years.
Under Phase One, USCIS began to process new applications and reopened some cases terminated in 2018.
Phase Two was announced on June 15, 2021 and the Program began accepting applications on September 14, 2021. Various obstacles have prevented many qualified individuals from applying and processing bottlenecks have constrained prompt adjudication of cases and kept most others from resettlement.
In January 2022, fifteen states, led by Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Texas Senate representing the e ...
, filed a lawsuit seeking to end the program and to block eligible children fleeing violence from obtaining a safe and legal path for protection in the United States.
In May 2022, two parents actively seeking CAM protection for their children intervened in the lawsuit as defendants to present evidence of the program's impact.
Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program
Under the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program, Filipino World War II veterans and their spouses who are U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents were eligible to apply for parole for certain family members. Following
President Donald Trump's
Executive Order 13767, which instructed the
Secretary of Homeland Security to exercise its parole authority "only when an individual demonstrates urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit derived from such parole", the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program was ended. No new applications under the program are being accepted, although individuals already in parole status continue to maintain that status until its expiration date, they may request re-parole, and they may apply to adjust status when eligible to do so.
Start-up entrepreneurs
In 2017, DHS published a new rule, effective July 17, 2017, adding new provisions regarding the use of parole on a case-by-case basis with respect to entrepreneurs of start-up entities who demonstrate that they will provide a significant public benefit to the United States.
In May 2018, DHS published a proposed rule to remove those IEP regulations.
As of February 10, 2020, USCIS had received a total of 28 IEP applications, of which 1 was approved, 22 were denied, 3 were withdrawn, and 2 were pending.
Build Back Better
A proposed provision in
Joe Biden's Build Back Better proposed legislation would grant immigration parole to about eight million formerly undocumented immigrants living in the country since 2011 or earlier. The parole, which would allow immigrants to work and to freely come and go from the country, would be granted for five years and renewable for another five years up to a maximum of ten years.
Advance parole
Advance parole is permission for a non-
U.S. national, who does not have a valid immigrant visa, to request re-entry to the United States after traveling abroad, and to temporarily leave the U.S. without abandoning an ongoing immigration status.
Such persons include those who have applied to adjust their status to that of permanent resident or to change their non-immigrant status.
Advance parole must be approved before the applicant leaves the United States, or any residency application be denied unless
exceptional circumstances are demonstrated by the alien. It is granted when immigration document Form I-512 is issued by the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and Immigration to the United States, immigration system.
History
...
(USCIS), which enables an
alien to be paroled into the United States. It is not a
U.S. visa or a
re-entry permit; it is only issued to people without
permanent residency
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...
.
To obtain an advance parole, an applicant must file Form I-131 ("Application for Travel Document"), with supporting documentation, photos, and fee, at a local USCIS office or the service center having jurisdiction over their place of residence.
Eligibility
Aliens in the United States need an advance parole if they have:
*an application for adjustment of status pending.
*been admitted as a
refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
or have been granted asylum.
*been granted benefits under the Family Unity Program.
*been granted
Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
*an asylum application pending.
*an emergent personal or ''
bona fide
In human interactions, good faith () is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case with , which is ...
'' reason to travel temporarily abroad.
Aliens holding valid K-3 or K-4 visas, as well as
H-1 (
temporary work
Temporary work or temporary employment (also called gigs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time-based on the needs of the employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes ...
er in a specialty occupation) or
L-1 (intra-company transferee) visas and their dependents in
H-4 or
L-2 status who have filed for adjustment of status do not have to file for advance parole as long as they maintain their non-immigrant status.
Aliens in the United States are not eligible for an advance parole if they are:
*in the United States without a valid immigration status.
*an
exchange alien subject to the foreign residence requirement.
*the beneficiary of a private bill.
*in
removal proceedings.
Authorization card
Advance parole can come on a
letter-sized piece of paper titled "Authorization for Parole of an Alien Into the United States". For applicants who apply for advance parole together with an
employment authorization document
A Form I-766 employment authorization document (EAD or EAD card, known popularly as a work permit, is a document issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides temporary employment authorization to noncitiz ...
(EAD), USCIS issues a "combo card", a variant of the EAD card which contains the words "SERVES AS I-512 ADVANCE PAROLE".
Re-entry into the United States
Advance parole does not guarantee re-entry into the United States. Aliens who have obtained advance parole are still subject to the inspection process of the
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...
at the port of entry.
However, aliens who would otherwise be automatically inadmissible due to a period of unlawful presence, will not be inadmissible if they have advance parole.
Path to lawful permanent residence
In general, there is no direct pathway from parole to
permanent resident
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...
status. A parolee would need to qualify for permanent residence through an existing pathway, such as family, employment, winning an
asylum case, or the
green card lottery.
Originally, the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act did not contain provisions for a parolee to apply for adjustment of status, which is ordinarily the standard process of obtaining
lawful permanent residence (green card holder) status while in the United States.
In 1960, INA section 245(a) was amended to allow for the adjustment of status of an alien who had been inspected and admitted, or paroled, into the United States, subject to a number of requirements and restrictions.
Among the requirements, an individual must be eligible to receive an immigrant visa, and the individual must have an immigrant visa immediately available in order to adjust status.
See also
*
Automatic visa revalidation
*
Visa Waiver Program
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is a program of the Federal government of the United States, United States government that allows nationals of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism, business, or while in transit for up t ...
References and notes
Further reading
I-131, Application for Travel Documentat USCIS.gov
i-212, Permission for reentry(lawyers Tank)
{{Immigration to the United States
United States immigration law