The I-131 Advance Parole

The I-131 Advance Parole or popularly known as just “Advance Parole” is a term in the Immigration field that means “permission to leave and return to the United States.” It is an essential travel document for those who have foreign fiancées that need to return home for emergent reasons before adjustment of status and issuance of the green card, because she won’t be able to depart and reenter the United States without getting this document before she leaves. If someone leaves the US after entering on a K1 Visa before adjustment of status and issuance of the green card, Immigration officials will presume abandonment of US residence. Thus, if your Filipino fiancée enters the country by means of a K1 Visa and then leaves, she will not be able to return to the US on that K1 Visa and the entire process must be restarted from scratch. An advance parole document is exclusively issued to authorize the return of someone who entered the United States with a K1 visa and who has not adjusted their status or has procured a green card. It could be accepted by a transportation company in the place of a visa as an approval or permit for the holder to travel to the United States. However, the advance parole document is not issued to serve in place of a passport.

If your Filipino fiancée is already in the USA, the I-131 Advance Parole can be included with the Change of Status. The immigrant is also advised to apply for an “Application for Travel Document” in case an unforeseen occurrence happens, like a family emergency or death in the immigrant’s home country. If something like this happens, they may leave the US and come back through any US port of entry without encountering problems in re-entering.

Advance Parole is an exceptional method used carefully to allow an alien to return to the United States after having left voluntarily before adjustment of status and acquisition of the green card. Nevertheless, it is not a means to bypass delays in visa issuance and cannot be used to circumvent the normal visa issuing procedures.