Traveling with Advanced Parole not to China

[homerjay1011]

My wife’s advanced parole was approved recently and we were thinking about traveling for a couple of weeks with my parents to visit my sister who is currently living in Europe.

 

Do you think she will have any trouble being admitted to the US again? She would be traveling with me and going through customs with me, so I really can’t imagine there would be any issues.

[Randy W]

My wife’s advanced parole was approved recently and we were thinking about traveling for a couple of weeks with my parents to visit my sister who is currently living in Europe.

 

Do you think she will have any trouble being admitted to the US again? She would be traveling with me and going through customs with me, so I really can’t imagine there would be any issues.

 

 

She will need to present her Advance Parole document/card at US immigrations.

[fluffyballs]

Many people have reported being sent to secondary inspection so that CBP can verify the AOS is still pending. Some have reported waiting for hours before being released (usually without questions), depends how many other people are in secondary inspection. So book a long layover if possible. My wife recently returned from China and was cleared in <2 minutes and was only asked if (1) it was her first time using AP and (2) if she had any food with her - she did not get sent to secondary.

 

Bring copies of all your NOAs from USCIS just in case. If you lose your AP card abroad, the notices + passport are enough for CBP to parole you in or at the very least admit you with deferred inspection. The bigger issue in the event of a lost AP card is the airline letting you board. So don't lose the card.

 

The absolute worst thing that can happen is if the I485 gets denied while you are abroad, invalidating the AP. If you're already in the US when this happens, you could refile the I485. If you're outside the US, it's an unknown whether CBP would let you back in - going strictly by the book, they shouldn't (see below). Nowadays USCIS can deny an I485 without first sending an RFE. They could also accidentally deny the I485 via some computer glitch - who knows. Highly unlikely, but not impossible. In the absolute worst case scenario you'd have to go the CR1 route.

 

Funny legendary story, but there was a German guy a few years ago that left the US with his wife before receiving advance parole (huge no no). Miraculously CBP let him back in with deferred inspection with his wife, after which USCIS allowed him to refile the I485. So I guess it shows CBP does have a lot of leeway in these situations, but I would certainly not bank on this.

Edited March 13, 2019 by fluffyballs (see edit history)