Should I apply for advance parole? I am eligible to adjust my status, but need a “legal entry” and DACA-Advance Parole would help me with that, what can I do? I was granted Advance Parole, should I still travel abroad? I am currently abroad with Advance Parole, what do I do?

Given the recent presidential election results, we know that many of us are concerned about what is going to happen with DACA and Advance Parole. While we do not offer legal advice, in this post, we want to share reliable information and resources related to Advance Parole so that you can weigh your different options.

Consistently, immigrant-serving organizations are urging people to seek trustworthy legal advice to answer your immigration-related questions and concerns, as well as to see if you qualify for any forms of relief. The Immigration Advocates Network maintains a national directory of more than 950 free or low-cost nonprofit immigration legal services providers in all 50 states.

Several immigration lawyers and the National Immigrant Justice Center recommend that DACA beneficiaries do not apply for advance parole at this point in time. And if you have already been approved for advance parole, they advise that you return to the United States before January 20, 2017 (this is when the new president is scheduled to come into office).

At the same time, the ILRC and NILC (two national immigration law centers) realize that it can be challenging for people to apply for advance parole and get approved on time because requests take three months or more to be processed. These two centers note that, “at this point, advance parole may be a little bit harder to get, because processing time is three months or more, which would put approvals (even if filed today) and subsequent travel in February 2017. Emergency advance parole requests, however, may still be useful in helping people travel and subsequently adjust status under 245(a).”

The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project also recommends that “DACA recipients not travel outside of the U.S. at this time, even if they have been approved for advanced parole.” Regarding traveling abroad for an emergency, they state that, “the government is still accepting requests for advance parole from DACA recipients as of the date of this advisory.”

For more information on how to request advance parole (including for emergency circumstances), the most comprehensive website out there is UndocuTravelers. If you are considering traveling abroad with advance parole for an emergency, make sure to also check out USCIS’s official page. There you will find more information on who can file and how to do it. At My (Un)Documented Life blog, you can read over Alexis’, Iliana’s, and Karla’s experiences traveling abroad (Note: All three DACA beneficiaries applied for and traveled under Advance Parole prior to the 2016 presidential election results).

Do you have advice or resources to share? Add them to the comments section below or contact us. Make sure to bookmark and share our Post-Election Information page where we will feature daily news, events, and more as it all continues to unfold.

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Categories: Advance Parole

Tags: Advance Parole, DACA, Immigration, undocumented