The USCIS issued a Press Release, on October 4, 2006, reminding Applicants for Adjustment of Status, and other benefits, to obtain ADVANCE PAROLE Before Holiday Travel Abroad.
The USCIS noted that individual who currently have “a pending application for adjustment of status to that of lawful permanent resident, a pending application for relief under section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA 203), a pending asylum application, or an approved application for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), to obtain Advance Parole….”
The USCIS also noted:
Advance Parole is permission to re-enter the United States after traveling abroad in order to continue processing for adjustment of status or other benefits. Individuals must be approved for Advance Parole before leaving the United States. Travel outside of the United States without Advance Parole may result in serious consequences, including being unable to return to the United States and having pending immigration-related applications denied. An asylum applicant who leaves the United States on advance parole and returns to the country of claimed persecution shall be presumed to have abandoned his or her asylum application absent compelling reasons for such return.
The USCIS, also, noted that “Applicants planning travel abroad should plan ahead due to the busy holiday travel season.”
It is also important to remember that individuals who have unlawfully present in the U.S. may be barred from re-entering the U.S. even if they obtained advance parole. The USCIS stated:
Note:
Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, aliens who depart the United States after being unlawfully present in the United States for certain periods can be barred from admission to lawful permanent resident status, even if they have obtained Advance Parole. Those aliens who have been unlawfully present in the United States for more than 180 days, but less than one year are inadmissible for three years; those who have been unlawfully present for a year or more are inadmissible for 10 years. Aliens who are unlawfully present, and who depart the U.S. and subsequently reenter under a grant of parole, may nevertheless be ineligible to adjust their status.
With respect to refugees and asylees, the USCIS noted:
An alien who has been admitted as a refugee or has been granted asylum does not need to obtain advance parole, if applying for adjustment of status under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), however, such aliens need a refugee travel document in order to travel abroad.
Advance Parol and Mabye "illegal Immigrant"?
Here is the problem/question. My wife and I married 28 June 2007; Her B-2 visa expired on 4 July 2007, and the USCIS got our paper work for I-485, I-131, etc... on 20 August 2007 and we got notification from the USCIS on 10 Oct 20007 that they had starting processing the paper work and cashed our checks.
My question is this, when my wifes visa expired on 4 July did that make (or does that make) her an Illegal Immigrant? We are trying to go to S.Korea in December and currently waiting for the advanced parole. After reading the document above, she has been here less then 180 days after the fact.
But the last sentence in that paragraph... "Aliens who are unlawfully present, and who depart the U.S. and subsequently reenter under a grant of parole, may nevertheless be ineligible to adjust their status..." Does my wife fall under this sentence/paragraph? Meaning is if she classified as Unlawfully present due to the time lapse, regardless of ADVANCE PAROLE she may denied reentry?
Advance Parol and Mabye "illegal Immigrant"
You are right to be concerned. Assuming that you are a U.S. Citizen, your wife may still be able to obtain her green card even though she appears to have no longer been in status (i.e., assuming that her I-94 ended on 4 July 2007) (barring some type of fraud). However, under these circumstances, if she were to travel outside of the U.S., she may be denied reentry to the U.S. (i.e., subjected to the 3 or 10 year bar) because she was not in status when she filed for adjustment of status, and was thereby accumulating unlawful presence.
CAN I ADJUST STATUS THROUHG
CAN I ADJUST STATUS THROUHG MY US CITIZEN WIFE IF I ENTERED ILLEGALLY AFTER 2001 BUT HAVE TPS