Advance parole: traveling while your green card is pending is no longer what it was
While a green card application moves forward inside the United States, the most common question is always the same: can I go back home to see my mother, to a wedding, to a funeral? For years the answer had a well-known path: request the travel permit, advance parole, with Form I-131, leave and come back with that document.
That path changed on August 13, 2026. For a large group of people, that trip can now close the door to the United States for ten years.
The ten-year bar
U.S. immigration law penalizes people who accumulate time in the country without status and then leave. There are two levels:
More than 180 days and less than one year without status: three years barred from re-entering.
One year or more without status: ten years barred from re-entering.
That time without status is called unlawful presence. It builds up, for example, when someone enters on a tourist visa and stays past the authorized date, or when someone enters without going through immigration inspection.
The bar is not triggered by being in the country. It is triggered by leaving. As long as the person does not leave, the clock exists but does not go off.
What applied since 2012
In 2012 the Board of Immigration Appeals, the administrative tribunal whose precedents bind immigration judges, decided that leaving on advance parole was not a "departure" for purposes of the ten-year bar. The reasoning was that the person left with prior government authorization to return, and their application remained alive.
Under that rule, thousands of people with pending adjustment of status traveled. Many of them had more than a year of unlawful presence: they traveled, came back with their permit and the case continued as if nothing had happened.
What changed on August 13, 2026
In a decision dated that day, the same Board overruled its 2012 precedent. Leaving the United States on advance parole is now a departure for purposes of the ten-year bar. The travel permit carries no exception.
The decision makes two points clear:
It applies going forward. The Board chose not to apply the new rule to earlier trips, because many people relied on the precedent that stood for fourteen years. The risk is in trips from now on.
It addresses the ten-year bar. The decision refers to people who accumulated one year or more of unlawful presence. It did not rule on the three-year bar.
Who is exposed
The most common case is someone married to a U.S. citizen.
An illustrative example: Andrés entered Miami on a tourist visa in 2022, stayed, and in 2025 married Laura, a U.S. citizen. Laura filed the petition and Andrés applied for adjustment of status from inside the United States. For the spouse of a citizen, the law forgives having overstayed for purposes of adjusting inside the country. That is why Andrés's case moves forward without problems.
But Andrés accumulated more than a year of unlawful presence before filing his case. If he requests the travel permit today and goes to Colombia, that departure triggers the ten-year bar. On his return, the government can find him inadmissible and deny the green card he was about to receive.
Someone who always had status, for example someone who applied to adjust while their student visa was still valid, did not accumulate unlawful presence and is not in this group. So the question is not whether you have a travel permit, but how much time without status is in your history.
The waiver exists, but it is not a minor step
The law allows a waiver of the bar when the person is the spouse, son or daughter of a citizen or permanent resident, and shows that being denied admission would cause extreme hardship to that relative. Separation or the ordinary cost of living apart is not enough: something more serious has to be proven, with documents.
It is a discretionary government decision and courts cannot review it. It is a long process with an uncertain outcome that turns a two-week trip into a problem lasting years.
What to review before buying the ticket
The full history of entries and exits. Date of each entry, visa type, the date until which the stay was authorized and any change of status.
Accumulated time without status. If at any point it reached one year or more, traveling on a permit today is a real risk.
Whether there is an alternative to traveling. In many cases the safest decision is to wait until the green card is in hand. Traveling between states inside the United States is no problem at all.
If the travel permit is already approved, none of the above changes. The document authorizes the return, but it does not erase the time without status.
If you have a green card case pending and are thinking about traveling, review your history with your attorney before leaving.
Informational content only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship; each case depends on its own facts.
Responsible for this content: Camila Giraldo Bolívar, attorney admitted in New York and Colombia. GB Partners, Calle 5 A # 39-93, oficina 702, Medellín, Colombia. Phone and WhatsApp +57 305 234 6543. www.gbpartnersllc.com
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