Have you traveled outside the U.S. on advance parole since receiving DACA or TPS — and did you re-enter and get inspected?
A lawful re-entry on advance parole is one of the most powerful — and most misused — tools in this practice. It can convert an EWI (entry without inspection) into a parole entry, satisfying the "inspected and admitted or paroled" requirement of INA § 245(a) for adjustment of status. But the wrong destination, the wrong itinerary, or returning *without* the parole stamp at secondary inspection can extinguish DACA, trigger the 3/10-year bars, and end every other pathway you had.
Context & Examples
Real example — Sofía, Sacramento. Sofía entered EWI as a child in 2007. She had DACA but no path to LPR — her U.S. citizen husband's I-130 was approved, but she could not adjust under § 245(a) because of the EWI. We filed advance parole for a documented humanitarian visit to her grandmother in Guadalajara, prepared the secondary-inspection script, met her at SFO on return, and verified the I-94 paroled stamp the same day. Eight weeks later we filed I-485. Green card 9 months after that.
Horror story — same airport, different client. A pro se filer in 2022 used advance parole to attend a wedding in Cancún. CBP at SFO admitted him on a tourist parole stamp instead of the AP-based stamp because the officer didn't see the AP document. He didn't notice. When we tried to file his I-485 a year later, USCIS rejected it for lack of valid parole entry. We had to file a § 240A(b) cancellation case from inside removal proceedings. He won, but it took three years and a master-calendar hearing he should never have had to attend.
Why an attorney is essential: The trip itself is half the work. The other half is the paperwork on the way back in.
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