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Humanitarian parole allows you to enter the U.S. for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
You may apply for humanitarian parole if you are outside the U.S., and can’t enter any other way.
What is humanitarian parole?
Federal law defines humanitarian parole as the admission of a non-citizen to enter the U.S. “on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” To see this law, click here and scroll down to paragraph (5).
Common reasons for granting humanitarian parole include:
· A serious medical condition
· Pregnancy
· Family reunification
· The non-citizen will be a witness before a court proceeding, an administrative tribunal, or a legislative body (such as Congress)
However, the U.S. may grant humanitarian parole for any other reason, as long as humanitarian parole is necessary for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
Humanitarian parole is not the same as “advance parole.” Humanitarian parole allows a person outside the U.S., to enter the U.S. for humanitarian reasons. Advance parole allows a non-citizen who is already inside the U.S., to leave the U.S. temporarily and then return.
How to apply for humanitarian parole
To apply for humanitarian parole, you must
· be outside the U.S., or at a port-of-entry, including a pre-flight inspection facility, and
· show that there is no other way for you to legally enter the U.S.
You may self-petition, or someone in the U.S. may petition for humanitarian parole for you.
You must fill out:
· Form I-131, Application for a Travel Document (available here) You must submit evidence along with this form. Click here to see how to submit this evidence.
· Form I-134, Affidavit of Support. (available here) You must show that someone will support you financially while in the U.S.
· Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (available here), if you need to work in the U.S. while on parole.
Submit these forms to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
If USCIS grants humanitarian parole, USCIS will give you an expiration date. After the expiration date, you may no longer remain in the U.S. Humanitarian parole also expires if you leave the U.S. while on parole, or if you acquire another immigration status. If humanitarian parole is about to end, and the parole is still necessary, USCIS may “re-parole” you.
For an excellent, brief, easy-to-understand overview of humanitarian parole, click here.
For additional instructions on humanitarian parole, click here.
If you, or a loved one outside of the country, have a compelling reason to enter the U.S., and can’t find any other way to enter legally, humanitarian parole may be your best option. For a consultation, contact the Persaud Law Office.
Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev. This photo is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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