Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York

This is Kerry Bretz, I am a partner at the New York Immigration Law Firm of BRETZ & COVEN, LLP. Avoid �Advance Parole!� Advance Parole can cause many problems and as a general rule should be avoided. It is essentially advance permission to return to the United States. However, it does not cure the many grounds of inadmissibility you may be subject to and may incur as a result of traveling out of the US. You did not say when and under what status, if any, you and your husband entered the United States. This information is always relevant in analyzing any immigration case. If you are out of status (and it sounds like you are) you should not leave the US. First, if you are out of status by more than six months and leave the US (even with advance parole), you are inadmissible to the US for three years. If you are out of status by more than a year and leave the US, the inadmissibility bar is 10 years. Based upon the limited facts you gave, most likely you will incur 10 years of unlawful presence. Second, although it is not clear whether you are in removal proceedings, if you are, a removal proceeding is an automatic denial to advance parole. Third, if you travel on advance parole you are not admitted to the US when you return, you are paroled. �Parole� for immigration is a complicated concept and a legal fiction. With �Parole�, you are physically in the US, but legally still at the boarder or airport waiting to be admitted. In reality, it means that if you later have a removal proceeding, you are charged as an �Arriving Alien� and your rights become limited. You could also be detained without the right to ask for a bail hearing before an immigration judge. If you have other grounds of inadmissibility, you could be expeditiously removed at the airport upon your attempted re-entry � even with advance parole. In short, unless you are clearly in status or will not incur any of the unlawful presence discussed above, avoid �Advance Parole.� I hope this helps and please feel free to visit our website: www.bretzlaw.com. Kerry Bretz