DACA Travel Requirements
If you are a DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipient and are looking to travel for any reason, you may be wondering what the DACA travel requirements are and what you must do to be allowed to travel outside of the United States lawfully.
DACA has really helped a lot of people, especially young people. Since the work permits were issued for two, three years, we’ve been seeing a lot of people that are coming in for renewals of their work permits. Some people are even coming in and inquiring about travel permits.
DACA Travel Requirements | Travel Permit
Sometimes when people are wondering if they can travel or not, we have good news. It’s totally possible for someone who is a DACA recipient, who has a valid work permit and a valid DACA eligibility, under the right circumstances, to apply for a travel permit. We suggested that you apply for a travel permit using Form I-131. Immigration generally grants advance parole, which is the permission to travel and return to the country, for several major reasons.
DACA Travel Requirements | Reasons to Travel
One of them is if people have an educational reason to travel, like if they want to study abroad, take a short-term program abroad. Another might be if someone has an important business reason to travel abroad on a short term. The third reason, which is this category, is considered a humanitarian reason. If people are going to visit a dying relative or to attend funeral services, that is considered a humanitarian reason.
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Sometimes people come to my office and say they want to take a vacation to Europe, or to Bali, or another wonderful place, but for immigration purposes, going on vacation is not considered a valid motive for applying for a travel permit for advance parole. In this case, to visit a sick and dying grandfather, that was a totally valid reason to apply for advance parole. You need to obtain proof of that relationship – that would mean to prove that your grandfather is your grandfather – his birth certificate, his mother or father’s birth certificate, and the accompanying marriage certificates with all the translations.
DACA Travel Requirements | Expedited Advanced Parole
Sometimes you can even get expedited advance parole if you produce evidence of a death certificate and funeral arrangements if someone must travel immediately. It is a great benefit for people that have been granted DACA. Under the right circumstances, you can be able to apply for advance parole and be granted advance parole.
One additional benefit of advance parole is that when somebody re-enters the US, it is considered a lawful entry. Many of the DACA recipients came in across the border, or they don’t have copies of their old visa, so they never had a lawful entry. In this case, if you do leave on advance parole and come back, it’s considered a lawful entry. If you are in your twenties or thirties and married to a US citizen, and did not have another means of interviewing in the US, you can use this entry as a qualifying entry to adjust your status in the US if you have a US citizen spouse. That’s kind of a side benefit to applying for advance parole as a DACA if you’re able to qualify for that.
If you have any questions about these DACA travel requirements, please call New Jersey Immigration Lawyer Susan Scheer before you make any travel plans.