BIA Changes Longstanding Advance Parole Rule: What Immigrants Should Know

On Aug. 13, 2026, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a precedential decision in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, overruling Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly (2012). The BIA held that travel outside the United States pursuant to a grant of advance parole constitutes a “departure” for purposes of the unlawful presence inadmissibility provisions under INA Section 212(a)(9)(B).

For more than a decade, Arrabally allowed individuals who had accrued unlawful presence to travel on advance parole without triggering the three-year or 10-year unlawful presence bars upon return. The BIA has now rejected that interpretation, concluding that the statute does not provide an exception for travel authorized through advance parole.