Humanitarian Parole

Humanitarian parole is an extraordinary measure, sparingly used to bring an otherwise inadmissible alien into the United States for a temporary period of time due to a very compelling emergency.

 

The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may temporarily parole any alien applying for entry to the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Humanitarian parole is given on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the Secretary of DHS.

 

Humanitarian Parole cannot be used to circumvent normal visa-issuing procedures, nor as an instrument to bypass preference immigrant visa availability or processing for refugee status. Absent urgent circumstances, unless all other legal immigration avenues (such as applying for a non-immigrant visa) have first been exhausted by an alien, parole will not be approved. Note that Humanitarian Parole can only be requested for persons who are outside of the U.S.

 

Requests for Humanitarian Parole must be submitted to the following address:

Department of Homeland Security
USCIS
Attn: Chief, International Operations Division
20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW  Suite 3300
Washington, DC 20529-2100

 

To expedite the processing, the use of express mailing is recommended.

Aliens in Canada must submit Form I-131, Application for Travel Document to the Director of the office that has jurisdiction over the area where the alien intends to enter the United States.

A request for humanitarian parole may be submitted by anyone on Form I-131 Application for Travel Document. There is a filing fee for filing applications for humanitarian parole. Additionally, Form I-134 Affidavit of Support is also required to assure that the applicant will not become a public charge. (If the Petitioner is not eligible to file an I-134, a different Sponsor may be submitted with the required information below.)

A parole request should include information which is specific, verifiable and complete. Evidence of the claimed circumstances must also be enclosed.