Yardum-Hunter Wins Case on Advance Parole Travel

On August 16, 2012, the same day as the Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly published by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Appeals Office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services broadened the scope of the published decision in its decision on one of Alice Yardum-Hunter's cases.

Yardum-Hunter's case involved a Canadian who traveled on Advance Parole travel permission given by the government as part of his adjustment of status application for permanent, green card status. The client applied for the green card at a time when he'd been in the U.S. more than the maximum time for visitors, by several years, but he was not issued an I-94 arrival-departure card requiring him to leave by a specific date. Canadians are often not issued I-94 cards. Still, they are supposed to depart the U.S. after six months of visiting.

The Arrabally and Yerrabelly decision had to do with travel on advance parole for adjustment of status applicants, who filed when their status was expired, based on their I-94. 

The government in these cases denied green cards after travel on approved advance parole travel permission, but for the authorized travel, their cases would have been approved.

As a result of the published decision, evidenced in Yardum-Hunter's case on the same day, the government can no longer deny adjustment of status to those who travel when the government has granted them permission to travel on advance parole. The differing facts - for those with expired I-94s and for Canadians without expired I-94s - signal expansion of this proposition, perhaps generally to all those who travel on advance parole, pending adjustment of status, regardless of their particular circumstances as long as those have not changed since their cases began. 

Many wondered how other travel would be treated after the published decision. Between that case and Yardum-Hunter's, the government signal is that no longer can it punish a person for simply traveling on a permit issued by the government for that purpose.

Travel on advance has been an area of concern for adjustment of status applicants because there is no regulation as to what it really means. The published Arrabally and Yarrabelly case, along with Yardum-Hunter's provide some confidence in solving this common problem.