International travel just became riskier for some DACA recipients. The new guidance also threatens to disrupt DACA recipients’ path to a green card (and ultimately citizenship). The Los Angeles Times reported: “If they leave on advance parole, they may be considered to have ‘departed’ from the United States and face bars from re-entering if they’ve accumulated too much time living in the country unlawfully.”
Background
On August 13, 2026, the BIA overturned a rule that had stood since 2012. In Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, the Board reversed its own precedent from Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly, which had allowed people to travel abroad on advance parole without that trip counting as a “departure” for purposes of the unlawful presence bars.
As a result, those who have accrued more than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence will trigger a three-year bar to admission upon departure if they travel on advance parole. Someone who has accrued a year or more of unlawful presence will trigger a ten-year bar. The Board made the decision apply only prospectively, so anyone who traveled on advance parole before August 13, 20th doesn’t need to worry. However, anyone considering future travel on advance parole should first carefully consider their immigration history.
Although DACA is not itself a grant of status, recipients are granted work authorization and have frequently used advance parole to travel for work, school or family. Advance parole itself is still available for DACA holders and others to travel, but the consequences of making that journey are now significantly higher for those who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence.
How This Impacts the Path to Citizenship
For most undocumented immigrants, getting to citizenship means first securing a green card, then living in the U.S. for the required number of years without leaving the country in a way that resets the clock. Advance parole had become a workaround for DACA recipients who’d accrued unlawful presence before receiving DACA. A trip abroad and a lawful re-entry could “cure” that earlier unlawful presence, opening the door to adjustment of status and, down the line, a path to citizenship. The BIA’s ruling closes off that workaround for anyone with a year or more of prior unlawful presence, since a new trip now risks the ten-year bar instead of curing anything.
As always, ILBSG actively monitors ongoing U.S. immigration news. If you have questions about any U.S. immigration related issue, contact us. Working with an experienced attorney ensures you get the right advice based on the most recent laws. In an ever-evolving immigration policy landscape, it’s particularly critical you get the right advice.