What is humanitarian parole?
The United States of America is willing to help out everyone in need. There are lots of different laws in place that allow refugees, asylum seekers, and others to get a green card. One of these documents is humanitarian parole.
With it, a foreign citizen is able to travel to the US without standard documentation. Humanitarian parole is issued for emergency situations where a person is unable to get standard documents allowing him or her to enter the country. If you’re unable to get a regular visitors visa, you can go to the country with this document. It is primarily used for humanitarian missions and urgencies as well as situations where a person’s presence would yield a significant public benefit.
Although in theory, it sounds great, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) grants humanitarian parole only in specific situations. Because of the law, certain individuals will not be able to get an immigrant visa. However, the benefit of having them within the country significantly outweigh the law and thus, the USA is willing to provide them with this type of a document.
Keep in mind that humanitarian parole is a temporary document; it is only valid until you fulfill your mission or help during an emergency. It shouldn’t be used in any purposes besides the stated one. Furthermore, it doesn’t help you get a standard visa nor does it help with acquiring other types of documents. One perk of having humanitarian parole is that it allows you to get temporary work authorization. Still, this can only be used by people who have actual work to do during their stay.
If you have any questions about the process or wish to learn more, it is best if you hire an asylum lawyer. They can answer all your questions and help you get humanitarian parole.
Specific cases when you should apply for humanitarian parole instead of a common visa
It is really hard to tell when you need a regular visa and when you need humanitarian parole. As mentioned before, this is one of the reasons why you need a good asylum lawyer.
In most cases, it may be the only way of you entering the country. Sometimes, there might be specific, individual reasons why USCIS will not give you entrance. Still, dismissing humanitarian parole is much harder as there are reasons why you need to be present in the country.
Unfortunately, some people are taking advantage of this rule as they apply for humanitarian parole when all other options are exhausted. Nevertheless, you should probably explore other options if you think you’re ineligible for this type of document. Otherwise, you just might cause yourself some issues going forward.
Besides mentioned cases, there are some other situations when a person may apply for parole:
- Your family member is living in the country and is extremely ill
- Your family member was living in the country and died; you wish to attend the funeral service
- You cannot get proper medical treatment in your own country so you have to go to the US
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
