U.S. Tightens Travel Rules as Some Kenyans Risk 3- to 10-Year Visa Ban

Jukwaa

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The change follows a precedent-setting decision issued on August 13 this year by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The ruling overturned a 2012 decision that had protected certain immigrants travelling outside the US on Advance Parole from triggering unlawful-presence bars.

Advance Parole is a travel document that allows certain people with pending immigration applications or qualifying immigration statuses to leave the U.S. and seek permission to return without obtaining a new visa.

Under the previous interpretation, a person who had accrued unlawful presence could generally leave the U.S. using Advance Parole without that trip being treated as a ‘departure’ for purposes of the three-year or 10-year unlawful-presence bars.

📌 What You Need to Know

The new BIA decision has changed that position. As of August 13, leaving the country after obtaining Advance Parole can count as a departure when determining whether the person is subject to the inadmissibility provisions under U.S. immigration law .

This means an immigrant who has accumulated more than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence could face a three-year bar after leaving the U.S. and subsequently seeking admission.

Those who have accumulated one year or more of unlawful presence could face a 10-year bar.

The ruling does not, however, mean that every person travelling on Advance Parole will automatically receive a three-year or 10-year ban.

The consequences depend on the individual's immigration history, the amount of unlawful presence accumulated, and whether an exception applies.

The development could affect some Kenyans living in the U.S. who rely on Advance Parole to travel back to Kenya for family emergencies, holidays, or other reasons while waiting for their immigration cases to be processed.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke

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