Travel Abroad on Advance Parole and Switching Employers

A very frequent two-part question we receive from current and prospective clients who are expecting visa number and have used AC21 to switch employers and are no longer with the original employer who sponsored their green card is 1) whether they can travel abroad using advance parole (AP) document issued by the former employer and 2) what should they respond, upon return, when questioned by a border agent about their employment situation.

Before we go into the technicalities – there is one major rule which warrants repeating – be frank and honest with the immigration or border officers.  These are highly qualified professionals who are trained to detect evasive, misleading, or false answers and if caught in a material misstatement, the consequences may be very significant.

Now, the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act (AC21) was intended to address exactly the kind of situation to which the two-part question above applies.  After completing an AC21 switch of employers, the employee can freely continue his or her green card application and avail him- or herself of all of the benefits of pending green card adjustment of status application – including advance parole and EAD.  Thus, employees who have properly pending adjustment of status and unexpired advance parole document from a former employer can travel abroad and re-enter with such advance parole document with no issues.

Many clients are nervous to answer the question whether they are still employed by the sponsoring employer when, in fact, they are not.  However, the AC21 process is intended to address this kind of situation and we urge foreign nationals, who are asked this question upon their return to the country, to answer truthfully and explain to the border agent that they have done an AC21 transfer.

Some immigration attorneys advise against filing anything in connection with an AC21 job transfer.  However, we do advise our clients who switch jobs under AC21 to file a letter with USCIS.  The added benefit of this is that the employee has a letter documenting the AC21 transfer and which letter briefly explains the law and the circumstances of the AC21 transfer.  Having such letter and presenting it to the border agent unon re-entry is a nice way to deflect a skeptical border agent of the propriety of the AC21 job transfer.