Change in INS Form Upon Issuance of Advance Parole
Posted Apr 19, 2002

Effective as of April 1, 2002, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) changed the form that employment-based applicants receive indicating advance parole approvals. The change affects the document issued by the INS, not the form required for filing the request for advance parole. The new INS-issued form is I-512L (Authorization for Parole of an Alien into the United States), which replaces the old I-512. The new form contains three primary security features. First, the form is now on security paper. Second, the photograph is scanned onto the document. Third, the maceration stamp or seal will not be on the document.

As regular MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom readers are aware, advance parole is prior permission to reenter the U.S. after foreign travel. Advance parole has to be filed while in the U.S. and before departing the U.S. It is available as an option to enable a person to reenter the U.S. in certain specific instances, most commonly for persons in the I-485, Application for Adjustment of Status, process. The procedure for requesting advance parole on Form I-131 remains unchanged.

In order to better assure proper delivery of the I-512L, the Nebraska Service Center will send the documents to the attorney of record, if one is mentioned on the G-28 filed in connection with the request for the Advance Parole. Otherwise, the advance parole will be sent directly to the applicant. The other INS Service Centers have not yet indicated to whom they will mail the new Form I-512L.

The notification did not address the issue of continued use of the old approval forms. Presumably, any previously approved forms, usually valid for multiple entries for one year, would continue to be valid until expiration.