Registration Not Applicable to Parolees
Posted Jan 24, 2003

Individuals last entering the U.S. on advance parole have been the subject of numerous inquires at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy. Must they register under the special call-in registration? All available on MurthyDotCom, the most recent of several MurthyBulletin articles covering the requirements for call-in registration, is Special Registration: 5 More Countries & Deadlines Reopened, published January 17, 2003. The required registrants are males, 16 years old or older, who are nationals or citizens from the listed countries, and who last entered the U.S. in nonimmigrant status. There are other parameters, including the date of last entry and the length of intended stay.

The INS WebSite contains details on registration. Specific information for all call-in registrants is available. As of this writing, that page was not yet updated for the most recent, fourth-phase registration. The INS makes it clear, however, that individuals who last entered on parole do not have to register. This is because such individuals, for technical reasons, are not regarded as having been admitted. They did not enter in a nonimmigrant class.

This was further confirmed in information provided by the INS General Counsel's office to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The INS specifically advised that persons admitted under advance parole are within the exempt class of "parolees" for registration purposes. Therefore, these individuals are not subject to registration.

Notwithstanding this policy guidance, some local INS District offices are apparently requiring parolees to register. So it may be safest to contact the local INS office and make a note of the person with whom one speaks, as well as the general content of that conversation, should an issue of failing to register under Special Registration requirements later arise.

MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers are reminded to check our articles and the INS WebSite to determine whether they are subject to registration. The consequences for failure to comply can be severe. As mentioned in the above-referenced article, citizens and nationals of some countries who did not yet register are getting a second chance as the deadlines are briefly being reopened. Although the deadlines were reopened for the first and second groups of registrants, it cannot be assumed that the INS will continue to grant such reprieves to subsequent groups. It is prudent to abide by all deadlines.