WITHDRAWAL OF AN APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION
Form I-275 is used to document withdrawal of an application for admission and related consular notification. A withdrawal can allow immediate departure instead of a formal removal order, but the underlying CBP findings and visa cancellation may still affect future travel.
Form I-275 is titled Withdrawal of Application for Admission/Consular Notification. It has been used by U.S. immigration authorities to document a traveler’s request to withdraw an application for admission rather than continue seeking entry.
Withdrawal authority comes from INA §235(a)(4) and 8 C.F.R. §235.4. The statute permits an immigration officer, in the government’s discretion, to allow an applicant for admission to withdraw the application and depart immediately.
Withdrawal is not the same as being admitted and it is not the same as expedited removal. The traveler stops seeking admission and departs, but the border encounter remains part of the immigration record.
The form should be reviewed together with any sworn statement, officer memorandum, passport annotation and visa cancellation record.
Yes. A traveler cannot require CBP to grant withdrawal. Current CBP public guidance states that, in some circumstances, an officer may in the officer’s discretion permit a traveler who is inadmissible to withdraw the application for admission.
The regulation provides that withdrawal should not normally be permitted unless the traveler intends and is able to depart the United States immediately.
A genuine withdrawal of an application for admission is different from an expedited-removal order. The five-year inadmissibility period commonly associated with a first airport expedited removal comes from INA §212(a)(9)(A)(i), which requires a qualifying removal.
Therefore, a traveler should not assume that Form I-212 is required merely because CBP refused entry and permitted withdrawal.
Yes. Avoiding a removal order does not erase the underlying border incident. The traveler may still have to address why CBP considered the person inadmissible.
Travelers sometimes leave the port of entry without a complete copy of the withdrawal record. A CBP Freedom of Information Act request may help obtain responsive border documents.
Not by itself. Form I-275 is associated with withdrawal of an application for admission. A separate Form I-860 generally documents expedited removal.
No. Withdrawal permits the traveler to stop seeking admission and depart. CBP may still have concluded that there was a significant admissibility problem.
Potentially. The prior withdrawal and the reason for it should be addressed accurately in the new visa application.
Not solely because a valid withdrawal occurred. Form I-212 generally addresses specified prior removals, so the actual CBP disposition should be confirmed first.
These government materials provide the principal statutory, regulatory or agency framework discussed on this page.
An I-275 review can help determine whether there was a removal order, what CBP found, and what should be addressed before the next visa application or trip.