INA §212(d)(5)
In limited circumstances, DHS can allow an applicant for admission to enter the United States temporarily on parole for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Parole is discretionary and is legally different from admission.
INA §212(d)(5)(A) permits DHS, in its discretion and on a case-by-case basis, to parole certain applicants for admission temporarily into the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
Parole is not admission. Federal immigration law expressly distinguishes being paroled into the United States from being admitted.
Government parole guidance recognizes parole granted at a port of entry after a traveler presents for inspection without prior parole authorization.
This type of parole should be distinguished from advance parole obtained before travel and humanitarian parole requested in advance from USCIS.
Government guidance also recognizes parole for Deferred Inspection, where a traveler is permitted to proceed into the United States temporarily so that an unresolved inspection issue can be completed later.
A grant of parole does not itself establish that the person was admissible and does not erase a statutory ground of inadmissibility.
The underlying immigration issue may still need to be resolved through inspection, waiver, removal proceedings or another immigration process.
Parole permits temporary physical presence for the purpose and period authorized by DHS. It does not create a permanent immigration status by itself.
No. Parole and admission are legally distinct.
No. The statute makes parole discretionary and case specific.
No. Parole is temporary and lasts only for the period or purpose authorized by DHS.
These government materials provide the principal inspection and admission framework discussed on this page.
Those terms have different legal consequences. The Form I-94, parole notation, Form I-546 and CBP record should be reviewed together.