Emergency Advance Parole Stories

[DS1419 1]

So there's a backstory here I need to explain to help understand the situation: I am engaged to be married July 3rd, 2011, in Seattle, WA (I currently live in Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2 hours north) and am almost done with all the K1 stuff to cross the US border in the next 6 weeks hopefully. Currently, advance parole historical trends show about a 68 day wait period between application and acceptance on Visa Journey. My sister and only sibling is getting married September 17th, 2011, while I am her future husband's best man, in White Rock, BC, about 5 minutes north of the US-Canada border.

If I'm to be married July 3rd, and apply for AOS immediately, and include advance parole forms in there, 68 days from July 10th (1 week for buffer) would be September 16th, which is cutting it pretty close. My question is, if we were to apply for advance parole and not recieve it in time to attend my sister's wedding, is there any chance I could go to Infopass and get an expecited emergency advance parole to make the wedding? I do realize a wedding is not typically a valid reason, however, if we had applied 2 months prior, and only need to leave the country for 1 day, is it likely the Seattle office would allow me to leave the country for a day to attend the wedding?

Your thoughts, stories of emergency advance parole (be it good or bad), and stories of anyone from the Seattle area, would be greatly appreciated. It would be really tough on my fiancee and myself to get a civil marriage a few weeks to a month early when we have put so much planning already into the wedding. Thanks for your replies,

[SophWeb 25]

Please update your timeline - we can give you a more informed answer with more information. What stage of the K-1 process are you in?

It's unlikely they will approve an expedite for a wedding. They typically only issue them for emergencies. There's not harm in trying though, it won't cost you any extra money to ask for an expedite (except your time and gas money to go to the Infopass appointment ). When you do go and apply, ask them to file it under 'Humanitarian Reasons' and bring proof of the wedding (invitations etc). I successfully expedited my AP because I needed to travel back home before attending College (had some loose ends to tie up). I just brought evidence of my enrollment in school and a signed letter from myself explaining why I wanted an expedite.

You could always get a civil marriage and still have your planned wedding so that you can get the AOS ball rolling faster. Just think of it as a piece of paper; it's when you say your vows in front of your friends and family that holds all the meaning.

[DT22511 0]

I have heard differing opinions on this issue......some say they will grant it for weddings (especially if you have already filed and are just waiting) and others say they wont grant it for that reason.My husband and I are in a similar situation. We filed for AP concurrently with AOS but have a wedding on May 30 in Scotland for his absolute best friend in which he is best man...although we MAY get it in time, we are still planning on trying to expedite it if it gets close to the date and we still don't have it. What did you end up doing??

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I have more often heard them denying an emergency advance parole for something like a wedding than allowing it. Often, the emergency processing is for cases where someone is dying in hospital or for a funeral. Even then, people have missed being able to return home because they didn't have the necessary proof of the emergency 'in time' for USCIS to agree that it was an emergency and to issue the document.

I think you would be wiser, if less happy, to plan on an Emergency AP not being issued for a wedding. The suggestion of having a civil ceremony shortly after you cross the border so you can start the AOS and AP process faster is probably your best bet to ensure you get the document in time to travel. The recommendation is generally to allow 60 to 90 days for the AP processing, so if it is important that you be able to return to Canada in September you will need to start the AP process much earlier than early to mid July to ensure you will have it in time.

[Lise+Michael 13]

I have more often heard them denying an emergency advance parole for something like a wedding than allowing it. Often, the emergency processing is for cases where someone is dying in hospital or for a funeral. Even then, people have missed being able to return home because they didn't have the necessary proof of the emergency 'in time' for USCIS to agree that it was an emergency and to issue the document.

I think you would be wiser, if less happy, to plan on an Emergency AP not being issued for a wedding. The suggestion of having a civil ceremony shortly after you cross the border so you can start the AOS and AP process faster is probably your best bet to ensure you get the document in time to travel. The recommendation is generally to allow 60 to 90 days for the AP processing, so if it is important that you be able to return to Canada in September you will need to start the AP process much earlier than early to mid July to ensure you will have it in time.

I have a situation where a very dear elderly friend (94yrs) has been deemed palliative, she is still being treated from home, and hopes to stay in her home as long as possible. My questions are 1) does the impending death have to be immediate family? 2) what sort of proof would you need? and 3)I have applied for AP with my AOS, expected in Dec., once that document is in hand can you simply cross or do you still have to make the info appointment? Any thoughts, comments are appreciated.

Thanks,

Lise

[DS1419 1]

Hey, so I'm not sure how it will help, but I'll post what I went through over the past few months here.

I ended up needing to make an infopass appt (September 2nd) to expidite the Advance Parole to attend my sister's wedding (September 17th) in Canada. I had about 10 documents showing I was best man in the wedding, location of the wedding, venue, date, etc all prepared, and wasn't asked for any of it when I went to the infopass appt.

The only thing the parole officer looked up was if my biometrics were complete (which they were), and if there had been any red flags on my AOS case so far (which there weren't). The infopass appointment lasted about 10 minutes, 5 of it spent working out which courier to use to send the advance parole with. I'm not sure if this is normally the case, but it was very simple. The officer saw that I had applied for advance parole with my original AOS package (I think that's a big deal, since it's already in their system), and saw that the date I had requested was less than 3 weeks away, so without any other questions, she passed me through, and I had the advance parole documents within 3 days.

Regarding your AOS. Once you have your green card, you'll no longer need Advance Parole and you should be able to cross the border as often as you like. I actually just received my greencard in the mail last friday (October 14th), without an interview or anything. Not sure how common that is, but we were both very pleased.

[DS1419 1]

And since I completely missed a few questions:

1) Officially yes it needs to be immediate family. I do believe however, if you've already applied for AP, should you wish to get it sooner, just plead your case to the officer at an infopass appt. The worst they can do is say no.

2) Proof is typically a death certificate from what I've read. It can't be an impending death, but already a death in the family. Typically they issue emergency advance parole on cases like that in case your immediate family may be your father/mother and you are left in charge of their will or estate.

3) I'm not sure what document you're referring to there, but regardless, if you have you AP document or your greencard in hand, you no longer need an infopass appt.