September 1, 2023 Update: This information has been revised and expanded to cover recent changes for Ukrainians. Please visit our new article on Traveling Outside of the U.S. on Humanitarian Parole or TPS.

Ukrainian humanitarian parolees must apply for an Advance Parole Travel Document in order to travel outside of the United States or a U.S. territory.

To apply for an Advance Parole Travel Document, an applicant should file Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, along with the $575 filing fee.

Instructions for Form I-131 can be found here:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-131instr.pdf

Applicants who are experiencing an extremely urgent situation may request an emergency advance parole appointment at their local USCIS field office by locating and contacting the USCIS Contact Center at https://www.uscis.gov/contactcenter. They should bring the following items to their appointment:

  • A completed and signed Form I-131, Application for Travel Document
  • The correct I-131 filing fee
  • Evidence to support the emergency request (e.g. medical documentation, death certificate)
  • Two passport-style photos

USCIS may expedite an Application for Travel Document if it meets certain criteria. Instructions for expediting a request can be found here:

https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-guidance/how-to-make-an-expedite-request

It is important to know that departing the United States without obtaining an Advance Parole Travel Document will terminate one’s humanitarian parole status. If an applicant files Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, but departs before receiving the document, their Form I-131 will be considered abandoned.

Also, if a humanitarian parolee has applied for asylum and intends to travel outside the United States, they must receive advance parole if they wish to re-enter the United States. If an asylum applicant leaves the United States without first obtaining advance parole, USCIS will consider their asylum application to be abandoned.

Finally, travelers should be aware that having an advance parole document does not guarantee that they will be allowed to re-enter the United States. At a U.S. airport or border, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer will make the final decision about whether to allow them to re-enter the United States.

For more information on Uniting for Ukraine and humanitarian parole, please visit https://www.uscis.gov/ukraine.