Can DACA Recipients Travel or Apply for Green Cards in 2025? Latest Updates and Legal Options

Can you travel in 2025—and can that trip help you qualify for a green card? With approved advance parole, many DACA recipients may travel for humanitarian, educational, or employment reasons, and a lawful return on parole can create eligibility to adjust status if you otherwise qualify. For Maryland residents, an experienced immigration lawyer in Annapolis can turn those rules into a clear plan focused on timing, documentation, and admissibility.

What Is Advance Parole for DACA in 2025?

Advance parole is written permission from USCIS that lets a DACA recipient leave and request parole back into the United States at a port of entry. In 2025, USCIS accepts DACA-based requests only for humanitarian, educational, or employment purposes—not for vacations or tourism. Parole is always discretionary at inspection, so the document is permission to ask for parole on return, not a guarantee. A seasoned MD immigration attorney will help you present purpose documents that line up with those categories and travel dates.

Two fundamentals shape planning:

• DACA defers removal and generally halts new accrual of unlawful presence during the DACA period, but it is not lawful status and it does not erase past unlawful presence. 
• A parole entry can meet INA § 245(a)’s threshold requirement—“inspected and … paroled”—for certain adjustment cases.

Because these distinctions drive outcomes, many families start with a short review by a Baltimore immigration lawyer to confirm the route that actually fits their facts.

Who Benefits Most from DACA Travel in 2025?

DACA recipients who have a clear, documentable reason to travel and a realistic green card route often benefit most:

• Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, certain parents, and unmarried children under 21). A lawful return on advance parole can supply the parole needed for adjustment under INA § 245(a), assuming you are otherwise admissible. 
• Students with school-sponsored programs, exchanges, or research abroad where dates, credits, and institutional letters are easy to prove (USCIS I-131 Instructions). This is a common use case for a student visa immigration lawyer to coordinate DACA renewals with program timing. 
• Employees with training, client meetings, or conferences substantiated by employer letters and agendas. If your long-term plan is employment-based, keeping contemporaneous proof can later support a case with an EB 1 visa lawyer if you qualify.

Who Should Avoid Travel on DACA Advance Parole?

Some histories call for extreme caution or a different path:

• Prior removal orders or certain criminal issues may complicate parole-back and later adjustment; a careful screening by immigration lawyers in Annapolis MD is essential. 
• Multiple unlawful entries can implicate INA § 212(a)(9)(C)’s “permanent bar,” which advance parole cannot cure; leaving and returning could worsen the situation. 
• Fraud or misrepresentation issues under INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i) are not “fixed” by travel; they require a waiver strategy if eligible.

If any of these apply, an immigration lawyer can analyze FOIA records, prior filings, and timelines and then outline safer alternatives.

When Does Travel Help You Apply for a Green Card?

Travel helps when it creates the parole necessary for adjustment and when your category has a visa immediately available—most commonly as the spouse of a U.S. citizen. After a lawful return on advance parole, many applicants file I-130 + I-485 in Maryland because they now meet § 245(a)’s inspected/admitted or paroled requirement.

Critically, under Arrabally & Yerrabelly, a departure under approved advance parole is not a “departure” for purposes of triggering the 3-/10-year unlawful-presence bars, a principle USCIS applies in adjustment planning. That is why a properly timed trip can transform a previously stuck case into an in-country filing.

Where Do You File and What Proof Do You Need?

DACA advance parole is requested on Form I-131 with USCIS, following the filing addresses and instructions on uscis.gov. Strong packets prove purpose and timing:

• Humanitarian: medical letters, hospital records, or funeral documentation for an immediate family member. 
• Educational: registrar or department letters showing program dates, credits, and institutional sponsorship. 
• Employment: employer letters, conference agendas, or client invitations confirming dates and the necessity of travel.

At return, carry your approval notice, purpose documents, and a copy of your DACA approval. An immigration attorney in Annapolis will also check that your DACA validity comfortably covers your planned trip dates.

How to Prepare a Strong DACA Advance Parole Request

Use this focused list to organize your documents before filing Form I-131 (limit your travel lists to what USCIS expects):

• Cover letter explaining purpose, dates, itinerary, and that you will return before the document expires. 
• Proof of identity and DACA (approval notice, EAD). 
• Purpose evidence: medical or funeral records (humanitarian), official school letters (educational), or employer confirmations and agendas (employment). 
• Maryland ties: lease or mortgage, job letter, class schedules, family responsibilities. 
• Copy of government ID, passport-style photos, and the correct filing fee per the current USCIS fee schedule.

Work with a Baltimore immigration lawyer to ensure your packet reflects the exact category USCIS is willing to approve in 2025.

How to File for Adjustment After You Return on Parole

If you qualify to adjust in the U.S., these steps help you move forward efficiently:

• Verify your I-94 shows “Paroled” and keep copies of the entry record. 
• Assemble your basis: for marriage cases, collect proof of a real life together—joint housing, finances, photos over time—and complete the medical exam. 
• File concurrently (where allowed) with I-130 + I-485 and related forms for work/travel authorization while the case is pending. 
• Prepare for the interview: rehearse fact-based answers; ensure your testimony mirrors the file; address any prior arrests with certified dispositions.

A marriage based immigration lawyer can stage this process so benefits come online quickly and cleanly.

From DACA to Permanent Residence in 2025

Clarity saves time, money, and stress. Chambers Law Firm, P.C. can review your eligibility, prepare a purpose-based advance parole request, and—when the timing is right—structure an in-country adjustment that stays on schedule; contact us today to get a tailored plan that protects your travel and your path to permanent residence.