U Visa Holders Lose Advance Parole Fight in Court

The U visa exists for crime victims who suffered serious physical or mental harm and cooperated with law enforcement. Congress capped U visas at 10,000 per year for principal petitioners, and that cap has been hit every single fiscal year since 2010. As of mid-2026, USCIS was still reviewing petitions filed in or before April 2017. That backlog has left tens of thousands of people in legal limbo — with work authorization and protection from deportation, but unable to travel internationally.

What the Ninth Circuit decided

The court's September 2026 opinion in U Visa Appellants v. Director, USCIS (No. 24-6824) addressed three separate claims. The central question was whether USCIS must grant advance parole — a travel document that lets you leave the US and return legally — to people on the U visa waiting list. The panel, led by Judge Forrest, said no. The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 214.14(d)(2) says USCIS "will grant deferred action or parole" to waitlisted petitioners, but the court read "or" as giving USCIS a choice, not a mandate. Because granting parole is discretionary, the court said it had no power under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to order USCIS to act. The APA only lets courts compel agencies to take action that is legally required — not action that is left to the agency's judgment.

The court also dismissed a separate claim by waitlisted petitioners (called "WLD Plaintiffs") who argued USCIS had arbitrarily denied them parole. The problem: there was no evidence of actual parole denials on the record, so there was no final agency action for a court to review. A third group — petitioners whose petitions had been deemed "bona fide" (BFD Plaintiffs) but who had not yet been placed on the waiting list — had their case sent back to the lower court. The Ninth Circuit agreed that the district court was wrong to ignore their alternative legal arguments about injury, and ordered it to consider those arguments on remand. Judge Bea partially dissented, arguing the BFD Plaintiffs' claim should also be dismissed outright because no law or regulation requires USCIS to conduct waiting-list reviews for every pending petition.

What this means for U visa petitioners

The practical result is stark. If you are on the U visa waiting list, you have deferred action (protection from removal) and work authorization — but the court confirmed you cannot force USCIS to give you advance parole. If you leave the United States without it, you risk being unable to return. The case for BFD Plaintiffs is not fully over; the district court must still consider their remaining injury arguments. But the path to compelling USCIS to act on parole is now effectively closed through the courts, at least in the Ninth Circuit.

What to do

• Do not travel outside the US if you are a U visa petitioner without advance parole in hand. Leaving without it can end your ability to return and may harm your pending petition.
• If your petition has been deemed "bona fide" but you are not yet on the waiting list, ask an immigration lawyer whether you have alternative injury arguments that could still support a legal challenge — the Ninth Circuit left that door open on remand.
• Check your USCIS case status regularly at uscis.gov. USCIS is currently processing petitions filed in or before April 2017, so track where your petition stands in the queue.
• If you need to travel for an emergency, consult an immigration attorney immediately before making any plans. There is no guaranteed path to advance parole, but an attorney can assess your specific situation.

A full breakdown of this topic — in our guide “Immigration Court Rulings”.