Refugee Travel Document: Who Needs One and Where Not to Go

An asylee who renews a passport from the country that persecuted them, or who flies home for a wedding, hands USCIS the strongest evidence it could ask for that the fear behind the asylum claim was not well-founded. The refugee travel document exists so that no asylee or refugee has to make that choice. It is issued by USCIS on Form I-131, it functions as a passport for travel to other countries, and it lets you return to the United States without a visa. This post explains who should use a refugee travel document, how to apply, how long it lasts, and why the country you fled should stay off the itinerary.

Who should use a refugee travel document

The document is for people granted asylum, people admitted as refugees, and permanent residents who obtained their green card through asylum or refugee status. Derivative spouses and children who hold the same status use it too. Our travel document practice advises clients to keep using the refugee travel document rather than any national passport until the day they naturalize, because the asylum status that produced the green card can still be examined at the naturalization interview. Applicants whose asylum case is still pending are not eligible; they can request advance parole, but a trip while the claim is undecided, and especially a trip home, is strongly discouraged.

How to apply on Form I-131

File Form I-131 from inside the United States, before you leave, with the current USCIS filing fee, passport photos, a copy of your asylum approval, refugee admission record or green card, and a copy of any identity document you hold. USCIS schedules a biometrics appointment and then mails the booklet. Apply early: you should have the document in hand before departure, and while USCIS has discretion to accept an application from someone already abroad within one year of leaving, that discretion is not something to plan around. A refugee travel document is valid for up to one year from issuance and cannot be extended or renewed from abroad, so a trip longer than the validity requires a new application after you return. Check whether the countries you plan to visit accept the document for entry and whether they require a visa in it; many do, and the rules differ from those for a national passport.

Why your home country passport is dangerous

INA 208(c)(2) allows USCIS to terminate asylum when the person has voluntarily availed themselves of the protection of their country of nationality, among other grounds. Obtaining or renewing that country’s passport, using it to travel, or registering with its consulate can all be read as accepting that country’s protection. The same facts resurface later: at the I-485 interview for a green card through asylum, and years later at the N-400 interview, where officers ask about every trip and every document. A permanent resident whose green card came through asylum is still vulnerable at those stages. Our green card through asylum page explains how the two applications connect, and our post on what affirmative asylum is describes the well-founded fear standard that a home-country trip undermines.

Returning to the country of persecution

Going back is the most damaging trip an asylee can take, and the advice is not to do it. A return suggests that conditions are safe enough to visit, that the fear was limited, or that the asylee can live there after all. There are cases where the pull is a dying parent or a funeral, and asylees have made those trips, but each one needs to be planned with counsel, kept as short as possible, documented to show why it was unavoidable and that the asylee stayed hidden from the persecutor, and disclosed truthfully afterward. A derivative asylee who did not personally fear persecution faces a smaller risk, but the trip will still be questioned when the principal’s status is examined. Refugees admitted from a third country face the same analysis.

Travel with a pending green card through asylum

Asylees and refugees with a pending Form I-485 occupy a privileged position: the regulations exempt them from the rule that a departure abandons an adjustment application, as long as they have a valid refugee travel document to return on. You do not need advance parole in addition to the document, though some applicants obtain both. The practical risk is the one already described: the trip must not involve the home country or its passport, and it should be short enough that the biometrics or interview notice does not arrive while you are away. For a form-by-form overview of which pending applications allow travel, see our post on traveling while an immigration application is pending.

A practical checklist

Apply for the document months before any planned trip and renew it as soon as you return if another trip is possible. Carry your green card or asylum approval alongside the document. Check visa requirements for every destination against the travel document, not a passport. Keep the home country, its airlines where they stop there, and its consulates out of the plan. Keep records of every trip, because the N-400 will ask for all of them. And if a family emergency makes a trip home feel unavoidable, speak to our asylum and humanitarian protection team first; there may be a way to document it that limits the damage, and there may not.

If you hold asylee or refugee status and need to travel, a consultation with Capitol Law Partners can time the Form I-131 filing and review the itinerary for risks to your status. Schedule a consultation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by this communication.

Attorney Sena Sahin. Clear advice for individuals, families, and business owners.

Need help with this topic? See our refugee travel documents and Form I-131 page or schedule a consultation.