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Updated August 18, 2026

Form I-131 · Travel documents

I-131 processing time for advance parole and travel documents

Compare the two USCIS I-131 categories — Advance parole and Re-entry permit or refugee travel document — including current values and 7 dated observations per category. These figures are historical comparisons, not travel advice or a forecast for an individual case.

Source and provenance

USCIS publishes the underlying processing-time figures. FillingTide records the publication and observation dates so changes can be compared over time. Verify time-sensitive information on the official USCIS page . Read our data-source notes.

Historical aggregate data, not a case prediction

These figures summarize completed cases within each published I-131 category. They do not predict an individual decision date, authorize travel, or provide legal advice.

Choose the USCIS category that matches your filing

USCIS reports these I-131 categories separately. FillingTide does not average them because their current values and histories can differ.

Parole category

Advance parole

Advance parole. Use this reading only when that published category matches your filing. It is not a grant of parole and does not say whether a person may travel.

Travel-document category

Re-entry permit or refugee travel document

Re-entry permit or refugee travel document. USCIS publishes this as one source category. FillingTide does not split re-entry permits from refugee travel documents, and the figure is not a travel authorization.

Current I-131 processing-time readings

The 80th-percentile processing time describes completed cases. The 93rd-percentile case inquiry threshold is shown in a separate ledger cell and is not the upper end of a processing-time range.

Advance parole

Advance parole

USCIS processing time · 80% of completed cases

24 months

SCD
USCIS publication date
August 17, 2026
Case inquiry threshold · 93%
29.5 months
FillingTide snapshot

Re-entry permit or refugee travel document

Re-entry permit or refugee travel document

USCIS processing time · 80% of completed cases

16 months

SCD
USCIS publication date
August 17, 2026
Case inquiry threshold · 93%
21 months
FillingTide snapshot

Compare the two I-131 categories

The table keeps each USCIS category as its own observation. Trend labels describe movement in the 80th-percentile value only; they do not predict the outcome or timing of a pending case.

Form / categoryOfficeProcessing time · 80%Trend

I-131

Advance parole

Service Center Operations (SCOPS)

SCD

24 monthsslower

I-131

Re-entry permit or refugee travel document

Service Center Operations (SCOPS)

SCD

16 monthsunchanged

The 93% case inquiry threshold is a separate measure

USCIS uses a later percentile for case-inquiry timing. These values are not the upper end of a processing-time range and should not be joined to the 80% values above.

Advance parole · 93% threshold
29.5 months
USCIS publication: August 17, 2026. Source service-request date: March 18, 2024.
Re-entry permit or refugee travel document · 93% threshold
21 months
USCIS publication: August 17, 2026. Source service-request date: November 29, 2024.

Check the current inquiry cutoff

The case inquiry checker compares a receipt date with the latest supported USCIS service-request cutoff. It does not submit an inquiry, determine eligibility, or replace the official USCIS tool.

Check the current cutoff

I-131 history for each published category

Each chart follows only the 80th-percentile processing time. The adjacent source table keeps the 80% value and 93% inquiry threshold in separate columns for every dated observation.

Advance parole

Advance parole. The source labels this category separately from the other I-131 row; FillingTide does not average the two series or infer a case-specific assignment from that label.

Slower

The 80th-percentile processing time increased

6.5 months between February 16, 2026 and August 18, 2026. This is a historical comparison, not a forecast for an individual case.

I-131 80th-percentile processing-time history at Service Center Operations (SCOPS)7 dated USCIS publications showing the 80th-percentile processing time in normalized months. Exact source values are listed in the table below.25.320.816.2Jan 14, 26Feb 18, 26Mar 16, 26Apr 21, 26May 22, 26Jun 23, 26Aug 17, 2624.0 moMonths (normalized)
The horizontal axis uses the USCIS publication date, so spacing reflects the actual interval between observations. Processing times are normalized to months only for visual comparison; the table preserves both percentile metrics in their source units.
Historical USCIS 80th-percentile processing times and 93rd-percentile case inquiry thresholds for I-131 at Service Center Operations (SCOPS)
FillingTide observationUSCIS publicationProcessing time · 80%Inquiry threshold · 93%
August 17, 202624 months29.5 months
June 23, 202622.5 months27 months
May 22, 202622 months25 months
April 21, 202622 months24 months
March 16, 202621 months23.5 months
February 18, 202619.5 months23.5 months
January 14, 202617.5 months22.5 months

Re-entry permit or refugee travel document

Re-entry permit or refugee travel document. The source labels this category separately from the other I-131 row; FillingTide does not average the two series or infer a case-specific assignment from that label.

Unchanged

The 80th-percentile processing time is unchanged

0.0 months between February 16, 2026 and August 18, 2026. This is a historical comparison, not a forecast for an individual case.

I-131 80th-percentile processing-time history at Service Center Operations (SCOPS)7 dated USCIS publications showing the 80th-percentile processing time in normalized months. Exact source values are listed in the table below.16.216.015.8Jan 14, 26Feb 18, 26Mar 16, 26Apr 21, 26May 22, 26Jun 23, 26Aug 17, 2616.0 moMonths (normalized)
The horizontal axis uses the USCIS publication date, so spacing reflects the actual interval between observations. Processing times are normalized to months only for visual comparison; the table preserves both percentile metrics in their source units.
Historical USCIS 80th-percentile processing times and 93rd-percentile case inquiry thresholds for I-131 at Service Center Operations (SCOPS)
FillingTide observationUSCIS publicationProcessing time · 80%Inquiry threshold · 93%
August 17, 202616 months21 months
June 23, 202616 months18 months
May 22, 202616 months18 months
April 21, 202616 months17.5 months
March 16, 202616 months17 months
February 18, 202616 months17 months
January 14, 202616 months17.5 months

I-131 processing time is not permission to travel

The figures above measure completed Form I-131 cases in the USCIS processing-time dataset. They do not measure eligibility, document validity, or the separate decision to travel.

Advance parole, a re-entry permit, and a refugee travel document are different USCIS products. A processing-time reading on this page does not replace the official receipt, approval notice, or travel guidance for an individual filing.

How to read the 80% value

The published processing time describes how long USCIS took to complete 80% of recently adjudicated cases in that source category. It is a historical reference, not a forecast for an individual application.

Read the USCIS methodology

Why the two category rows stay separate

Advance parole and Re-entry permit or refugee travel document are distinct labels in the published source. A difference between their values is a comparison between source categories; it does not establish which path a particular case will follow.

Review FillingTide's methodology

FillingTide is an independent data publication and is not affiliated with USCIS or the U.S. government.