Chapter 7 - Conditions on Parole and Termination

USCIS may impose reasonable conditions in its sole discretion with respect to any parolee and may request verification of the parolee’s compliance with any such condition at any time.^[1] Violation of any condition of parole may lead to termination of the parole or denial of re-parole.^[2]

USCIS, in its discretion, may terminate a grant of international entrepreneur parole at any time and without prior notice or opportunity to respond if it determines that the entrepreneur’s continued parole in the United States no longer provides a significant public benefit.^[3]

Alternatively, USCIS, in its discretion, may provide the entrepreneur notice and an opportunity to respond before terminating the parole.^[4]

A. Conditions

As a condition of international entrepreneur parole, a parolee must maintain household income that is greater than 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for their household size as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.^[5]

B. Reporting of Material Changes

Parolees are required to report any material changes to USCIS immediately.

If the entrepreneur will no longer be employed by the start-up entity or will cease to possess a qualifying ownership stake, the entrepreneur must immediately notify USCIS in writing.

If the start-up entity continues to employ the entrepreneur, who maintains a qualifying ownership interest, the entrepreneur must submit the Application for Entrepreneur Parole (Form I-941) with the applicable fee to notify USCIS of the material change.^[6]

A material change is any change in facts that could reasonably affect the outcome of the determination whether the entrepreneur provides, or continues to provide, a significant public benefit to the United States. Such changes include, but are not limited to:

Any criminal charge, conviction, plea of no contest, or other judicial determination in a criminal case concerning the entrepreneur or start-up entity;
Any complaint, settlement, judgment, or other judicial or administrative determination concerning the entrepreneur or start-up entity in a legal or administrative proceeding brought by a government entity;
Any settlement, judgment, or other legal determination concerning the entrepreneur or start-up entity in a legal proceeding brought by a private individual or organization other than proceedings primarily involving claims for damages not exceeding 10 percent of the current assets of the entrepreneur or start-up entity;
A sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the start-up entity’s assets;
The liquidation, dissolution, or cessation of operations of the start-up entity;
The voluntary or involuntary filing of a bankruptcy petition by or against the start-up entity;
A significant change with respect to ownership and control of the start-up entity; and
A cessation of the entrepreneur’s qualifying ownership interest in the start-up entity or the entrepreneur’s central and active role in the operations of that entity.^[7]

C. Automatic Termination

International entrepreneur parole or re-parole^[8] automatically terminates without notice upon the expiration of the time for which parole was authorized, unless, during the initial parole period, the parolee timely files a non-frivolous application for re-parole.^[9]

Before the expiration, USCIS automatically terminates parole when USCIS receives written notice from the entrepreneur parolee that the parolee will no longer be employed by the start-up entity or will cease to possess a qualifying ownership stake in the start-up entity.^[10]

When the entrepreneur’s parole automatically terminates, the parole of the spouse or child of the entrepreneur also automatically terminates without notice.^[11] Any employment authorization based on terminated parole is automatically revoked.^[12]

D. Termination on Notice

USCIS may terminate the period of parole or re-parole upon written notice to the entrepreneur or the entrepreneur’s spouse or children, as applicable, of its intent to terminate parole if USCIS believes that:

The facts or information contained in the request for parole were not true and accurate;
The parolee failed to timely file or otherwise comply with the material change reporting requirements;^[13]
The entrepreneur parolee is no longer employed in a central and active role by the start-up entity or ceases to possess a qualifying ownership stake in the start-up entity;
The parolee otherwise violated the terms and conditions of parole; or
Parole was erroneously granted.^[14]

1. Notices of Intent to Terminate

A notice of intent to terminate generally identifies the grounds for termination of the parole and provides a period of up to 30 days for the parolee’s written rebuttal.^[15] The parolee may submit additional evidence in support of the rebuttal, when applicable, and USCIS considers all relevant evidence presented in deciding whether to terminate the parole.^[16] Failure to timely respond to a notice of intent to terminate will result in termination of the parole.^[17]

2. Charging Documents

If a charging document is served on the parolee, the charging document will constitute written notice of termination of parole (if parole has not already been terminated), unless otherwise specified.^[18]

3. Termination Decisions

An applicant may not appeal or move to reopen or reconsider a termination of international entrepreneur parole.^[19] However, USCIS may reopen or reconsider a termination on its own motion.^[20]