As the Board explained in its decision in Matter of Castillo-Padilla, 25 I&N Dec. 257, 258–63 (BIA 2010), a release on conditional parole under section 236(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1226(a)(2)(B) (2018)) is legally distinct from humanitarian parole under INA §212(d)(5). In the 2023 decision, Matter of Cabrera Fernandez, 28 I&N Dec. 747 (BIA 2023), the Board took that further and confirmed that conditional parole under INA §236(a)(2)(B) is not a parole for purposes of adjustment of status.

INA 236(a)(2)(B) Parole does not count as a parole for purposes of Adjustment of Status

MATTER OF CABRERA-FERNANDEZ

Matter of Olty CABRERA-FERNANDEZ, 28 I&N Dec. 747 (BIA 2023)

(1) Release on conditional parole under section 236(a)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a)(2)(B) (2018), is legally distinct from release on humanitarian parole under section 212(d)(5)(A) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) (2018). Matter of Castillo-Padilla, 25 I&N Dec. 257, 258–63 (BIA 2010), followed.

(2) Applicants for admission who are released on conditional parole rather than humanitarian parole have not been “inspected and admitted or paroled,” and accordingly are not eligible for adjustment of status under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of November 2, 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-732, 80 Stat. 1161, as amended.