What happens if your visa expires while your application is pending?

Details / How it works

When your authorized stay expires (as shown on Form I-94), you generally start accruing unlawful presence from the day after that date. A pending application does not automatically extend your authorized stay unless the application itself grants an extension (e.g., a timely filed Form I-539 for extension of stay). For adjustment of status (Form I-485) applicants, departing the U.S. without an advance parole document will cause USCIS to deem the application abandoned. The Board of Immigration Appeals’ 2026 decision in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara also ruled that travel on advance parole now counts as a departure for inadmissibility purposes, potentially triggering 3- or 10-year bars if more than 180 days of unlawful presence were accrued.

Numbers & thresholds

Exceptions & edge cases

Certain individuals do not accrue unlawful presence even if their visa expires: minors under 18, asylees and asylum applicants (while a bona fide application is pending), Family Unity beneficiaries, VAWA self-petitioners and dependents, and victims of severe trafficking. Additionally, if you filed a timely and non-frivolous application for extension of stay before your I-94 expired, you may be considered in a period of authorized stay while the application is pending. However, once the application is denied, unlawful presence begins accruing from the original expiration date.