INA 240B: Voluntary Departure Windows, Bond, and Penalties

Voluntary departure in immigration proceedings is a benefit under Section 240B of the Immigration and Nationality Act that lets a noncitizen leave the United States on their own instead of being formally deported.¹ Leaving on your own avoids the re-entry bars and permanent removal record that come with a deportation order. The catch is that the deadlines are strict, a bond is usually required, and the penalties for missing the departure date are harsh enough that a missed deadline is worse than never requesting voluntary departure at all.

The Two Request Windows

You can ask for voluntary departure at two different points in removal proceedings, and the point you choose changes both what you must give up and how long you have to leave.

A pre-conclusion request comes before or at the start of your removal hearing, typically at the master calendar stage. If the judge grants it, you can get up to 120 days to depart.¹ The price is that you must concede you are removable, waive your right to appeal, and give up any other applications for relief you may have filed, such as asylum or cancellation of removal.²

A post-conclusion request comes at the end of a full hearing, after the immigration judge has heard your case. You do not have to abandon other relief claims during the hearing, but the eligibility standard is higher and the maximum departure period drops to 60 days.¹ A bond of at least $500 is mandatory at this stage.

Who Qualifies

Both tracks share baseline requirements. You cannot have been convicted of an aggravated felony, you cannot be deportable on terrorism-related grounds, and you must show the judge that you genuinely intend to leave and can afford to do so.³ You also need a valid passport or equivalent travel document. If the passport is not immediately available but you can show you are actively trying to get one, a judge may still grant voluntary departure and give you time to produce the document.

Post-conclusion applicants face additional conditions. You must prove you were physically present in the United States for at least one year before the date your Notice to Appear was served, and you must show good moral character for at least the five years before applying.¹ Evidence of good moral character typically includes tax returns, employment records, and community letters showing a law-abiding life during that period.

Prior Grants Block You for Ten Years

If you were previously granted voluntary departure and failed to leave on time, you are ineligible for another grant for ten years from that failure. The same ten-year bar blocks cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, registry, and change of nonimmigrant status.² Judges check for prior grants.

The Bond

When an immigration judge grants voluntary departure at the conclusion of proceedings, you must post a bond of at least $500 with the ICE Field Office Director within five business days of the order. The judge can set a higher amount based on the circumstances of the case.² If the Board of Immigration Appeals grants voluntary departure on appeal instead of the immigration judge, the deadline extends to 30 business days.

The bond is a deposit that guarantees you will actually leave. Depart on time and prove it, and the bond is refunded. Miss the deadline and you lose the money.

One trap catches people repeatedly: failing to post the bond does not erase the voluntary departure order or its consequences. You are still legally obligated to depart within the time the judge set. If you waived your appeal and then miss the bond deadline, the alternate removal order activates immediately. You can still avoid being treated as formally removed if you leave within 25 days of failing to post the bond and give DHS satisfactory evidence of your departure.²

Payments are typically handled in person at a local ICE field office with a money order or other accepted form of payment. Keep the original receipt. It is the only proof you have that the bond was posted, and you will need it to seek a refund from abroad.

The Alternate Removal Order

Every grant of voluntary departure comes paired with an alternate order of removal. The immigration judge enters both at the same time.² As long as you follow the voluntary departure terms, the alternate order stays dormant. Violate them and it activates automatically, with no additional hearing.

The alternate order takes effect if you:

Fail to depart by the deadline in the voluntary departure order
Fail to post the bond within the required window after waiving appeal
File a motion to reopen or reconsider during the voluntary departure period
File a petition for judicial review or any other court challenge to the order

Once the alternate removal order kicks in, you are treated as if you were formally deported. All of the re-entry bars associated with a removal order apply, and the entire point of requesting voluntary departure is lost. This is the core risk. Voluntary departure gives you a better outcome than deportation only if you actually follow through.

Motions and Appeals During the Departure Period

Filing a motion to reopen or reconsider during the voluntary departure period terminates the grant immediately and triggers the alternate removal order.² The same happens if you file a petition for review with a federal court.

In April 2025, the Supreme Court addressed a related timing question in Velazquez v. Bondi. The Court held 5–4 that when a voluntary departure deadline falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline extends to the next business day for purposes of filing a motion to reopen or reconsider. Before that ruling, circuits were split on whether the calendar-day deadline was absolute regardless of weekends. Filing one day late meant the motion could not save the applicant from the alternate removal order.

If you are thinking about challenging your case, you generally have to choose: accept voluntary departure and leave, or stay and fight through a motion. Trying to do both at once usually produces the worst outcome, losing the voluntary departure grant and being subject to a formal removal order.

Voluntary Departure Outside of Court

Voluntary departure is not limited to courtroom proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security can grant it before a Notice to Appear is ever filed, through various officers including district directors, chief patrol agents, and service center directors.⁴ The maximum period DHS can allow, including extensions, is 120 days.

DHS-granted voluntary departure carries the same basic conditions: a valid passport or travel document, departure at your own expense, and potentially a bond or continued detention until departure. The penalties for failing to leave on time are identical to those in the court-granted version.

One warning. DHS officers sometimes encourage noncitizens to sign stipulated orders of removal, which carry far harsher consequences than voluntary departure. A stipulated removal order is a formal deportation order that you agree to. It is not the same as voluntary departure, even though both involve agreeing to leave. If DHS presents you with paperwork, read carefully and ask specifically whether you are receiving voluntary departure or signing a removal order.

Penalties for Failing to Depart on Time

The penalties under Section 240B(d) are severe enough that an immigration attorney might advise against requesting voluntary departure if there is any realistic chance you cannot leave by the deadline. Three consequences hit at the same time.

First, a civil penalty between $1,000 and $5,000.¹

Second, a ten-year bar on the following forms of relief:

Voluntary departure in any future proceedings
Cancellation of removal under INA § 240A
Adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident under INA § 245
Change of nonimmigrant status under INA § 248
Registry under INA § 249

These bars are listed in the statute itself and are confirmed in the notice the court gives every respondent granted voluntary departure.⁵

Third, the alternate order of removal activates, converting your voluntary departure into a formal deportation. You then face the separate re-entry bars that apply to anyone with a removal order: five years if you were removed as an arriving alien on a single removal, ten years for most other single removals, and twenty years for repeat removals.⁶ Convictions for aggravated felonies can make the bar permanent.

These penalties are self-executing. No motion, no hearing. The clock runs out and the consequences attach.

One narrow exception exists. The ten-year bars on cancellation of removal and adjustment of status do not apply to VAWA self-petitioners if the battery or extreme cruelty they experienced was a central reason they overstayed.¹

Proving You Left and Getting the Bond Back

Leaving the country is only half the obligation. You also need to prove you left.

If you depart by air or sea, U.S. Customs and Border Protection generally records your departure electronically through airline or carrier manifest data linked to your I-94 record.⁷ Land border departures are less reliable. CBP acknowledges that departures through land ports may not be recorded accurately, which is a serious problem when you need to prove timely compliance.

To make sure your departure is documented, present your passport or travel documents to DHS for inspection before leaving, and keep copies of your boarding pass, airline itinerary, and any entry stamp you receive in the destination country. Form G-146, the Non-Immigrant Checkout Letter, can be used to submit evidence of your departure to DHS and support a bond refund. You or your representative files it with the appropriate DHS office along with corroborating documents. Once DHS verifies the departure, it authorizes cancellation of the bond and processes the refund.

If you left by land with no electronic record, independent evidence becomes critical. A dated entry stamp from the country you traveled to, affidavits from people who witnessed your departure, or records from the foreign carrier you used can all help establish that you left on time. The burden falls entirely on you. DHS will not track you down to confirm compliance.

Extensions Are Rare

Immigration judges generally cannot extend a voluntary departure period once it has been set. Only DHS has the authority to grant an extension, and the total period still cannot exceed the statutory maximum of 120 days for pre-conclusion and 60 days for post-conclusion.² Extension requests go to the ICE Field Office Director, the Deputy Executive Associate Commissioner for Detention and Removal, or the Director of the Office of Juvenile Affairs.

One limited exception: if your case is successfully reopened before the voluntary departure period expires, the judge can reinstate voluntary departure, but the total time still cannot exceed the original statutory cap. In practice, extensions are rarely granted. If your travel arrangements fall through or your passport is delayed, contact an immigration attorney immediately rather than let the deadline pass and hope for leniency the statute does not provide.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229c – Voluntary Departure
2
eCFR. 8 CFR 1240.26 – Voluntary Departure Authority of the Executive Office for Immigration Review
3
Executive Office for Immigration Review. Self-Help Guide – Information on Voluntary Departure
4
eCFR. 8 CFR 240.25 – Voluntary Departure
5
Department of Justice. Notice to Respondents Granted Voluntary Departure
6
U.S. Department of State. 9 FAM 302.11 – Ineligibility Based on Previous Removal and Unlawful Presence in the United States – INA 212(a)(9)
7
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W