Refugee Travel Document: Who Qualifies and How to File Form I-131

A refugee travel document is a one-year travel booklet issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that lets refugees, asylees, and certain green card holders leave the United States and return without using a passport from the country they fled. You apply for it by mailing Form I-131 to USCIS while you are physically inside the United States. The document cannot be renewed; when it expires, you file a fresh application and pay the fee again.¹

Who Can Apply

Three groups qualify:

People holding valid refugee status under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
People holding valid asylee status under section 208.
Lawful permanent residents who received their green card as a direct result of prior refugee or asylee status.²

That third group often surprises people. Even after adjusting to permanent residence, you remain eligible for a refugee travel document, and in many situations it is still the right credential to carry rather than a reentry permit. If you are an LPR applying for a refugee travel document, you must surrender any existing reentry permit before the new document will be issued. You cannot hold both.³

Eligibility disappears if USCIS terminates your underlying refugee or asylee status.⁴ Each family member needs their own document; a spouse and each child with refugee or asylee status must file a separate Form I-131.

How to File Form I-131

The application is Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records. Refugee travel documents cannot be filed online. You must submit a paper application by mail.⁵ On the form, select Part 1, Box 2 or 3 depending on whether you hold refugee or asylee status.

With the completed form, include:

A copy of the USCIS document showing your refugee or asylee status, or an immigration judge’s order granting asylum.
Two identical passport-style photographs taken within the last six months, showing your full face against a plain white or off-white background.
Any additional evidence that helps establish your eligibility.

Make sure your name on the application matches the spelling on your status documents. Mismatches and missing evidence are among the most common reasons applications get rejected before review.

You must file from inside the United States and complete your biometrics appointment before you leave. If you depart the country before biometrics, USCIS can deny the application.⁶ Mail the packet to the USCIS Lockbox for your geographic area. USCIS publishes the current addresses on its direct filing addresses page for Form I-131.⁷

Filing Fee

USCIS charges a filing fee that changes periodically and varies by category. Check the USCIS fee calculator before you send anything; the wrong amount will get the entire packet returned.⁸

If you cannot afford the fee, file Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, together with your I-131. If USCIS approves the waiver, they process the application at no cost.

What Happens After You File

USCIS mails a Form I-797C, Notice of Action, confirming receipt and giving you a case number you can use to track the application online.⁹ A separate notice will schedule a biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Center, where USCIS collects your fingerprints and a digital photograph for background checks.

Do not miss the biometrics appointment. Under federal regulations, if USCIS requires you to appear and you do not show up, the application is considered abandoned and denied unless USCIS receives a rescheduling request or change of address before the appointment time.¹⁰

Processing times for travel documents on Form I-131 have been running around 15 months, though they fluctuate.¹¹ Plan travel well in advance. Once approved, USCIS mails the finished travel booklet to the address on your application.

Emergency and Expedited Requests

If you need to travel urgently, you can ask USCIS to expedite. The agency considers requests involving serious illness, disability, death of a family member, extreme living conditions, or situations where a vulnerable person’s safety is at risk. USCIS will also consider expediting when a scheduled trip will happen before normal processing finishes. Vacation plans do not qualify.¹²

Back the request with documentation: a hospital or funeral home letter, a death certificate or obituary, and proof of your relationship to the person involved, such as a birth or marriage certificate.

For genuine emergencies where even expedited mail processing is too slow, call the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283, ask to speak with a live officer, and request an emergency in-person appointment at your local field office.

How Long the Document Is Valid

A refugee travel document is valid for one year from the date of issuance, or until your refugee or asylee status expires, whichever comes first.¹ It cannot be renewed or extended. When it expires, you start over with a new Form I-131 and a new fee.

Because processing can take longer than a year, the practical window for using each document is tighter than the paper validity suggests. Frequent travelers usually keep the next application pending while they use the current document. Filing early is the only reliable way to avoid gaps.

Traveling Back to Your Home Country

This is where people get into serious trouble. A refugee travel document lets you travel internationally, but returning to the country you fled can put your entire immigration status at risk. If you voluntarily return to the place you said you feared, USCIS may question whether that fear was genuine.

Federal law allows the government to terminate asylum if you voluntarily return to your country of nationality with permanent resident status there, or a realistic chance of getting it.¹³ USCIS has stated that returning to the country of claimed persecution “can, in some circumstances, be considered evidence that the asylee’s alleged fear of persecution is not genuine,” and that you may be questioned and potentially placed in termination proceedings.¹⁴

The risk does not end when you get a green card. Underlying asylum status can be terminated even after the person becomes a lawful permanent resident.¹⁵ Before any trip to your home country, speak with an immigration attorney.

Entry Into Other Countries

A refugee travel document gets you out of and back into the United States. It does not guarantee entry into any other country. Many countries require a visa in advance from someone traveling on a refugee travel document, even when citizens of your nationality would not need one. Contact the embassy or consulate of every destination and transit country before booking, because standard visa-waiver lists often do not account for travel on refugee documents.

Applying From Outside the United States

The general rule is that you must apply while inside the United States. A narrow exception exists. If you left the country without first obtaining a refugee travel document, a USCIS district director has discretion to accept and process the application from abroad, but only if all of the following are true:⁶

You have been outside the United States for less than one year since your last departure.
You did not intend to abandon your refugee or asylee status when you left.
You have not engaged in activities inconsistent with continued refugee or asylee status.

If you file from abroad, mail the application to the USCIS Refugee and International Operations office in Washington, D.C., rather than a lockbox.⁷ Include a detailed written statement explaining why you left without a travel document, where you have traveled, what you have done while abroad, and evidence of when you last departed the United States. Approval is discretionary; USCIS is not required to accept the application.

If you have been abroad for more than a year, this pathway closes. Being stranded outside the United States without a valid refugee travel document is among the most dangerous situations in immigration law, because it can support a finding that you have abandoned status. Do not leave without your travel document in hand.

If Your Document Is Lost or Stolen Abroad

If your travel document is lost, stolen, or damaged while you are outside the United States, contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate right away. The State Department instructs consular officers to treat a valid refugee travel document like a reentry permit and to help facilitate your return, though the process takes time and may involve additional documentation.³

Once you are back, file a new Form I-131 for a replacement. There is no shortcut for reissuing a lost document. To reduce the risk, carry photocopies of the biographical page of your travel document and your USCIS status documents separately from the originals when you travel.

1
eCFR. 8 CFR 223.3 – Validity and Effect on Admissibility
2
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 223 – Reentry Permits, Refugee Travel Documents, and Advance Parole Documents
3
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 203.7 – Refugee Travel Documents
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part L Chapter 6 – Termination of Status and Notice to Appear Considerations
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-131
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-131
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
10
eCFR. 8 CFR 103.2 – Submission and Adjudication of Benefit Requests
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Historic Processing Times
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expedite Requests
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1158 – Asylum
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Traveling Outside the United States as an Asylum Applicant, Asylee, or Lawful Permanent Resident
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part M Chapter 6 – Termination of Status and Notice to Appear Considerations