Originally Posted by skyisthelimit

Just wanna share my advance parole experience after going through the process and safely returned to the US.

I applied through an attorney for Advance Parole (humanitarian reason) in the beginning of Oct and within a month at the end of Oct I was approved. Received my AP paper a few days later. So I booked the plane ticket right away for a 2 weeks trip.

The route I took is from Detroit to Shanghai China. I was nervous before the trip and even more nervous during the trip, but the whole process was really worth it. Leaving US is easy, I just need to show my passport to the Airline since US has no exit system, going into China at Shanghai, however, I was subject to immigration inspection, since I had no stamp on my passport, the inspector at the counter had to refer me to secondary booth for further verification, I guess they just want to make sure I had a valid passport because of the no stamp, they did ask me a few questions about when I left China, whether or not I have Chinese identification card, whether or not I have green card, and if I plan to go back to US, it took about 5-10 minutes and I was good to go. During the 2 weeks in China, I got more and more anxious as the date of return gets closer, however, everything went smoothly at the end. At Shanghai airport, both the Airline and Chinese custom recognized the AP, no question asked and I was stamped to exit China without any problem. I was also very lucky at the US custom in Detroit, the officer at the first inspection point took my paper and did not ask any questions, I just went through the normal procedure of fingerprinting and getting my picture taken, he then told me he had to take me to secondary because that's where they process AP papers, at the secondary inspection room, there was only a few people ahead of me, the atmosphere inside was not scary at all, I felt calm, although I saw the people ahead of me got questioned extensively by the CBP officers because they were on visa and CBP want to make sure they come here just to visit and not to live here. Ten minutes into the waiting, I saw an officer came in from outside and took my paperwork on the shelf, he walked back and forth in front of a few computers to see if they are available, maybe no computer was ready, he went into the back room. After 5 or 10 more minutes, he came out and at the counter right in front of me I saw him stamped my passport and the AP paper, I thought he was ready to hand it to me, but no, he walks out of the room with my stamped paperwork in hand without a word. The other officers just walks in and out of the room while I was continuing waiting, another 20 or so minutes passed, the room became empty, one officer came in and asked the other officers in the room if I'm being processed, they didn't seem to know so he questioned me, I told him that an officer with my paperwork left the room, he went out to check and came back few minutes later and told me that I'm still being checked on the computer outside. Few minutes later, the officer that was processing my paperwork finally came in and handed me my passport and one copy of the AP paper (they kept the other one), no questions asked and he even apologized to me that it took that much time, he said that's the normal process for AP. I was so relieved at that moment, after that, it's just baggage check to make sure I did not bring anything dangerous into the US.

In summary,
Leaving US - show only passport, no inspection
Entering China - show only passport, subject to inspection
Leaving China - show passport and AP, subject to inspection
On Airplane - fill out custom declaration form
Entering US - show passport, AP, and custom declaration form, subject to first and secondary inspection, baggage also subject to inspection.

For those who are intending to apply for AP, please be aware that each case is different, this is just merely my experience. Few things to be aware of before you leave, 1) make sure the country you are visiting is either your home country for which you have a valid passport or a country that granted you valid visa. 2) make sure your passport is at least 6 months from expiration. 3) AP only means USCIS grants you as "an applicant for admission" into US, it doesn't mean the country you are visiting will let you enter or exit. 4) CBP has the final discretion to let you into the US, depending on your other ground of inadmissibility. 5) Don't take connecting flight to another country if you are not familiar with its immigration policy.