Voluntary departure
Voluntary departure lets you leave the United States at your own expense, within a fixed period, without a removal order on your record. It comes in two forms: up to 120 days if requested before the case is decided, and up to 60 days if granted at the end. Its value is what it avoids. Its danger is what happens if you miss the date, or file a motion that ends the grant without your noticing.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
Voluntary departure is relief only in a narrow sense. You still leave. What you avoid is the removal order itself, and with it the inadmissibility that follows a removal under INA 212(a)(9)(A) and the reinstatement of that order if you ever return without permission. For some people that is the difference between coming back lawfully through a family petition and never coming back. For others it is the wrong choice, because it forecloses the applications on the relief page that could have kept them here. It is never the default.
The two forms
| Before the conclusion of proceedings | At the conclusion of proceedings | |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | INA 240B(a); 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(b)(1) | INA 240B(b); 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(c) |
| When you ask | At or before the master calendar hearing at which the case is first set for a merits hearing | At the end of the case, when the judge decides it |
| Maximum period | 120 days | 60 days |
| What you give up | You concede removability, request no other relief, and waive appeal | Nothing beyond the departure itself |
| What you show | That you are not deportable for an aggravated felony or on security grounds | Physical presence for at least one year before the Notice to Appear was served; good moral character for 5 years; no aggravated felony or security ground; the means and the intention to depart |
| Bond | In the judge's discretion | A bond of at least $500, posted within 5 business days |
Both forms are discretionary. Meeting the requirements makes you eligible; the judge still decides whether to grant it, and the same equities that matter for other relief matter here. With either form the judge also enters an alternate order of removal that takes effect automatically if you do not leave in time or if the grant terminates for one of the reasons below.
Which form fits
The early form is for a person who has decided not to fight the case: it is faster, it does not require the one-year presence or good-moral-character showing, and it gives twice as long to leave. Its price is the concession and the waiver of appeal, which is why it should never be taken at a first hearing by someone who has not yet had the charge and the relief options reviewed. The late form is for a person who fought the case and lost, or who wants the departure option preserved as a fallback. The statute does not require you to abandon other applications to ask for it at the end of the case, so it is commonly requested in the alternative: grant the application, and if not, grant voluntary departure.
Who is barred
- An aggravated felony conviction bars both forms, under INA 240B(a) and 240B(b). Whether a conviction is an aggravated felony is decided under the categorical approach, and the question is worth asking before the option is written off.
- Security grounds bar both forms.
- Good moral character. The late form requires it for the five years before the application, and INA 101(f) lists the people who cannot be found to have it, including anyone convicted of an aggravated felony and people convicted of certain other crimes, with a catch-all for other conduct.
- A prior failure to depart. Under INA 240B(d)(1), a person who was granted voluntary departure and did not leave is barred from further voluntary departure for ten years, along with the other relief listed below.
The bond, and the penalties for overstaying
The date is the whole deal
For departure at the conclusion of proceedings the judge requires a bond of at least $500, posted within five business days, and if you do not leave by the date set the statute imposes a civil penalty of $1,000 to $5,000, the range set by INA 240B(d)(1). The inflation-adjusted range in 8 C.F.R. 280.53(b)(3) is $1,992 to $9,970 as of September 2026, and 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(l) sets a rebuttable presumption that the penalty is $3,000 unless the judge or the Board orders otherwise; the Board upheld a $3,000 penalty in Matter of R-P-L-, 29 I&N Dec. 859 (BIA 2026). With it comes a ten-year bar to cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, registry, change of status and further voluntary departure. The bond is money you post and can recover by leaving on time; the civil penalty is money the government assesses because you did not. Neither is a legal fee. The alternate order of removal also takes effect, so a person who overstays the period has a removal order after all, plus the penalty and the bar.
Departure has to be provable. Leaving through a port of entry and keeping the evidence of it is part of the grant, because you will be the one asked to prove it if the question ever arises, and it arises when you apply for a visa years later.
The motions that end the grant
This is the trap. Under 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(e)(1), filing a motion to reopen or reconsider during the voluntary departure period automatically terminates the grant, and the alternate order of removal takes effect. Under 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(i), filing a petition for review does the same. The person who files a motion in the last week of the period, hoping to have both the departure option and the motion, ends up with a removal order and the motion.
The rule follows from Dada v. Mukasey, 554 U.S. 1 (2008), in which the Supreme Court held that a person may withdraw a voluntary departure request in order to pursue a motion to reopen. The regulation then made the choice automatic: you can have the departure period or the motion, not both. The decision has to be made on purpose, with the deadlines for the motion and the departure date on the same calendar, and before the departure period runs.
Two related rules. Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.23(b)(1), leaving the United States after filing a motion to reopen or reconsider withdraws the motion, so a person who departs under a grant cannot keep a motion alive from abroad. And under 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(f), only DHS may extend a voluntary departure period; the judge cannot, the Board cannot, and no one can extend it beyond the 120-day or 60-day statutory maximum. A request for more time goes to ICE, in writing, before the period ends, and it is granted in ICE's discretion.
What voluntary departure does not erase
It avoids a removal order, so the inadmissibility that follows a removal under INA 212(a)(9)(A), and the need for consent to reapply on Form I-212, do not arise. It does not erase unlawful presence. The three-year and ten-year bars in INA 212(a)(9)(B) run from the time you were here without status, and a person who accrued that time will face them on departure whether the departure was voluntary or not. Whether a provisional waiver or a 212(a)(9)(B)(v) waiver is available is a separate question, and it belongs to the plan for coming back, which should exist before you leave.
Detained cases
Voluntary departure is available on the detained docket, and it is sometimes the fastest way out of custody for a person with no relief. The judge sets the period, the bond and the conditions in the same way, and departure is arranged with ICE. What changes is the speed: the request, the concession and the departure can all happen in days, and a concession made in custody to shorten the detention is as binding as one made anywhere else. See detained removal defense.
There is no separate government filing fee for a request for voluntary departure made to the judge; the bond described above is a bond, not a fee.
Read next: every form of relief, motions to reopen, after a removal order, or cancellation of removal.
Common questions
What is the difference between the two kinds of voluntary departure?
Timing and requirements. Under INA 240B(a) you can ask before the case is decided, at or before the master calendar hearing at which the case is first set for a merits hearing, and get up to 120 days, but you must concede removability, request no other relief and waive appeal. Under INA 240B(b) you can ask at the conclusion of the case and get up to 60 days, but you must show at least one year of physical presence before the Notice to Appear was served, five years of good moral character, and the means and intention to leave, and you must post a bond of at least $500 within five business days.
What happens if I do not leave on time?
Under INA 240B(d)(1), a civil penalty of $1,000 to $5,000 by statute, which the inflation-adjustment regulation now sets at $1,992 to $9,970 with a presumed amount of $3,000 as of September 2026, and a ten-year bar to cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, registry, change of status and any further voluntary departure. The alternate order of removal that the judge entered with the grant becomes the operative order.
Can I file a motion to reopen after being granted voluntary departure?
You can, but filing it ends the grant. Under 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(e)(1), filing a motion to reopen or reconsider during the departure period automatically terminates the voluntary departure and the alternate order of removal takes effect. The same happens if you file a petition for review, under 1240.26(i). Under Dada v. Mukasey, 554 U.S. 1 (2008), you may withdraw a voluntary departure request in order to pursue a motion to reopen, and that choice has to be made deliberately.
Can the judge give me more time?
No. Under 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(f), only DHS may extend a voluntary departure period, and never beyond the 120-day or 60-day statutory maximum.
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