What is voluntary departure — and what happens if you do not leave in time?

Voluntary departure is permission to leave the United States on your own within a fixed period, and it is a trade: you get time and avoid execution of a removal order. What you give up depends on WHEN it is granted. The pre-conclusion grant under INA §240B(a) requires conceding removability and waiving appeal (8 CFR §1240.26(b)(1)(i)); the at-conclusion grant under §240B(b) does not — it has four different findings (§1240.26(c)(1)).** Behind the permission, the judge enters an alternate order of removal the same day (8 CFR §1240.26(d)). If the person leaves within the period, that order is not executed. If they voluntarily fail to leave within the period, three things happen at once: the alternate order takes effect, a civil penalty of $1,992 to $9,970 is imposed — the regulation presumes $3,000 — and a 10-year bar on several forms of relief attaches (INA §240B(d)(1)(B)), subject to the VAWA exception in INA §240B(d)(2). Everything below is current as of August 11, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Two different grants, two maximum periods

The statute treats voluntary departure requested before proceedings conclude and voluntary departure granted at the conclusion of proceedings as separate things, with different ceilings:

“Subject to subparagraph (B), permission to depart voluntarily under this subsection shall not be valid for a period exceeding 120 days.” — INA §240B(a)(2)(A)

“Permission to depart voluntarily under this subsection shall not be valid for a period exceeding 60 days.” — INA §240B(b)(2)

The regulation repeats the same split: “If voluntary departure is granted prior to the completion of removal proceedings, the immigration judge may grant a period not to exceed 120 days. If voluntary departure is granted at the conclusion of proceedings, the immigration judge may grant a period not to exceed 60 days” (8 CFR §1240.26(e)).

Before proceedings concludeAt the conclusion of proceedings
Legal basisINA §240B(a); 8 CFR §1240.26(b)INA §240B(b); 8 CFR §1240.26(c)
Maximum period120 days60 days
When it must be requestedPrior to or at the master calendar hearing at which the case is initially calendared for a merits hearingAt the conclusion of proceedings
BondThe sources cited on this page set no amount for this versionRequired, $500 floor, posted within 5 business days

These are ceilings, not entitlements: the judge may grant less time.

What you give up to get it before the case ends

This is the part of the trade that almost nobody publishes. The regulation lists it as five cumulative conditions:

“An alien may be granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge pursuant to section 240B(a) of the Act only if the alien: (A) Makes such request prior to or at the master calendar hearing at which the case is initially calendared for a merits hearing; (B) Makes no additional requests for relief (or if such requests have been made, such requests are withdrawn prior to any grant of voluntary departure pursuant to this section); (C) Concedes removability; (D) Waives appeal of all issues; and (E) Has not been convicted of a crime described in section 101(a)(43) of the Act and is not deportable under section 237(a)(4).”

8 CFR §1240.26(b)(1)(i).

The two middle conditions are the ones that change a case permanently: conceding removability and waiving appeal of all issues. What they mean in a specific situation is a legal question — see your right to an attorney, pro-bono help, and how to find an immigration attorney.

The four findings required at the conclusion of proceedings

When it is requested at the end of the case, the regulation requires the judge to find four things:

“(i) The alien has been physically present in the United States for period of at least one year preceding the date the Notice to Appear was served under section 239(a) of the Act; (ii) The alien is, and has been, a person of good moral character for at least five years immediately preceding the application; (iii) The alien has not been convicted of a crime described in section 101(a)(43) of the Act and is not deportable under section 237(a)(4); and (iv) The alien has established by clear and convincing evidence that the alien has the means to depart the United States and has the intention to do so.”

8 CFR §1240.26(c)(1). The document that starts the case and fixes that service date is the Notice to Appear (NTA).

The alternate removal order is entered the same day

This is the most misread fact about voluntary departure:

“Upon granting a request made for voluntary departure either prior to the completion of proceedings or at the conclusion of proceedings, the immigration judge shall also enter an alternate order or removal.”

8 CFR §1240.26(d). (The wording “order or removal” is in the regulation as published; it is quoted here as it appears, not silently corrected.)

In other words, the removal order exists from day one. Voluntary departure does not prevent it — it prevents its execution, and only if the person departs within the period.

The bond: $500 floor, five business days, posted with ICE

“The alien shall be required to post a voluntary departure bond, in an amount necessary to ensure that the alien departs within the time specified, but in no case less than $500. Before granting voluntary departure, the immigration judge shall advise the alien of the specific amount of the bond to be set and the duty to post the bond with the ICE Field Office Director within 5 business days of the immigration judge’s order granting voluntary departure.”

8 CFR §1240.26(c)(3)(i). The $500 is a floor, not the amount: the judge sets the figure. How immigration bonds are paid generally, who can be the obligor, and how the money comes back is covered in how immigration bonds work.

Failing to post the bond does not cancel the duty to leave:

“the alien’s failure to post the required voluntary departure bond within the time required does not terminate the alien’s obligation to depart within the period allowed or exempt the alien from the consequences for failure to depart voluntarily during the period allowed.”

And where appeal was waived, the alternate order of removal takes effect immediately, except that a person granted voluntary departure under §1240.26(c) “will not be deemed to have departed under an order of removal if the alien: (i) Departs the United States no later than 25 days following the failure to post bond” — with evidence of the departure and of remaining outside (8 CFR §1240.26(c)(4)).

If you do not leave in time: three consequences at once

1. The alternate order of removal takes effect. It was already entered; the expiry of the period activates it.

2. A civil penalty. The statute says the person “shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000” (INA §240B(d)(1)(A)) — but that statutory range has been superseded by annual inflation adjustments, and the range in effect is $1,992 to $9,970 (8 CFR §280.53(b)(3), which states it as “From $1,942 minimum/$9,718 maximum to $1,992 minimum/$9,970 maximum”). Inside that range, the regulation sets a default:

“There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the civil penalty for failure to depart, pursuant to section 240B(d)(1)(A) of the Act, shall be set at $3,000 unless the immigration judge or the Board specifically orders a higher or lower amount at the time of granting voluntary departure within the permissible range allowed by law. The immigration judge or the Board shall advise the alien of the amount of this civil penalty at the time of granting voluntary departure.”

8 CFR §1240.26(l). The statute also requires the warning to be in the document itself: “The order permitting an alien to depart voluntarily shall inform the alien of the penalties under this subsection” (INA §240B(d)(3)).

3. A 10-year bar. The regulation describes it this way:

“An alien previously granted voluntary departure under section 240B of the Act, including by DHS under § 240.25, and who fails to depart voluntarily within the time specified, shall thereafter be ineligible, for a period of ten years, for voluntary departure or for relief under sections 240A, 245, 248, and 249 of the Act.”

8 CFR §1240.26(a). The statutory version of the same block says the person “shall be ineligible, for a period of 10 years, to receive any further relief under this section and sections 1229b, 1255, 1258, and 1259 of this title” (INA §240B(d)(1)(B)). Note the reach: the bar covers voluntary departure granted by DHS, not only a grant from an immigration judge.

This 10-year bar is NOT the unlawful presence bar

They are two rules from two different statutes that happen to carry the same number of years, and mixing them is a serious error:

  • The one on this page is INA §240B(d)(1)(B) (with its regulation, 8 CFR §1240.26(a)): it is triggered by not leaving after a grant of voluntary departure, and it blocks voluntary departure, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, change of nonimmigrant status, and registry. INA §240B(d)(2) carves out cancellation of removal and adjustment based on a VAWA self-petition (or the other VAWA-based petitions it lists) when “the extreme cruelty or battery was at least one central reason for the alien’s overstaying the grant of voluntary departure.”
  • The unlawful presence bar is INA §212(a)(9)(B), runs on its own terms, and answers to different facts.

None of the sources cited here says voluntary departure erases or shortens the unlawful presence bars. They are separate calculations.

Filing a motion during the period ends the grant — and cancels the penalties

The regulation addresses head-on what happens when someone keeps fighting the case during the voluntary departure period:

“If the alien files a post-decision motion to reopen or reconsider during the period allowed for voluntary departure, the grant of voluntary departure shall be terminated automatically, and the alternate order of removal will take effect immediately. The penalties for failure to depart voluntarily under section 240B(d) of the Act shall not apply if the alien has filed a post-decision motion to reopen or reconsider during the period allowed for voluntary departure.”

8 CFR §1240.26(b)(3)(iii). Filing a petition for review also ends the grant under §1240.26(i), and the penalties do not apply to a person who files one and remains in the United States while it is pending. A person granted voluntary departure under §1240.26(c) is not deemed to have departed under a removal order if they leave within 30 days of filing the petition, give DHS the evidence of departure the ICE Field Office Director requires, and give evidence DHS deems sufficient that they remain outside the United States.

What cannot be appealed, and one statutory bar on repeating it

  • The length of the period is not appealable: “No appeal shall lie regarding the length of a period of voluntary departure (as distinguished from issues of whether to grant voluntary departure)” (8 CFR §1240.26(g)).
  • One situation where the statute forbids a second grant: “The Attorney General shall not permit an alien to depart voluntarily under this section if the alien was previously permitted to so depart after having been found inadmissible under section 1182(a)(6)(A) of this title” (INA §240B(c)).

Who imposes and collects the penalty now

A 2025 interim final rule (90 FR 27439, published June 27, 2025, Imposition and Collection of Civil Penalties for Certain Immigration-Related Violations) moved the imposition and collection of these civil penalties to DHS and moved the appeal from the Board of Immigration Appeals to DHS.

Update, October 14, 2026: DHS and EOIR have finalized that rule. The final rule (FR Doc. 2026-21024) was published in the Federal Register on October 14, 2026 (91 FR 65390). About its effective date, the published rule says: “The effective date of this final rule is October 14, 2026.” It adopts the 2025 interim rule with one change. How the process works, as the document describes it:

  • What it covers: three civil penalties — failing to depart within the period of a voluntary departure order (INA 240B(d)(1)(A)); willfully failing or refusing to depart after a final removal order, or taking certain actions to thwart departure (INA 274D(a)(1)); and being apprehended while entering or attempting to enter unlawfully (INA 275(b)(1)).
  • The amounts are not changed by this rule. The document says the 2025 rule “did not require the imposition of any new penalties or otherwise change the substantive criteria for issuing civil penalties.” It lists the current figures: $1,992 to $9,970 for failure to depart after voluntary departure (ICE guidance applies the amount set by the immigration judge or the Board, or $3,000 if the order sets none); up to $998 for each day of willful failure to depart after a removal order; and $100 to $500 per unlawful entry or attempted entry.
  • The notice: a DHS immigration officer issues a written decision and order stating the statutory basis, the type and amount of the penalty, and the reasons. It can be served in person or by regular mail.
  • The appeal: a notice of appeal is filed with DHS within 15 business days of service. A supervisory officer who did not issue the decision reviews the written record de novo and issues a final decision within 45 days. There is no appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and without a timely appeal the decision becomes final.
  • The one change in the final rule: an appeal filed after the 15 business days can be accepted as timely when it includes a written explanation and any available evidence that the decision arrived late by mail, and ICE determines, case by case, that the delay was beyond the person’s control.

Source: final rule, 91 FR 65390 (FR Doc. 2026-21024). Status as of October 15, 2026.

The deadline to appeal to the Board is contested right now

The pre-conclusion version requires waiving appeal, so the appeal deadline matters here for what is being given up. And that deadline cannot currently be read straight off the regulation:

  • As codified today, 8 CFR §1003.38(b)(1) says that, “except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)” — asylum cases where the judge adjudicated the application, which get 30 calendar days — “in all cases” Form EOIR-26 “shall be filed directly with the Board within 10 calendar days of the Immigration Judge’s decision.” That text came from an interim final rule, 91 FR 5267, published February 6, 2026, effective March 9, 2026.
  • A federal court vacated that provision on March 8, 2026, one day before it took effect: the order in Amica Center for Immigrant Rights v. EOIR, No. 1:26-cv-00696-RDM (Dkt. 33), from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, left it “VACATED and SET ASIDE” and declared it “UNLAWFUL and UNENFORCEABLE” as promulgated “without observance of procedure required by law” (5 U.S.C. §706(2)(D)).
  • Before that rule the deadline was 30 days, per the agency’s own preamble (91 FR 5272).
  • The eCFR still shows the vacated text because it publishes codified amendments, not court vacaturs.
  • The government appealed to the D.C. Circuit on May 7, 2026 (USCA No. 26-5156). As of August 11, 2026 no stay of the vacatur appears on the docket, and no replacement final rule has been published.

The safe operational reading — a statement about the conflict between sources, not about any case — is to treat the deadline as the shortest one on the table and file immediately.

What the sources do NOT say

  • Neither INA §240B nor 8 CFR §1240.26 says voluntary departure erases the unlawful presence bars at INA §212(a)(9)(B). Different statutes.
  • No source states how long ICE takes to cancel or refund a voluntary departure bond. 8 CFR §1240.26(c)(3)(v) says only that the alien “may apply to the ICE Field Office Director for the bond to be canceled.”
  • Nothing states that voluntary departure preserves a right to return. It avoids execution of a removal order if honored; it confers no visa eligibility.
  • The regulation does not say what happens if a passport cannot be obtained in time, beyond the 60-day documentation mechanism at 8 CFR §1240.26(b)(3)(ii).

Last verified: 2026-10-15. General information, not legal advice. Voluntary departure runs against a deadline, and the pre-conclusion form is granted only by giving up procedural rights — before accepting or signing any document that mentions it, consult a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative, never a notario.