English 
Português 
Español 
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) relaunched its CBP One mobile application on March 10, 2025, under a new name: CBP Home. The tool, which previously allowed migrants to schedule asylum interviews at the border, now enables foreign nationals without legal status in the United States to voluntarily register their intention to leave the country. The DHS has classified this procedure as self-deportation and positioned it as the preferred pathway for those who wish to regularize their entry into the United States in the future.
The change is part of the broader immigration agenda of the second Trump administration, which took office on January 20, 2025, with a pledge to carry out one of the largest removal operations in American history. The administration’s logic is straightforward: every foreign national who departs voluntarily frees up resources for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to focus on priority cases, particularly those involving criminal history.
From CBP One to CBP Home
The original application, CBP One, was launched by the Biden administration in January 2023 and served as a digital gateway to the humanitarian parole system and appointment scheduling at southern border ports of entry. More than 900,000 people used the tool to enter the United States under some form of parole between January 2023 and January 2025.
On the first day of Trump’s second term, DHS deactivated entry appointments through CBP One and revoked paroles granted under the program, immediately halting the tool’s use for arrivals. CBP Home inherits the technical infrastructure of its predecessor but completely reverses its function: instead of facilitating arrival, it records departure.
How CBP Home Works
The application is available for free in the Apple and Google app stores and is an automatic update for users who had CBP One installed. The core flow allows users to declare their decision to leave the United States, provide a planned departure date, indicate the land, sea, or air port of exit, and submit evidence of departure, such as a boarding pass or border crossing record.
DHS positions the tool as a practical counterpart to its stated promise that self-deporting foreign nationals preserve — at least in theory — the possibility of legally returning to the United States. The administration keeps the app integrated with CBP’s internal systems, so departures can be cross-referenced with entry records and the I-94, which is the basis for admission control and length of stay tracking.
The Reduced Bar Argument
The most technical aspect of the announcement involves the unlawful presence bars under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), section 212(a)(9)(B). Those who accumulate more than 180 days of unlawful presence and then leave the United States are barred from returning legally for three years. Those who accumulate more than one year and depart are subject to a ten-year bar.
The administration has communicated self-deportation as a more favorable route than judicial removal. Formal removal orders under INA 212(a)(9)(A) impose additional bars — typically five, ten, or twenty years, depending on the circumstances — and require Form I-212 to seek reentry before the bar period expires. The government’s framing is that voluntary departure preserves only the unlawful presence bars, avoiding the compounding effect of removal bars.
In practice, using CBP Home does not replace individualized legal counsel. The immigration consequence depends on factors such as the length of unlawful presence, prior removal orders, prior use of document fraud, and eligibility for waivers through Forms I-601 or I-601A. Each of these variables can dramatically change how a departure affects a future visa application.
Who May Want to Consider This Option
The profile that benefits most from a registered voluntary departure is the foreign national who entered with inspection, overstayed the I-94 period, and hopes to return in the long term based on a family relationship, job offer, or employer sponsorship. In this scenario, generating a digital departure record can make it easier to later prove that the period of unlawful presence was effectively terminated.
Those who entered without inspection — commonly referred to as EWI (entry without inspection) — face a different landscape. Simply departing does not cure the defect in the original entry, and any reentry after more than one year of unlawful presence may trigger the permanent bar under INA 212(a)(9)(C), which requires a ten-year absence before even filing for a waiver.
Practical Risks and Unresolved Questions
CBP Home is an administrative record, not immunity. Foreign nationals with pending warrants, outstanding removal orders, or a criminal history may be detained at the time of departure or have their data used in future inadmissibility proceedings. Immigrant advocacy organizations have warned that using the app amounts, in practice, to a formal admission of unlawful presence — information that becomes permanently recorded in DHS systems.
Furthermore, the promise of facilitated legal return has no new regulatory basis. There is no regulation, USCIS memorandum, or statute that creates an express readmission pathway for app users. The route back continues to be, in most cases, the standard consular process subject to the same existing bars and waivers.
Comparison with Formal Removal
The traditional removal process, conducted under the jurisdiction of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), involves a hearing before an immigration judge and may include detention in an ICE facility. A removal order issued by the court triggers the INA 212(a)(9)(A) bars, which are added on top of the unlawful presence bars. For many, this is the most damaging route.
Voluntary departure within judicial proceedings, known as voluntary departure, has existed for decades as an alternative to removal and allows the foreign national to leave the country voluntarily, without a formal removal order, within a deadline set by the judge. CBP Home seeks to replicate this logic outside of litigation, before the case even reaches a court.
What the Announcement Does Not Resolve
The application does not create a new legalization mechanism or alter the legal framework of U.S. immigration. The same requirements for employment-based, family-based, and investment-based visas continue to apply. Anyone wishing to return must go through the standard consular process, including the submission of petitions such as Form I-130, I-140, I-526, or other applicable forms and, when necessary, a waiver request through Form I-601 or I-601A.
For most foreign nationals in irregular status, the decision about whether to use CBP Home is not about the app itself but about the full immigration calculus: how much unlawful presence has accumulated, which return route is viable, whether a waiver is available, whether there is a qualifying family relationship, and whether there are resources to manage the waiting period. Seeking legal counsel before making any decision has moved from a recommendation to a minimum condition of prudence when dealing with an administrative tool whose practical effects may not be felt for years.
Victoria Harper
Editor-in-Chief
Leading journalism and editorial content at Visto n’ Visa, Victoria helps make immigration topics clear, trustworthy, and easy to understand. Her focus is on delivering useful, human, and relevant content for people exploring new paths abroad.
