Humanitarian Parole
Humanitarian parole is used to bring someone who is otherwise
inadmissible into the United States for a temporary period of time due
to an emergency. HP is a legal immigration status. Find out more at the
links on the website of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS).
https://www.uscis.gov/forms/explore-my-options/humanitarian-parole
https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/humanitarian-parole/information-for-afghan-nationals-on-requests-to-uscis-for-humanitarian-parole
Afghanistan is in the midst of a refugee crisis. More than 550,000
Afghans have been displaced since January 2021. Some are especially
at-risk - including women's rights activist, human rights workers,
journalists, and tens of thousands of individuals who assisted U.S.
efforts over the past 20 years. When the crisis of August culminated it
was thought that at-risk Afghans could come to the U.S. under either the
Special Immigrant Visa program or a broader Priority 2 (P2) refugee
status. However, both processes takes years to complete. On August 23rd
the adminstration announced it would be using its humanitarian parole
authority to process in evacuated Afghans who do not already have visas.
Tracking Immigration Case Status Online. Use this tool
to track the status of an immigration application, petition, or request
with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do
Information about Humanitarian Parole
Prerequisites? A passport for humanitarian parole is
helpful, but not needed. There needs to be an urgent reason that a
person cannot stay in Afghanstan - country conditions and specific
cirumstances to the individual. A person can apply from anywhere except
Afghanistan and a few countries where the United States does not conduct
consular business. Biometric screening may be a requirement and physical
posession of humanitarian parole documents prior to entry to the United
States. Each family member requires their own HP application to include
children. Humanitarian parole is temporary, up to two years for some
Afghans. USCIS approves HP status and then the Department of State is
informed.
HP Application Fee. Currently the humanitarian parole
fee is $575 per person. That can get expensive for a large family. There
is a DoS form to request a fee waiver -
i-912.
However, it has been reported that this slows down the application
process.
Sponsor. A person or organization in the United States must agree to
financially represent the family for up to one year while they resettle.
The sponsor needs to prove they have excess income at the poverty line
for the size family that is being sponsored.
HP Benefits. The FY 2022 Continuing Resolution passed by Congress provides benefits for Afghan who are provided Humanitarian Parole status. Afghans
who entered the U.S. with humanitarian parole are authorized to receive refugee resettlement benefits. The legislation authorizes Afghans
arriving with humanitarian parole to receive the same services as refugees (admitted under Section 207 of the INA), including ORR
assistance, reception and placement, and other entitlement programs like food assistance. This includes Afghan parolees deemed to be
unaccompanied children eligible for Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) services.
Benefits for Afghan Humanitarian Parolees
Now in the U.S. A huge influx of Afghans evacuees made it to
the United States as a result of the Kabul non-combatant evacuation
operation (NEO) in August 2021. Many of them flew to 'lily pads' in the
Middle East and to Europe as well. Most had no legal basis for entry
into the United States. But the U.S. had a dilemma . . . what to do with
the many thousands of Afghans it airlifted out of the Kabul airport
during the chaotic month of August. So the U.S. government extended
Humanitarian Parole to the Afghans that made it to the United States
that did not have American citizenship, a green card (lawful permanent
resident), of a valid visa or pending Special Immigrant Visa application
in the process of being approved. Certain Afghan individuals paroled
into the U.S. between July 2021 through September 2022 are eligible to
apply for benefits and resettlement assistance. To learn more read a
two-page PDF by the Administration for Children & Families of the
Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Federal Benefits and Services.
Switchboard.org has published an article entitled "What Federal Benefits
and Service are Available to Afghan Parolees?", September 20, 2021.
https://switchboardta.org/blog/what-federal-benefits-and-services-are-available-to-afghan-parolees/
Funding for HPs. Eligible Afghans are those paroled into the
United States between July 31, 2021 and September 30, 2022; or those paroled into the United States after September 30, 2022, and, either the
spouse or child of such a parolee or the parent or legal guardian of an unaccompanied child paroled during that period. The federal government receives supplemental funding for this purpose,
including an additional $1.68 billion for Afghans arriving with humanitarian parole, as well as an additional $2.5 billion for unaccompanied children and an authorization for an apportioned rate of
spend for all other ORR populations. The State Department’s humanitarian assistance accounts receive an additional $2.2 billion, and USCIS receives an additional $193 million related to Operation Allies Welcome
and is permitted to spend at a rate for operations of $250 million toward the reduction of the asylum and refugee backlogs.
The legislation deems Afghan parolees eligible for a driver’s license or identification card under Section 202 of the REAL ID Act of 2005. The bill also includes language about expediting Afghan parolees’ asylum
applications; however, similar expedition mandates in previous immigration legislation have not materialized into expedited adjudication processes for asylum seekers.
The Numbers
The Humanitarian Parole program has turned out to be a big
dissappointment to those in Afghanistan or in a third country. As of
mid-February 2022, of the 43,000 humanitarian parole applications the
agency has received since July 2021, it has processed fewer than 2,000.
Of that number 1,500 have been denied and
less than 200 as of August 2022. In November
2021, 28,000 applications had been filed and
just 100 approved.
Resources about Humanitarian Parole
Afghanistan - Humanitarian Parole. Afghan Diaspora for
Equality & Progress (ADEP)
https://adeprogress.org/resources/afghanistan-humanitarian-parole/
A YouTube training video on humanitarian parole, an Afghan Humanitarian
Parole Checklist, and various forms for humanitarian parole are
available at the ADEP website. This webpage has a detailed step by step
instruction on applying for humanitarian parole.
National Immigration Forum
Explainer: Humanitarian Parole and the Afghan Evacuation, by
Danilo Zak, August 30, 2021.
https://immigrationforum.org/article/explainer-humanitarian-parole-and-the-afghan-evacuation/
USCIS and Humanitarian Parole - Vaccinology.org
In this site are some of the forms relevant to evacuation of Afghan
refuges and a detailed description of an approach to assembling a HP
package.
https://vaccinology.org/uscis/
Webinar on Humanitarian Parole & Financial Sponsorship for
Afghan Evacuees
Task Force Melmastya, September 23, 2021, 90 minutes, YouTube
https://youtu.be/MqimZciJ_rE?t=146
News Reports about Humantarian Parole
November 19, 2021.
"Humanitarian Parole for Afghans - False Hope", Afghan Report.
November 19, 2021.
"Thousands of Afghans Seek Temporary US Entry, Few Approved",
Voice of America. As of early November 2021 28,000 Afghans had
filed for humanitarian parole and only 100 were approved.
October 23, 2021,
"US Immigration Agency Overwhelmed by 20,000 Afghan Humanitarian
Requests", Voice of America.
Read more in
"Explainer: Humanitarian Parole and the Afghan Evacuation",
National Immigration Forum, August 30, 2021.
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