A person who is outside his or her nation and is unwilling to return for fear of persecution on account of nationality, race, religion, or membership in a particular social group, or political opinion is regarded as a refugee. Every year the President of the United States establishes a ceiling for the admission of refugees after consulting with Congress.
If you are one such person and wish to claim status as a refugee with the help of the United States Resettlement Program (USRP), then you need to do as follows.
Step 1 - Get References
You have to obtain a referral from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the US Embassy in your nation. Obtaining referral refers to placing a request for Priority-1 (P1) interview with USRP.
Step 2 - Attend Prescreening
Joint Voluntary Agency (JVA) or Voluntary agencies conduct pre-screening interviews. Once you get selected, these agencies prepare your case by filling necessary form and preparing documents and submit your applications to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers.
Step 3 - Priority-1 Interview
You will have a personal interview with an USCIS officer. It would be a non-adversarial one whose sole purpose is to extract the information regarding your claim for refugee status.
Step 4 - Test and Assurance
If you are selected in the P-1 interview, then you have to undergo a medical and security tests conducted and must be assigned a sponsor assurance. You have to provide details like your job history, work skills, special educational skills or medical needs if present and details about the accompanying family members. You will get an admission number, and then you will be transported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Transportation cost may be financed if you are not able to finance it; however, you have to agree for the repayment of the airfare paid by the IOM.
Step 5 – Refugee Entry
With these things and refugee admission number, USCIS will authorize your entry into the United States. You will also be given permission to seek employment.
Step 6 – Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident
After a year in the U.S. as a refugee, if conditions have not improved in your home country, you can adjust your status to a lawful permanent resident. You also become eligible to apply for the naturalization to the US citizenship after 5 years of entry as a refugee.
You can obtain more details about the refugee status if you consult an immigration lawyer.
