This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh, Fredrikson Immigration Department Chair, is a member.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has issued updated guidance clarifying that ORR benefits and services will be available to eligible Afghan parolees who have a pending re-parole application, a pending asylum application or a pending adjustment of status application with USCIS. This guidance applies to eligible Afghan parolees whose initial period of parole expires while their applications are pending with USCIS, the agency said.
USCIS has announced that it will accept and consider, on a case-by-case basis, re-parole requests under § 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) from certain noncitizen Afghans paroled into the United States with "OAR" or "PAR" classes of admission.
These re-parole requests (from self-petitioners only) are exempt from:
- The filing fee for re-parole application;
- The filing fee for the Employment Authorization Document application; and
- The requirement to file Form I-134, Declaration of Financial Support.
The USCIS alert explains eligibility requirements and application procedures, how to apply for fee-exempt re-parole and how to request an employment authorization document.
