| About the U.S. Refugee Program: FY 2004 (Last updated December 8, 2003) 1. Who decides how many refugees will enter the United States each year?
2. How many refugees may enter the United States during fiscal year 2004?
3. Who is considered to be a refugee?
4. What are the eligibility criteria for the U.S. Refugee Program?
5. What are the current priorities for admission to the U.S. Refugee Program during fiscal year 2004?
1. Who decides how many refugees will enter the United States each year? Before the start of each fiscal year, the current administration engages in a consultation process with national voluntary resettlement agencies, members of Congress, and several leading experts in refugee affairs. The President then issues a final determination on refugee admissions, based on what appears justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.
The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) within the U.S. State Department has primary responsibility for formulating policies on refugees and migration, and for administering U.S. refugee assistance and admissions programs.
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2. How many refugees may enter the United States during fiscal year 2004? On October 21, 2003, the President authorized the admission of up to 50,000 refugees allocated among these regions: Africa - 25,000; East Asia - 6,500; Europe and Central Asia - 13,000; Latin America and the Caribbean - 3,500; Near East/South Asia - 2,000; and an additional 20,000 unallocated numbers to be used if caseloads become available.
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3. Who is considered to be a refugee? Based on U.S. law, the United States considers for admission as refugees persons of special humanitarian concern who can establish persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. With some modification, the Immigration and Nationality Act largely adopted the definition of "refugee" in the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, as amended by its 1967 Protocol.
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4. What are the eligibility criteria for the U.S. Refugee Program? Applicants for admission to the U.S. Refugee Program must:
• Meet the definition of “refugee”, as provided in the Immigration and Nationality Act;
• Be among those refugees determined by the President to be of special humanitarian concern to the United States;
• Be otherwise admissible under United States law; and
• Not be firmly resettled in any foreign country.
The admissions program is the legal mechanism for admitting refugees who are among those classes of persons of particular interest to the United States. However, the program does not create any entitlement for a person to be admitted to the United States even though he/she may meet all of the eligibility criteria.
Currently, applicants who fall within the priorities established for the relevant nationality or region are presented to the Department of Homeland Security for determination of eligibility for admission to the U.S. Refugee Program.
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5. What are the current priorities for admission to the U.S. Refugee Program during fiscal year 2004? The current worldwide processing priority system sets guidelines for the orderly management and processing of refugee applications for admission to the United States within the established annual regional ceilings.
Priority 1 (P-1)
is reserved for compelling protection cases or refugees for whom no other durable solution exists who are referred to the program by UNHCR or a U.S. Embassy. Priority 1 is available to persons of any nationality.
Priority 2 (P-2)
is used for groups of special humanitarian concern to the United States. It includes specific groups (within certain nationalities, clans or ethnic groups) identified by the Department of State in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UNHCR, and other experts. Some P-2 groups are processed in their country of origin.
P-2 “In-country” processing programs:
- Former Soviet Union
This P-2 designation applies to Jews, Evangelical Christians, and Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox religious activists identified in the Lautenberg Amendment with close family in the United States. - Cuba
Included in this P-2 program are former political prisoners, members of persecuted religious minorities, human rights activists, forced-labor conscripts, persons deprived of their professional credentials or subjected to other disproportionately harsh or discriminatory treatment resulting from their perceived or actual political or religious beliefs or activities, and others who appear to have a credible claim that they will face persecution. (Note: A review of eligibility criteria for the Cuba program has been initiated and may result in adjustments during FY 2004.)
- Vietnam
This P-2 designation covers the residual caseload from the former Orderly Departure Program (ODP), Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR), and McCain amendment programs. It also includes Amerasian immigrants, whose numbers are counted in the refugee ceiling.
P-2 Groups of Humanitarian Concern outside the country of origin:
The admissions program is now also processing several additional P-2 groups outside their country of origin and continues to develop new P-2 designations. Those currently being processed include:
- Somali Bantus in Kenya
- Baku Armenians in Russia
- Iranian religious minorities, primarily in Austria
Among groups under active consideration for group designation in FY 2004 are Meskhetian Turks in Russia, Bhutanese in Nepal, Vietnamese in the Philippines, and certain Liberians in West Africa.
Priority 3 (P-3)
In fiscal year 2004, eligibility for a refugee interview is extended to nationals of the following countries who are the spouses, unmarried children under 21 or parents of persons admitted to the United States as refugees or granted asylum, or persons who are lawful permanent residents or U.S. citizens and were initially admitted to the United States as refugees or granted asylum:
Burma
Burundi
Colombia
Congo (Brazzaville)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Iran
Liberia
Somalia
Sudan
Eligibility will be established on the basis of an Affidavit of Relationship (AOR) filed by the relative in the United States and processed through the Department of Homeland Security. All applicants must be located outside their countries of nationality or habitual residence. (Note: AORs filed by anchor relatives according to FY 2003 eligibility criteria that no longer meet the revised criteria for FY 2004 will be accepted for a limited period of time and must be sent by national voluntary agency headquarters to the RPC postmarked on or before December 31, 2003.)
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