Parole for Children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala
Author: Asylum Attorney Alena Shautsova
USCIS has announced another important initiative for parole for children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to request to bring their children to the United States as refugees via US Refugee Admission Program (“RAP”). The applications will be considered on a case by case basis, and if there are strong humanitarian factors are present, the parole may be granted to those children who are not eligible for the RAP.
This latest initiative has not been discussed much in the press, maybe due to the fact that only those parents who are in the U.S. legally will be able to forward such requests on behalf of their children. In most such cases, a parent would be a US citizen or permanent resident and already has an opportunity to sponsor his/her child. While parents will not need to pay an application fee, they will need to submit themselves and their children for the DNA test for which they will have to pay. As per the Department of State, in certain circumstances, the cost of the DNA can be reimbursed to the parent.
Parents will need to submit form DS-7699 which WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE to the general public and cannot be completed without the assistance of Department of State-funded resettlement agency.