Post Acceptance Processing

After a refugee has been conditionally accepted by DHS/USCIS, the OPE sends a request for sponsorship assurance to the US. The assurance process is managed by the Refugee Processing Center in Arlington, Virginia in coordination with the Allocations subcommittee (composed of voluntary agencies with State Department cooperative agreements to resettle refugees).  Requests for assurance are allocated to one of the private voluntary agencies that have signed a cooperative agreement with the State Department.  The agency's assurance confirms that they are willing and prepared to accept the case for resettlement, and that all necessary arrangements have been made at the local level to receive the refugee. Once an assurance is received by the refugee processing post, travel arrangements can commence. 

Also after acceptance by DHS/USCIS, refugees will receive medical testing.  The U.S. screens for tuberculosis and certain venereal diseases.  Persons testing positive for any of these conditions will have their admission to the US delayed.  On January 4, 2010, new regulations went into effect whereby the Center for Disease Control (CDC)  removed HIV infection from the list of inadmissible conditions for immigration purposes and from the scope of the immigrant medical examination.

Starting in 2002, the U.S. instituted substantially heightened security background checks on all approved refugees.  These may include clearance by the US embassy, or police and law enforcement officials.   As a result, there are substantial delays in the post processing, especially for those nationalities requiring the highest level clearances. Also in 2004, DHS limited the number of refugees per flight into the U.S. to 35 persons.  UNHCR offices should be aware of the potential delays when considering referring case to the U.S. program.  

Travel arrangements and medical screening are generally coordinated by the Intergovernmental Organization on Migration (IOM) in cooperation with voluntary agencies.  In some countries where IOM is not present, travel may be arranged by a U.S. embassy or by UNHCR.  Refugees are entitled to receive interest free travel loans to pay for the cost of their transportation to their destination in the U.S.