The United States announced on Friday the official launch of the Family Reunification Program (FRP), which will benefit Colombians, Salvadorans and Guatemalans.
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The program was announced in April this year, but from this Friday it will begin to be implemented.
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“These new processes promote family unity and provide legal pathways consistent with our laws and values. The Department has shown that the expansion of safe, orderly, and legal pathways, combined with strong law enforcement, is effective. to reduce irregular and dangerous migration to the United States,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said during the announcement.
According to the United States, the new processes will only affect citizens of those countries whose relatives are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and who have already received permission to join their family in the United States.
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The cases, note the authorities of this country, will be analyzed one by one and those approved will be granted a license for parole or “pardon”. so they can stay in the United States for up to three years while their process to become legal residents progresses. These three years of parole could also be renewable.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) clarifies that approvals will be “discretionary, case-by-case, and temporary” after the recipient demonstrates that there are “urgent humanitarian reasons, a benefit to the public, and that” the exercise of discretion is justified”.
The program had been announced in April this year, but from this Friday it will begin to be implemented.
According to immigration authorities, the process will begin when “the Department of State issues an invitation to the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member whose Form I-130 in the name of a Colombian, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, or Honduran beneficiary has been approved.”
(In context: This is the form for the family reunification process with the United States)
It adds, “Recipients may include certain children and siblings of U.S. citizens and certain spouses and children of permanent residents. The invited petitioner may then initiate the process by submitting a request on behalf of the beneficiary and eligible family members for review for early travel authorization and conditional release”.
Although the United States does not specify in its statement, it stands to reason that those who will benefit first from the measure are the citizens of the United States who have already had the Form I-130 t approved. for their relatives in Colombia, Guatemala or El Salvador and were lining up to be issued an immigrant visa, which is limited annually.
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To put this into context, Colombians who are also citizens of the United States have the right to apply for residency for their children over 21 and their siblings (and families), while legal Colombian residents (cards green) for their spouses and sons.
The problem is that The United States only grants a limited number of these visas each year. and, in general, relatives must wait several years in their country of origin (in a queue) before being available.
What the RPF is doing is transferring that waiting time to American territory and, as its name suggests, accelerating reunification.
It is not known, at this stage, the number of Colombians to whom the form had already been approved.
The document that brings the PBF to life for Colombia will be published in the United States Federal Register from this Monday, July 10 for the title Implementation of the Family Reunification Program for Colombians.
However, this newspaper had access to a 35-page version of the text where the program is described.
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The process will allow family members to reunite in the United States while their immigrant visas are available.
In its filing, DHS states, “This notice announces that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has created and will begin implementing a Family Reunification (FRP) parole process for Colombians. As part of As a result of this process, certain Colombian primary beneficiaries of an approved Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative and their immediate family members will receive prior authorization to travel to the United States to apply for discretionary parole to the United States for up to three years, rather than staying outside the United States while awaiting the availability of their immigrant visas.
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He then adds that “the process will allow family members to reunite in the United States while their immigrant visas are available. This process is voluntary and is intended to provide an additional legal, safe and orderly pathway for migration. from Colombia.” to the United States as an alternative to irregular migration to help relieve pressure on the southwest border and reunite families, consistent with U.S. national security interests and policy priorities foreign. “
The process for Colombians, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans is very similar to two other PRFs already in effect that currently benefit Cubans and Haitians.
It is not known, at this point, how many Colombians have already had Form I-130 approved and would be willing to immigrate to the United States. There is also no limit to the number of “conditional releases” that will be issued each year so that the families of these Colombians can travel to the United States during the validity of their immigration visa.
See the US Department of Homeland Security document below.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
Correspondent EL TIEMPO
Washington
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