Refugees Annual Flow Reports

Defining “Refugee” Status

To be eligible for refugee status, a principal applicant must, among other requirements, meet the definition of a refugee set forth in Section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42), which states in part that a refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to (and unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of) their country of nationality (or country of last habitual residence, if stateless) because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of:

• Race
• Religion
• Nationality
• Membership in a particular social group or
• Political opinion^[2]

Applicants for refugee status are outside the United States, whereas people physically present or who arrived in the United States seeking protection for similar reasons may apply for asylum status.^[3]

The INA generally requires that a person must be outside their country of nationality or, if stateless, country of last habitual residence to qualify as a refugee. However, the INA grants the President authority to designate countries for “in-country processing” in special circumstances, allowing people to be processed for refugee status within their own countries.

Refugee Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for refugee status, a principal applicant must:

1. Be of special humanitarian concern to the United States
2. Meet the refugee definition as set forth in Section 101(a)(42) of the INA
3. Be admissible under the INA (or be granted a waiver of inadmissibility)
4. Not be firmly resettled in any foreign country
5. Merit a favorable exercise of discretion.

Derivative refugees need not meet all these eligibility requirements, but they must be admissible to the United States (or granted a waiver of inadmissibility) and demonstrate a bona fide relationship as the spouse or child of a principal refugee applicant or an admitted refugee. Any person who has persecuted others on account of a protected ground is ineligible for refugee status, including as a derivative refugee. Persecution includes ordering, inciting, assisting, or otherwise participating in the persecution of another. Protected grounds include race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Refugee Application Process

Principal Refugee Applicant

1. The United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) establishes refugee case priorities, processing priorities that identify individuals and groups who are of special humanitarian concern to the United States and who are eligible for refugee resettlement consideration. In 2024, the processing priorities were:

• Priority One (P-1) category includes individuals referred by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a U.S. Embassy, or certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
• Priority Two (P-2) includes groups of special humanitarian concern
• Priority Three (P-3) includes family reunification cases
• Priority Four (P-4) includes individuals referred by private sponsors in the United States through the Welcome Corps program^[4]

1. Once principal refugee applicants are referred or granted access to the USRAP under any of these priorities, they still must meet all other eligibility criteria, including meriting a favorable exercise of discretion.
2. Upon referral, a Resettlement Support Center, working under a cooperative agreement with Department of State (DOS), conducts pre- screening interviews with the applicants.
3. A United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officer then interviews applicants and accompanying dependents to determine eligibility for resettlement in the United States.
4. Multiple security checks must be completed before a Form I-590, Registration for Classification as Refugee, is approved, and applicants must undergo a medical exam.
5. Individuals who are approved for refugee classification are assigned to a resettlement agency (sponsor) that assists with housing, employment, and other services upon arrival.
6. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) arranges the refugee’s travel to the United States.
7. U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducts additional background checks at the port of entry and admits the refugee if eligible.
8. After arrival, a domestic resettlement agency or private sponsor group provides social and economic assistance for 30-90 days. Refugees are authorized to work and may request documentation to travel outside the United States.

Derivative

The spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 of a principal refugee may obtain refugee status as accompanying or follow-to-join derivatives.^[5]

• Accompanying derivatives may enter the United States with the principal refugee or within 4 months after the principal refugee’s admission.
• A spouse or child who joins the principal refugee more than 4 months after admission to the United States is a follow-to-join derivative.

Follow-to-join derivatives may also be located inside the United States. Principal refugees may petition for follow-to-join benefits for their qualifying derivatives within 2 years of the refugee’s admission to the United States.

The principal and the derivative refugee relative’s relationship must have existed at the time of:

• the principal’s admission into the United States
• the principal’s filing of the petition for the follow-to-join derivative relative
• adjudication of the petition
• the derivative’s admission into the United States (if located outside the United States)

Principal refugees must file Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition,^[6] for each qualifying follow-to-join derivative family member. These beneficiaries are not required to demonstrate an independent refugee claim. Once a principal’s Form I-730 has been approved for an individual located abroad, there are no time constraints placed upon that derivative relative’s travel to the United States, provided that:

1. The principal’s status has not been terminated
2. The relationship of the derivative to the principal continues to exist
3. In the case of a child, the child is unmarried at the time of admission

Data Source

All data presented in this report are from the DOS Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration refugee case management system. Follow-to-join refugee data is pulled from USCIS Computer- Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS 3) and Case and Activity Management for International Operations (CAMINO) system.

Footnotes

1. See Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 207, 8 U.S.C. § 1157. ↩ Back
2. Congress expanded this definition in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The new definition specifies that persecution for political opinion includes resisting population control. This includes forced abortion, involuntary sterilization, refusing to do either procedure, or other resistance to a coercive population control program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(B). ↩ Back
3. See Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 208(a)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(1). ↩ Back
4. The Department of State established this program in January 2023, and it remained in effect through the end of FY 2024, our latest reporting period. ↩ Back
5. Children may include those age 21 or over who are covered by the Child Status Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 107-208 (Aug. 6, 2002). See INA §§ 207(c)(2)(B), 208(b)(3)(B); 8 U.S.C. §§ 1157(c)(2)(B), 1158(b)(3)(B). A derivative child must be unmarried when the principal refugee is admitted to the United States, when the principal refugee files Form I-730, when the child is interviewed, and at the time of the child’s subsequent admission. ↩ Back
6. This petition is used to file for relatives of both refugees and asylees. Refugee follow-to-join admissions are counted within the annual refugee ceiling. Asylum follow-to-join admissions are not counted in the annual admission ceilings. ↩ Back