Qualifications and Interviews
The United States Department of State, which include the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (theBCIS, formerly INS, and is part of the newly formed U.S. Department of Homeland Security), and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) conduct interviews to determine that resettlement is the only tenable option for the refugee's safety.
If a refugee qualifies for the U.S. Resettlement Program, they will begin a process of preparation for travel, including a medical check-up, a name check, and gathering of travel documents.
During this process, the INS sends biographical sheets (bios) of all refugees accepted for U.S. resettlement to the Refugee Data Center (RDC).
The RDC also allocated each refugee case to one of ten national volunteer agencies such as Church World Service (CWS) or Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM).
next step | |