Justification for Emergency Review

JUSTIFICATION FOR EMERGENCY REVIEW

DS-7699 Affidavit of Relationship (AOR) for Minors from El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras, OMB Number 1405-0217.

The Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) has been instructed by the White House to immediately initiate an expansion of its existing Central American Minors Refugee/Parole (CAM) program of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). Eligibility for access to refugee resettlement processing under the CAM program will be broadened to allow the U.S.-based relative who is applying for qualifying children in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala to request the addition of children who are age 21 and over and/or married, caregivers, and biological parent regardless of relationship to the U.S.-based parent to the case. Qualifying children may also now be processed in a limited number of additional locations other than their country of nationality. This collection has been determined to be mission-critical by the Department to fulfill the White House’s requirement for immediate implementation.

With this emergency submission, the U.S. government is expanding the definition of what constitutes an “add-on” derivative/caregiver if certain criteria are met. Additional categories of applicants who may be considered for refugee status are the sons and daughters over the age of 21 of a U.S.-based lawfully present parent, the in-country biological parent of the qualified child regardless of marital status, and caregivers of a qualified child who are also related to the U.S.-based lawfully present parent or child.

The main purpose of the DS-7699 is for the anchor parent to provide biographical information about children overseas who intend to seek access to the USRAP, as well as other eligible family members or caregivers, for verification by the U.S. government. This form also assists DHS/USCIS to verify parent-child relationships during refugee case adjudication. This form is necessary for implementation of this program, which the White House announced on July 26, 2016.

PRM coordinates within the Department of State, as well as with the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/USCIS), in carrying out administration of the USRAP. A critical part of the State Department’s responsibility is determining which individuals, from among millions of refugees worldwide, will have access to U.S. resettlement consideration. The CAM program overall began in December 2014.

The Department has therefore determined that:

1. This collection is needed prior to the expiration of time periods normally associated with a routine submission for review under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act;

2. This collection is essential to the mission of the Department of State; and

3. The use of normal clearance procedures will prevent the Department obtaining this information and severely impact its ability to respond to the mandate to provide protection and family reunification to children (and other eligible family members or caregivers) from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who are attempting to join parents lawfully present in the U.S. according to the timeline set by the White House.

Therefore, the Department of State requests emergency OMB approval for this collection immediately.