Before Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Humanitarian Parole (HP) was sparingly applied for and not often granted. Since August 2021, thousands of HP applications have been filed with USCIS. If granted, HP allows the beneficiary to enter the United States; however, since USCIS has received an unprecedented amount of HP applications filed on behalf of Afghans, we are unsure how they will treat these applications. If you are interested in filing an HP application, either as the sponsor or the beneficiary, then it is in your best interest to prepare and file as thorough of an application as possible documenting the threat.

Things are changing quickly around this area of law right now and at this time, if HP is approved, you will need to make private arrangements to legally access a third-party country with a US embassy that is granting HP interviews in order to attend an interview and collect your boarding foil to come to the United States. USCIS has stated that they are reviewing every Afghan HP application upon receipt to determine the need for an expedited request. If you are NOT granted an expedited request, then the processing time can be several months.

Each person that wants to request HP must file a separate application, with a sponsor, and application fee (there is a fee waiver available, depending on the financial circumstances). If HP is granted, then the beneficiary would need a long-term plan for immigration status in the US (eg. Asylum, SIV, etc.) and would need to renew HP until granted long-term status.

Ohayon Neil Immigration Law has filed multiple HP applications for Afghan beneficiaries. If you are interested in filing or sponsoring an HP application, please contact us at (970) 368-3086.