WELCOME CORPS Celebrate One Year Anniversary
Welcome Corps is a new program that empowers everyday Americans to welcome refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
Photo courtesy of Welcome Corps
Africa-Related New York
Welcome Corps is a new program that empowers everyday Americans to welcome refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announces Welcome Corps
In January 2023, the U.S. Department of State, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, launched the Welcome Corps, a new program that empowers everyday Americans to welcome refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). In July 2023, the Department of State introduced the Welcome Corps on Campus, a new targeted education sponsorship initiative that enables U.S. colleges and universities to play a leading role in resettling refugee students.
The boldest innovation in the United States’ approach to refugee resettlement in four decades, the Welcome Corps builds upon our country’s long tradition of providing refuge to people forced to flee their homes. The launch of the program is widely popular among the American public and even more popular among those who personally know someone who is a refugee. In the first weeks following the launch, tens of thousands of people registered to learn more about the program and how they can join the Welcome Corps.
For more than 40 years, the Department of State has partnered primarily with non-profit resettlement agencies to provide initial resettlement assistance to newly arriving refugees. The Welcome Corps creates new opportunities for Americans in communities across the United States to engage directly in refugee resettlement, building on existing opportunities to volunteer with resettlement agencies.
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PAPERLESS VISA: U.S. Announces 2024 Visa Improvements
Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, Consular Affairs, discusses updates in visa processing worldwide that include state-side visa renewals, paperless visas, and record-setting wait times.
Oyiza Adaba, New York
Julie Stufft, DAS for Visa Services, Consular Affairs, discusses updates in visa processing worldwide. This briefing is in-person and on-the-record. Nov. 28, 2023. Photo by State Dept./FPC/Sherry L Brukbacher.
UPDATE
NOVEMBER 28, 2023
Update on U.S. Visa Processing Worldwide by Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, Consular Affairs, discusses updates in visa processing worldwide.
U.S Visas Worldwide Issue
2019 Pre-pandemic processing - 8.5 million U.S. visas issued
2023 Fiscal Year - 10.5 million U.S. visas issued
The press briefing gave updates on the U.S. visa processing at overseas posts for the 2023 Fiscal Year, ending in October. The 10.5 million visas issued at overseas missions is said to have almost hit the highest level ever done in any year.
According to Stufft, “More people who are seeking to visit the United States today can visit the United States immediately than ever before in the past; that is, there are more people who hold U.S. visas that are valid or can travel without visa status to the U.S. tomorrow if they board a flight than at any time in our history.”
The department is still working on reducing wait time, at a '“handful” of countries that still have very high wait times, some exceeding a year still for one category of visa - first-time visitors. All other categories are said to have reduced long wait times globally.
US Visa Wait Time
2022 - 200 Days
2023 - Close to 140 Days
2024 will introduce the option of domestic renewal of visas to applicants starting with a pilot run in January. This means that people who are living and working in the United States on a long-term work visa do not have to leave the United States to apply for their next visa or to renew their visa. They would be able to send their applications to Washington and have it renewed without leaving the country.
This state-side option which was discontinued after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will start with small with a pilot of 20,000 visas to be issued between December and February, with more categories of workers living in the United States in the rest of 2024.
Visa interviews specifically for prior travelers are out and Paperless visas are in. This means that the visa application process is the same, but there is a – there’s no physical visa in someone’s passport. These changes may take up to 18 months to have widespread use.
Readers are invited to share their U.S. experience with a comment below.
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REFUGEES HAVE RIGHTS and COUNTRIES HAVE RESPONSIBILITY
US Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Julieta Valls Noyes briefs the Foreign Press
US Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Julieta Valls Noyes
Words: Oyiza Adaba
Photo: Africa-Related
Video: Foreign Press Center
Migration continues to be a global hot topic from China to Ukraine and from South America to Africa. On World Refugee Day 2022, US Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Julieta Valls Noyes briefs the Foreign Press from Washington D.C. She reiterated the United States’ commitment to addressing the challenge.
"We encourage host governments to provide durable solutions for refugees including by enabling local integration, granting citizenship and including refugees in their development plans."
"... self reliance benefits the refugees and the donors and the hosts especially as conflicts are becoming longer lasting and displacement continues to rise."
"Wherever they are, whoever they are, wherever it is really, believe that refugees have the right, and we as responsible countries have the responsibility to help them seek safety."
Oyiza Adaba is a Nigerian journalist and producer @africarelated