Immigration Benefits

This report responds to certain requirements of the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) of 1998 that authorized certain Haitian nationals and their dependents to apply to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence. Section 902 (k) of the act requires the Comptroller General to report every 6 months on the number of Haitian nationals who have applied and been approved to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence. The reports are to contain a breakdown of the number of Haitians who applied and the number who were approved as asylum applicants, parolees, children without parents, orphaned children, or abandoned children; or as the eligible dependents of these applicants, including spouses, children, and unmarried sons or daughters. Reports are to be provided until all applications have been finally adjudicated. This is our seventeenth report.

Through September 30, 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, had received a total of 41,370 HRIFA applications and had approved 18,886 of these applications. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) had 2,098 applications filed and had approved 827 of them. Through September 30, 2007, USCIS data showed that it had received 41,370 HRIFA applications at its Nebraska Service Center, all of which had been entered into CLAIMS. Through September 30, 2007, USCIS had approved 18,886 applications for adjustment of status under HRIFA. Through September 30, 2007, EOIR data from ANSIR showed that 2,098 HRIFA applications had been filed with EOIR, of which 827 had been approved for adjustment of status.