JVA staff with goods they collected for
Kenyans affected by the 2005-6 drought and famine.
Photo: Quinn Kariuki |
Staff
Refugees may access the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program through an application process that includes referrals.
Individuals may be referred by the UNHCR (the United Nations refugee agency), an NGO, or a U.S. embassy. In addition, qualifying family members from designated nationalities may be referred by a close relative in the United States. Other refugees are referred as a member of a group of special humanitarian concern to the United States.
The more than 130 staff of the Joint Voluntary Agency work with refugees at several steps along the path to departure for resettlement in the United States. This work is carried out in partnership with the UNHCR, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and U.S. embassies.
Pre-CIS Staff
Pre-CIS staff at JVA/Nairobi carry out circuit rides to camps throughout Eastern and Southern Africa to interview refugees and further prepare case files to be presented in the interview with the USCIS.
JVA also interviews refugees on the basis of Affidavits of Relationship (AORs) that U.S. relatives file with local refugee resettlement agencies in the United States. These AORs are reviewed for accuracy by national voluntary agency staff and must be accepted by the Refugee Processing Center (RPC) and USCIS unit in Washington, D.C., before they can be sent on to JVA/Nairobi, where staff create a file for each refugee family.
Post-CIS Staff
After a refugee has received final approval for resettlement by the USCIS, JVA/Nairobi staff work to prepare the refugee for departure. This includes obtaining security clearances, requesting a medical exam from the IOM, offering Cultural Orientation to assist refugees in acclimating to resettlement in the United States, and preparing a packet of travel documents for each refugee family for IOM purposes.
CWS News
Church World Service JVA in Kenya now responsible for cultural orientation