Who can receive humanitarian parole to travel to the United States? How is the procedure carried out? This is what you should know about the benefit that certain Ecuadorians can access.
Referential image. Passengers at the Cuenca airport, Mariscal Lamar, in July 2023.
The United States government announced on October 18, 2023 that Ecuadorians will also be able to access the family reunification process, known as “humanitarian parole.”
With this measure, the US government seeks to promote Ecuadorians to legally migrate to that country, said Luis Miranda, Undersecretary of Communications of the Department of Homeland Security, in a press conference on October 20.
“We are seeing more or less 300 people from Ecuador arriving every day (to the United States),” Miranda explained.
What is humanitarian parole and how is it processed?
It is a humanitarian permit that is granted to citizens to travel to the United States while they wait to receive the visa that allows them to legally reside in that country.
For Ecuadorians, the permit will be for up to three years, but the time will be defined by evaluating the cases individually.
People who qualify for this process may also be eligible for a work permit.
The process must be initiated by a family member from the United States and, if the form is approved, the Department of State invites eligible people via email.
When the immigrant visa is available, Ecuadorians will be able to apply for legal permanent residence.
This process is carried out only by official entities of the United States Government, it cannot be processed in other spaces, Miranda clarified and asked citizens to be careful to avoid scams .
In the next few days, emails from the State Department will reach the chosen people and they will be able to start the procedures.
Who is eligible for parole?
This option is only for Ecuadorians who are already in the process of receiving a visa for family reunification.
This includes: certain children or siblings of US citizens (naturalized Ecuadorians), spouses or children of permanent residents.
To access parole, applicants for family reunification must have already received approval for Form I-130, Petition for a Foreign Relative.
To be eligible, Ecuadorians must meet certain requirements:
- Have immediate family members in the United States, who are US citizens or legal permanent residents.
- Being outside the United States.
- Not having received an immigrant or tourist visa.
- Comply with all conditions, including background investigations and medical requirements.
PRIMICIAS consulted the Undersecretary of Communications if Ecuadorians who from now on enter the I-130 form will also be able to access this benefit.
The official stressed that “it will be for anyone who is in a process in which their request has already been approved, so we will be evaluating it as we move forward.”
