What is the Lautenberg Program?
The Lautenberg program began in 1989, allowing religious minorities from 15 former Soviet Union countries to be considered for refugee resettlement in the United States. The program gets its name from former U.S. senator, Frank Lautenberg, who himself was the son of Jewish immigrant parents.
religious minorities from 15 former Soviet Union countries to be considered for refugee resettlement
To be eligible, a family member living in the U.S. (called a U.S. Tie) who is either a citizen, permanent resident, refugee, or asylee must file an Affidavit of Relationship (AOR) with Arrive Ministries Immigration Legal Services, which proves their relationship to the applicant.
The U.S. Tie must be either a parent, child, spouse, grandparent, or grandchild to the applicant seeking refuge.
Even in this time of crisis, the important work of refugee resettlement and reuniting families continues.
These applicants must belong to a religious minority group: Baptist, Pentecostal, Judaism, Ukrainian Greek Catholic, among others.
The compiled legal documents and paperwork is filed with the Resettlement Support Center (RSC), which was formerly in Ukraine until the start of the conflict there. While the chaos of war does interrupt case processing, our partners at the RSC continue to work hard to process forms and interview refugee candidates. Even in this time of crisis, the important work of refugee resettlement and reuniting families continues.
