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PRE-MIGRATION
Yelena initiated an appointment at The Resettlement Program to request assistance in bringing her mother, sister, brother-in-law and ten year old niece to the U.S.A. from Moldova. The Resettlement Program coordinator reviewed the process of applying for refugee status and presented the paperwork from the U.S. Department of State. Three Preliminary Questionnaires were presented for Yelena to send to each adult family member abroad to complete and return to Yelena. Yelena was also given an Affidavit of Relationship which she was guided to complete. When Yelena had received the completed questionnaires and completed the Affidavit of Relationship, the coordinator reviewed all and signed the Affidavit of Relationship as an indication to the U.S. government and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) of the agency's availability to receive and resettle the refugee family. Yelena sent the original documents to Washington Processing Center (WPC), the division of the Department of State which evaluates the first criteria for refugee status through this refugee program-the principal applicant must be a first degree relative of the state-side sponsor and the principal applicant must be Jewish. The Resettlement Program coordinator shared information with HIAS, so the application process could be coordinated among the affiliated resettlement agencies. Six months after applying for U.S. refugee status, Yelena's family abroad, Yelena, and HIAS each received notification from WPC of an interview by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) scheduled in three months at the American Embassy in Moscow. HIAS forwarded information to The Resettlement Program of Jewish Family Service. Yelena's sister, Svetlana, had become pregnant since applying for refugee status. The coordinator of The Resettlement Program guided the sponsor on the process of adding the baby after birth to the application. The family could mail a copy of the birth certificate and photographs of the baby and the papers provided by the American Embassy to add the baby to the refugee case. However WPC advises that it is preferable for any family member to present the information to the American Embassy in Moscow in person.
Yelena met with the coordinator to discuss the responsibilities which she would have as the sponsor and the kind of support that she and the new refugee family could depend on from the Resettlement Program. A formal agreement was signed and notarized. The Resettlement Program coordinator faxed to HIAS assurance that the Greater Hartford resettlement community would accept this case. HIAS then assured the federal government that HIAS in conjunction with the Resettlement Program of Jewish Family Service of Greater Hartford and the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford would receive and resettle this family according to the terms of the agreements between HIAS and the Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration of the U.S. Department of State and the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The sponsor was advised to remind her family to prepare to articulate a claim of well-founded fear of persecution based on their Jewish "nationality" at the INS interview in Moscow.
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