What is a Humanitarian Visa?
Humanitarian visas are also known as humanitarian parole, and are granted for urgent humanitarian reasons.
- People who receive humanitarian parole are those who otherwise are unable to enter the U.S. but must do so on a temporary basis and for a compelling emergency.
- Humanitarian parole does not equate to a permanent immigration status, and is seldom granted for longer than one (1) year.
Requirements
Anyone is eligible to file an application; this includes the potential parolee, a sponsoring relative, an attorney, or other organizations such as Canadian Document Services.
- It should be noted that Humanitarian parole is not a way to avoid regular visa-issuing or immigration procedures. All cases must involve urgent humanitarian reasons, or there must be a significant public benefit involved.
Medical Parole
If a humanitarian Visa is being used for medical reasons, your client must submit an explanation from a doctor. The explanation must include the diagnosis, prognosis, reasons why their treatment is not possible in their home or neighbouring country, and how long the treatment will last. Your client should also include information on how they intend to pay for the treatment, the cost of the treatment, and how your client will pay to return to his or her home country.
Decisions & Results on the Humanitarian Visa
Decisions on humanitarian parole applications are made within 90-120 days, but especially urgent cases can be decided in a matter of days.
- If your client’s request is approved, they will be notified in writing.
- If the request is denied, THERE IS NO OPPORTUNITY TO APPEAL.
- If there is new information in the case relevant to the application, your client must refile a new application, following the regular humanitarian visa application procedure, including another filing fee.
