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For Individuals from Former Soviet Union Countries

The Lautenberg Program

The Lautenberg Program is a family reunification program that allows certain individuals legally residing in the United States to bring their family members to the U.S. through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

All applications, called Affidavits of Relationship (AORs), must be processed through a field office of a refugee resettlement agency (RA), such as World Relief Sacramento (WRS). The U.S. Tie (UST) is the individual residing in the US who files the AOR for their family members. The other applicants/members on the AOR are the individuals able to immigrate through the program. The Primary Applicant (PA) is the main applicant abroad who is directly related to the UST. To be eligible, the PA must be 1) a citizen of a country comprising the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and 2) one of the following: Jews, Evangelical Christians (Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, and others), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ukrainian Greek Catholics, and members of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Full eligibility guidelines appear below.

Cost: There is no filing fee associated with these applications.

Application period: Typically opens in the spring and processes through September 30th.

Announcement: World Relief Sacramento regrets to announce that we are unable to assist with the submission of Lautenberg Program Affidavits of Relationship (AORs) in this 2023 fiscal year. Funding and staffing limitations unexpectedly impacted our ability to complete these cases. We know that these submissions are of great importance to members of our community and we anticipate that we will resume our Lautenberg services when the program re-opens next year in 2024.

We will close our interest list for now, but we will retain the contact information and send an emailed announcement next year to everyone on the list when the program re-opens and we start working on submissions.

Frequently Asked Questions

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