Summary

This report responds to certain requirements of the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) of 1998 that authorized certain Haitian nationals and their dependents to apply to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence. Section 902(k) of the act requires the Comptroller General to report every 6 months on the number of Haitian nationals who have applied and been approved to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence. The reports are to contain a breakdown of the number of Haitians who applied and the number who were approved as asylum applicants, parolees, children without parents, orphaned children, or abandoned children; or as the eligible dependents of these applicants, including spouses, children, and unmarried sons or daughters. Reports are to be provided until all applications have been finally adjudicated. This is our fourteenth report.

Through March 31, 2006, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), had received a total of 39,850 HRIFA applications and had approved 15,369 of these applications. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) had 1,869 applications filed and had approved 709 of them.