2024-04-02 01:29:06
Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360
Photo: United States Embassy in Tegucigalpa
After 11 years of closing the United States immigration office in Honduras, it was decided to reopen it in order to expedite the processing of refugees and their families.
Based in Tegucigalpa, capital of that Central American country, the news was confirmed by an official statement from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which stated: “The main objective is to increase the capacity to complete pending procedures.”
In this sense, it will be located within the US embassy in Honduras, and in fact, USCIS will assume responsibility for the processing and interview tasks previously handled by the Consular Section of the State Department.
Although the exact date for this reopening has not yet been determined, it is estimated to be in the coming weeks.
Some services that the office in Honduras will provide are interviews and processing of the I-730 form by USCIS. That is, a person with asylum or refugee status in the United States may request that his or her spouse and unmarried children join him or her in that country.
In addition, fingerprints will be taken from beneficiaries of applications or immigrants for type T visas, that is, only for victims of human trafficking; U visas and crime victims.
Additionally, there are people who have applied for permanent residency under the federal Violence Against Women Act, known as VAWA. In addition, essential fraud detection activities will be carried out, including document verification, site visits and interviews.
These office services in Honduras will only be available by appointment. Meanwhile, the USCIS will soon update its International Immigration Offices website and will include information on all these procedures.
Let us remember that the latest report from the National Migration Institute of Honduras revealed that 85,969 Cuban migrants crossed through that Central American country in 2023, placing it as the second nationality with the highest presence of irregular migrants seeking to reach the southern border of the United States.