For the past decade, ReEstablish Richmond has been walking alongside our newest neighbors on the path to self-sufficiency. Our programs are designed to connect people to the resources they need in order to move from surviving to thriving.
Initially, our services focused on people who had resettled in Richmond, Virginia, as refugees. In 2020, our mission was expanded to include new immigrants who have fled their home countries for similar reasons but may not have been granted refugee status along the way. Now living in the Richmond metropolitan region, these newcomers face the same barriers to community integration that resettled refugees do.
In alignment with our value to respect the human dignity of all people, we do not require any specific documentation to provide services for our clients. However, the reality is that more than 80% of our client population have come through the formal and federally-funded refugee resettlement system.
WHO WE SERVE
By the end of 2022, according to UNHCR, over 108 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. By the time someone resettles here, many newcomers have survived years of displacement, violence, trauma, and fear. The majority of our clients are represented in the following categories:
Refugees
The United Nations defines a refugee as someone who has been forced to flee their country because of war, violence, or persecution due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political views.
People who cross an international border in order to seek safety may register as refugees by presenting themselves at a UNHCR center and declaring their well-founded fear of returning to their country. Applying for refugee status involves a long series of interviews and an even longer period of waiting.
The rigorous U.S. refugee vetting process takes a minimum of two years and requires clearance from 8 different government departments, 5 separate security databases, 6 background checks, and 3 in-person interviews. At least 80% of refugees are displaced for 5 years or more. Less than 1% of refugee applicants will be resettled in a third country. The criteria is vulnerability.
Refugees are granted protection by international law. People who are resettled in the U.S. as refugees are eligible to apply for permanent residency after a year, with the goal of applying for citizenship after 5 years. The refugee resettlement program is intended to be a path to citizenship.
Special Immigrants
People from Afghanistan and Iraq who worked in support of the U.S. military in those countries and whose lives were endangered as a result may apply for a Special Immigrant Visa. The SIV application process involves a series of interviews and submission of many documents, but it is generally shorter than the refugee vetting process because of previous government clearances.
SIV holders are granted permanent residency upon arrival in the U.S. and receive the same protections and benefits as refugees.
Asylum Seekers
Many people flee life-threatening situations in their home countries but are unable to register for refugee status before coming here to request protection. Seeking asylum is a legal, human right established by the United Nations in 1951 and upheld by the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980.
According to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, anyone in the United States may apply for asylum, regardless of their country of origin or current immigration status. Applications must be filed within one year of arrival to the United States.
Once asylum has been granted, asylees are eligible to apply for permanent residency after one year and citizenship after 4 years.
Other Immigrants
We also serve people who immigrate to the U.S. with other immigration statuses on a case-by-case basis.