Groups of people outside an immigration office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, seeking passports to participate in the U.S. parole process.
Groups of people outside an immigration office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, seeking passports to participate in the U.S. parole process. Photos by Marvens Compère

As the humanitarian parole process enters its third month, throngs of potential sponsors and Haitians worldwide are obsessively watching the status of the USCIS application to enter America. A recurring question in spaces online and offline is what costs to expect after the initial free application.

Sponsors and beneficials should expect to shell out funds for a variety of expenses – from the flight from Haiti to living expenses in the U.S., including the cost of a work permit. Organizations like Welcome.US, the immigrant-sponsor matching site, provides detailed descriptions of the parole process, in English and Kreyòl, checklists to guide newcomers and budget templates to spell out the details.

The graphic below shows some of the common costs to expect after the application. 

Overview:

Applying to sponsor Haitians for humanitarian parole is free, but many costs emerge if approved.

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J.O. Haselhoef is the author of “Give & Take: Doing Our Damnedest NOT to be Another Charity in Haiti.” She co-founded "Yonn Ede Lot" (One Helping Another), a nonprofit that partnered with volunteer groups in La Montagne ("Lamontay"), Haiti from 2007-2013. She is a 2022 Fellow for the Columbia School of Journalism's Age Boom Academy. She writes and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.