The decision allows Ukrainians living in the US to continue accessing services and allays concerns over legal limbo.
The administration of United States President Joe Biden will extend the one-year authorisation granted to thousands of Ukrainians living in the country, allowing them to renew their humanitarian status and stay longer, just as their paperwork was about to expire.
The news comes shortly after the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which prompted millions of refugees to flee.
The Department of Homeland Security said on Monday that about 25,000 Ukrainians who entered the US through the southern border with Mexico can lengthen their stay past the one year they were initially granted.
“For this earliest-arrived group of Ukrainians, the continued legal right to live, work and access resettlement assistance in the US is absolutely crucial to their well-being,” head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Krish O’Mara Vignarajah said in a statement.
More than 118,000 Ukrainians have come to the US through a programme known as humanitarian parole, which allows people fleeing desperate circumstances to enter the US, where they can apply to more permanent immigration pathways out of harm’s way.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/14/us-extends-humanitarian-status-for-ukrainians-who-fled-war
