Foster Leads Bipartisan Effort to Demand Fair Treatment for Ukrainians Impacted by USCIS Delays

Washington, DC — Today, Representative Bill Foster (D-IL) led 25 colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to ensure that Ukrainians in the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program are not unfairly burdened by processing delays that trigger a new $1,000 fee.

The U4U program allows Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion to live and work in the United States on a temporary humanitarian basis. To remain in the country legally, participants must periodically renew that permission through a re-parole application.

Earlier this year, USCIS placed a months-long hold on processing these renewal applications, leaving many families in limbo. Because of these delays, some Ukrainians who applied nearly a year ago are now being told that they must pay the new $1,000 fee—even though their applications were submitted before the law creating the fee took effect. 

In a letter to DHS Secretary Noem and USCIS Director Edlow, the Members wrote:

“This lengthy delay means that families who submitted their re-parole applications nearly a year

ago are now unfairly subjected to the new $1,000 fee. The delay has also left many Ukrainians

temporarily without legal status, forcing them to cease working and making the $1,000 fee 

an even larger burden.

“By forcing unreasonable fees and legal uncertainty onto these families, which will likely result in

many being forced to return to their war-torn homes, we are abdicating our responsibility to

support our allies in their fight for autonomy and democracy. For these reasons, we urge you to

apply the fee only to individuals who submitted their applications on or after July 4, 2025, so that

all families, including those participating in U4U, are fairly adjudicated under the rules that were

in place when they applied.”

A copy of the full letter can be found here. 

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