[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 8, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 8CFR207.1]

[Page 184-185]
 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
CHAPTER I--IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 
PART 207--ADMISSION OF REFUGEES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 207.1  Eligibility.

    (a) Filing jurisdiction. Any alien who believes he or she is a 
refugee as defined in section 101(a)(42) of the Act, and is included in 
a refugee group identified in section 207(a) of the Act, may apply for 
admission to the United States by filing an application in accordance 
with Sec. 207.2 with the Service office having jurisdiction over the 
area where the applicant is located. In those areas too distant from a 
Service office, the application may be filed at a designated United 
States consular office.
    (b) Firmly resettled. A refugee is considered to be ``firmly 
resettled'' if he/she has been offered resident status, citizenship, or 
some other type of permanent resettlement by a country other than the 
United States and has travelled to and entered that country as a 
consequence of his/her flight from persecution. Any applicant who has 
become firmly resettled in a foreign country is not eligible for refugee 
status under this chapter.
    (c) Not firmly resettled. Any applicant who claims not to be firmly 
resettled in a foreign country must establish that the conditions of 
his/her residence

[[Page 185]]

in that country are so restrictive as to deny resettlement. In 
determining whether or not an applicant is firmly resettled in a foreign 
country, the officer reviewing the matter shall consider the conditions 
under which other residents of the country live: (1) Whether permanent 
or temporary housing is available to the refugee in the foreign country; 
(2) nature of employment available to the refugee in the foreign 
country; and (3) other benefits offered or denied to the refugee by the 
foreign country which are available to other residents, such as (i) 
right to property ownership, (ii) travel documentation, (iii) education, 
(iv) public welfare, and (v) citizenship.
    (d) Immediate relatives and special immigrants. Any applicant for 
refugee status who qualifies as an immediate relative or as a special 
immigrant shall not be processed as a refugee unless it is in the public 
interest. The alien shall be advised to obtain an immediate relative or 
special immigrant visa and shall be provided with the proper petition 
forms to send to any prospective petitioners. An applicant who may be 
eligible for classification under sections 203(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), 
(5), (6), or (7) of the Act, and for whom a visa number is now 
available, shall be advised of such eligibility but is not required to 
apply.

[46 FR 45118, Sept. 10, 1981, as amended at 62 FR 10336, Mar. 6, 1997]