SUPPORTING
STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK
REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
Crisis
Assistance Request Form for Afghanistan
OMB
Number 1405-0251
Why is this collection necessary and what are the legal statutes that allow this?
The information on this form is requested pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 301 (Secretary of State's authorities with respect to management of the Department of State), 22 U.S.C. 2651a (Organization of the Department of State); and 8 U.S.C. 1101-1537 (Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended).
What business purpose is the information gathered going to be used for?
On [date], the National Security Council Deputies Committee agreed that Afghans paroled under Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), or those paroled then subsequently granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), could request U.S. Government-supported family reunification assistance for their spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age.
The Department of State (Department) needs to identify people who are eligible for this program. While the Department had previously relied on incoming requests via email to manage the intake of these requests, the Department requires a publicly advertised system that is uniform, sustainable, and efficient, and that enables data validation with U.S. Government databases.
To rectify these inefficiencies and others, the Department created an online form available on the Department’s website to acquire the most current and accurate data possible to inform its relocation assistance efforts. It enables the Department to build a current picture of how many Afghans may be eligible for relocation and to assist them in departing Afghanistan. The online form helps avoid unstructured requests for assistance, such as those that arrive via e-mail messages, which may not include important information, such as family size and biodata, and which often require entry into other systems in order to facilitate responses. This form is integrated with other elements of the Department’s evolving information technology platform, enhancing the efficient handling of individual cases.
Is this collection able to be completed electronically (e.g., through a website or application)?
The collection will be completed 100 percent electronically. The respondent accesses the form on the Department’s family reunification webpage (https://www.state.gov/afghanistan-family-reunification). The Department acknowledges that under M-17-06, “Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites and Digital Services,” official public-facing websites are expected to be hosted on a .gov or .mil domain.
The respondent in the United States fills out the form with their own data and data of the eligible family member(s) in Afghanistan. The information is received on the online platform, which is controlled by the Department.
Does this collection duplicate any other collection of information?
This collection will not duplicate any other collection of information.
Describe any impacts on small business.
There is no impact on small business.
What are consequences if this collection is not done?
If this information is not collected, eligible family members in Afghanistan may not be able to be reunified with their family members in the United States. Parolees relocated through OAW are reportedly suffering mental anguish while without family in the United States.
Are there any special collection circumstances?
No.
Document publication (or intent to publish) a request for public comments in the Federal Register
The Department published the 60-day notice regarding this information collection on April 12, 2023. During the public comment period, two comments were submitted. Both comments expressed support for the program and the need to conduct the information collection. Ongoing coordination with other U.S. Government stakeholders indicated a need to expand the use of the form to include Afghan minors (i.e., children under the age of 18 who arrived in the United States through OAW with a non-parental adult caregiver) who were paroled into the United States. This would permit caregivers to apply for the minor’s parents and siblings.
Are payments or gifts given to the respondents?
No.
Describe assurances of privacy/confidentiality
All information will be handled in accordance with the Fair Information Practice Principles identified in OMB Circular No. A-130, “Managing Information as a Strategic Resource” and the confidentiality provisions of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1202(f)), as applicable. Information collected from the form will be used by Department employees and contractors to assist in providing relocation assistance. Department entities that may require access to this information are: the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (SCA/CARE); the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM); and the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA). To provide relocation assistance, the Department must verify the applicant’s parole status with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). System of Record Notice STATE-39 outlines the routine uses of the information collected.
Are any questions of a sensitive nature asked?
No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.
Describe the hour time burden and the hour cost burden on the respondent needed to complete this collection
The Department anticipates approximately 5,000 respondents will respond to this collection.
The form takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, resulting in a time burden of 2,500 hours.
Respondents include individuals in the United States who are not in need of assistance themselves but are completing the form on behalf of family members. For any Afghan or other non-U.S. respondents, there are no hourly earnings data.
Describe the monetary burden to respondents (out of pocket costs) needed to complete this collection.
As the form is free of charge, there are no out-of-pocket costs to the respondents. The time burden for respondents is based on the civilian hourly wage from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website multiplied by the annual hour time burden. The hourly wage is estimated to be $28.01. The Department used the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimated total annual respondent hour cost burden is $70,025.
(2,500 annual hours x $28.01 civilian hourly wage) = $70,025
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation – May 2021,” https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000
Describe the cost incurred by the Federal Government to complete this collection.
There will be no new cost to the federal government to set up this collection. The collection instrument is made available through an existing Department platform. The responses will be reviewed by Department employees in the normal course of their duties, including on dedicated task forces pertaining to operations in Afghanistan.
Explain any changes/adjustments to this collection since the previous submission.
Added a narrative section to the second page that describes the eligibility for minors who are seeking reunification support for their parents and siblings.
Included language that DNA testing may be requested at the discretion of the U.S. government.
Changed “What is your USCIS Receipt Number” to “If you have a USCIS Receipt Number, what is your USCIS Receipt Number?
Made the arrival date into the United States a required data field.
Added one question about the applicant’s use of other names and dates of birth.
Changed “Person in Afghanistan” to “Person Outside the United States” in the Information About Your Family Members section.
Added Sibling and Parent as additional relationships to the question, “What is this family member’s relationship to you?”
Changed “Email address of the person who helped you?” to “Business email address or best email contact of the person who helped you?”
In the dropdown menu for the Relationship to the Preparer, changed “Shepherd” to “Volunteer or Advocate.”
Changed “A U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident” to “Applicants” in the final paragraph of the Post-submission message.
Specify if the data gathered by this collection will be published.
The information collected pursuant to this collection will not be published.
If applicable, explain the reason(s) for seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date. Otherwise, write “The Department will display the OMB expiration date.”
The Department will display the OMB expiration date.
Explain any exceptions to the OMB certification statement below. If there are no exceptions, write “The Department is not seeking exceptions to the certification statement”.
The Department is not seeking exceptions to the certification statement.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Rush, Anthony W |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-08-01 |