Department of State
class="article-meta doctype-meta">Fact Sheet
The Department of State, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, is pleased to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Welcome Corps, our private sponsorship program that empowers everyday Americans to welcome refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). Welcome Corps sponsors support refugees' resettlement and integration as they build new lives in the United States. Through this service opportunity, more than 15,000 Americans have already applied to sponsor more than 7,000 refugees through the Welcome Corps, exceeding our mobilization goal for the program's first year.
In the Welcome Corps' first year:
- More than 100 sponsor groups from 32 states have signed up to be matched with refugees in need of resettlement support. Sponsors welcomed the first refugee arrivals on World Refugee Day in June 2023 and have since welcomed nearly 100 refugees from around the world.
- More than 68,000 individuals from across the country have signed up to learn more about refugee sponsorship through the Welcome Corps, and nearly 50,000 have attended information sessions and completed training.
- The Department of State introduced the Welcome Corps on Campus, a higher education sponsorship initiative that enables U.S. colleges and universities to play a leading role in resettling refugee students.
- In September, we made it possible for sponsors to indicate the characteristics of refugees they are best able to support, expressing preference for speakers of specific languages, nationalities, or family size. For example, sponsors from veterans' organizations can indicate a specific interest in sponsoring Afghan or Iraqi refugees, or Returned Peace Corps Volunteers can sponsor refugees from their country of service.
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