Haitian Expired Passport Petition
Government of the Republic of Haiti
On January 6th, 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a process for citizens of Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua to come to the United States temporarily, apply for an employment authorization document, and other benefits, as a response to ongoing humanitarian, economic, and/or political crises in these countries. This has created a rush for first-time passport applications and passport renewals with the Haitian Ministry of Immigration and Emigration. Many Haitians are currently in limbo and are unable to renew their passports due to the crisis. Unscrupulous individuals have also taken advantage of this situation to extort applicants, requiring them to pay large sums to have their passport application expedited. As such, the purpose of this petition is to request that the Haitian government allow Haitian citizens to travel to the United States with a recently expired passport (less than 5 years).
Sponsored by
To:
Government of the Republic of Haiti
From:
[Your Name]
Subject: Petition for a Prompt Decree to Permit Haitians to Use Recently Expired Passports to Travel Abroad in Response to the Current Urgent Passport Issuance Crisis
We, the undersigned, concerned by understandable but significant delays in Haitian passport renewal and issuance due to unprecedented demand — delays which are preventing eligible Haitians from being timely-paroled into the United States under its new parole program — respectfully ask the Haitian government to issue a decree making valid all expired Haitian passports which have expired no more than five (5) years prior to the date of travel. We propose that the Haitian government affix a special stamp in the passports of all those who arrive at the airport to travel with such a passport, extending its validity to allow the person to travel abroad. Holders of such expired passports should be able to renew their passports at the Haitian consulate once they arrive abroad. Given the current significant time delays in issuing Haitian passports, due to the sudden demand, such a decree is of the greatest importance, both to allow Haitians to travel freely and to avoid their exploitation by unscrupulous, ill-intentioned persons who are demanding exorbitant sums of money from desperate persons, some of whose lives may be in danger, to acquire or to renew their passports.
There is significant precedent for such a decree. For example, the Decree of May 21, 2019 of the National Assembly of Venezuela allows Venezuelan nationals to travel with a passport expired for less than five (5) years, provided that they are in possession of a visa that allows them to travel to their destination country. This Venezuelan policy is officially recognized by several countries around the world, including the United States of America, Canada, and France. Several other countries have adopted similar policies in response to emergency situations.
This is such an emergency, and the need is time sensitive. The new parole policy of the United States, which has caused the current extraordinary demand for Haitian passport renewal and issuance and the consequent lengthy delays, has been challenged in U.S. federal court and may be blocked by judicial order as soon as early April. Thus, timely travel now is imperative.
We, the undersigned, hope that the Haitian government will not delay in taking every necessary step to respond favorably to this request and to facilitate the prompt ability of Haitian citizens to travel by airplane out of the country.
Respectfully and urgently signed: