ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

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Chapter IV – The Resettlement Process: from Identification to Departure
By signing the RRF, refugees can give
permission for resettlement countries
to share information on their specific
needs, such as medical conditions,
with service providers and/or local
authorities.
A single RRF is completed for each
resettlement case, meaning that
details of all members of a family due
to be resettled together are included
on one RRF. The RRF is signed by the
refugee(s), the UNHCR staff member or
deployee from another organisation,
and the interpreter (if engaged). For a
complete overview of sections of the
RRF, please refer to Annex II.
To submit cases identified as in
need of resettlement via the group
resettlement methodology (see 1.3,
above), an ‘abridged’ RRF is used. Since
members of a defined refugee ‘group’
normally share common refugee
claims and needs for resettlement,
the abridged RRF does not include
details on individual claims and resettlement
needs. Use of the abridged
RRF (see Annex II) thus considerable
reduces processing times. UNHCR has
developed standard abridged RRFs that
resettlement countries are encouraged
to accept in order to harmonise and
simplify procedures.
Two global templates for abridged RRFs
have been developed to enhance expeditious
resettlement processing:
• an abridged RRF template for groups
submission that may be used when
one or more resettlement countries
agree to process a refugee group
proposed by UNHCR (see section
1.3 of the present chapter for more
details about the group submission
methodology); 14 and
• an abridged RRF for individual submission
that may be used when refugees
share similar refugee claims
and/or resettlement needs but were
not designated as a group. 15
2.2. Resettlement priority levels
Throughout the identification, needs
assessment and interview processes,
UNHCR and its partner agencies will
constantly assess the protection situation
of the refugee(s) concerned, and
the subsequent urgency with which
resettlement needs take place. UNHCR
resettlement submissions have three
possible priority levels:
• Emergency priority - cases where
there is an immediate threat to
safety, risk of refoulement, urgency
of medical condition or other
serious or life-threatening factors.
Ideally, emergency cases should be
14 Since members of the ‘group’ normally share
common refugee claims and needs for resettlement
which are detailed in the Group Profile and Proposal
Document submitted by UNHCR, sections 4 (refugee
claim), 5 (need for resettlement) and 6 (specific
needs assessment) of the RRF are not required.
15 UNHCR, Operational Guidance Note: Preparing
Abridged Resettlement Registration Forms (RRFs)
for Expedited Resettlement Processing