Online Filing of Form I-134, Declaration of Financial Support
1. How long will it take between the time a supporter submits Form I-134 and when a beneficiary is granted travel authorization under Uniting for Ukraine?
USCIS’ goal is to review and provide responses to the supporter’s Form I-134 as efficiently as possible. Once the Form I-134 review is complete and the Form I-134 is confirmed, USCIS will contact and invite the beneficiary to set up a USCIS online account to verify their biographic information, attest to their vaccination status and, if applicable, attest to the relationships between family members traveling together. This will also allow USCIS and CBP to communicate with the beneficiary through their account. Once the beneficiary has verified their information, USCIS will submit the beneficiary’s biographic information to CBP for review and processing for travel authorization. CBP will then send the travel authorization determination back to USCIS to be posted to the beneficiary’s USCIS account. It is up to the beneficiary to make appropriate travel arrangements and decide the timing of their departure for the United States. The CBP travel authorization remains valid for 90 days.
2. Can a Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative, be filed online with Form I-134 or will this be an anticipated add on to the process?
No. There is no option at this time to submit a Form G-28 with the online filing of a Form I-134 or for an attorney or legal representative to use an online representative account to file a Form I-134 on behalf of a supporter or submit travel authorization information on behalf of a beneficiary after confirmation of the Form I-134.
The Uniting for Ukraine process is a newly developed electronic process. Our priority focus is ensuring that U.S.-based supporters and beneficiaries can access and use the USCIS online account.
3. Supporters have not been able to select ‘self’ in the dropdown menu. Is there a glitch in the system?
The “self” option has been disabled for the online filing of Form I-134, as there is no option for an individual to represent that they are financially capable of supporting themselves or to submit a Form I-134 as a supporter on their own behalf for the purposes of Uniting for Ukraine. While beneficiaries for benefits other than Uniting for Ukraine may file a Form I-134 on their own behalf, this is not available under Uniting for Ukraine, which requires a U.S.-based individual (not the beneficiary) to act as a supporter and file the Form I-134 on behalf of a beneficiary.
