Federal Forms Aim to Match Unaccompanied Children With Sponsors
Published Date: 11/5/2026
Notice
Summary
The Office of Refugee Resettlement is updating the application forms for people who want to sponsor unaccompanied alien children. These changes make the forms easier to use and help ensure kids go to safe, caring homes. Public comments are welcome until January 4, 2027, and the update won’t add extra paperwork or costs.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Sponsor Forms Reorganized for Clarity
If you want to sponsor an unaccompanied alien child, the Office of Refugee Resettlement revised two forms — Authorization for Release of Information (Form SAP-2) and Sponsor Application (Form SAP-3) — to align PDF and digital versions, reorganize questions and instructions, and present related conditional follow-up questions within the primary application forms to support safe and timely release.
New Identity-Verification Photo and Follow-Ups
If you apply to sponsor, the revised Sponsor Application (Form SAP-3) adds structured follow-up fields and an identity-verification photograph requirement, and it reorganizes income, employment, and prior-sponsorship questions as well as household and alternative-caregiver questions.
Paperwork Burden Remains Unchanged
The notice states the approved respondent burden remains unchanged: Authorization for Release (Form SAP-2) averages 0.50 hours per response, Sponsor Application (Form SAP-3) averages 1.50 hours per response, and the estimated total annual burden is 206,648 hours. ACF requests expedited OMB approval for 180 days and invites comments by January 4, 2027.
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