Amerasian Resettlement

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the progress and results of the Amerasian Homecoming Act, focusing on: (1) the process whereby eligible Amerasians and their families first become participants in the program in Vietnam; and (2) the outcomes for Amerasians and their families after resettlement has taken place. GAO noted that: (1) the program has successfully processed a large number of Amerasians and family members, although there were some Amerasians who had not been reached; (2) future registration of applicants was uncertain because Vietnamese and U.S. officials had not reached an agreement on whether registration would continue to take place as it had in the past; (3) participants paid high costs for transportation to the interview site and placement on interview lists; (4) stringent efforts to prevent fraud led to a large majority of current applicants being rejected; and (5) issues of fraud surfaced both in the Philippines Refugee Processing Center and among U.S. resettlement agencies that received cases.