FEMA is committed to helping all eligible disaster survivors recover from Hurricane Zeta, including U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals and qualified non-citizens.
To qualify for assistance from FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP), you or a member of your household must be U.S. citizen, non-citizen national or qualified non-citizen. If you do not meet the criteria for one of these three statuses, the household may still apply if another adult household member is a citizen or if the household has a qualified minor child.
The deadline to register for federal assistance for Hurricane Zeta (DR-4576-MS) is March 1, 2021.
A qualified non-citizen includes the following:
- Legal permanent resident (“green card” holder);
- An asylee, refugee, or an non-citizen whose deportation is being withheld;
- Non-citizen paroled into the U.S. for at least one year;
- Non-citizen granted conditional entry (per law in effect prior to April 1, 1980);
- Cuban/Haitian entrant;
- Non-citizen in the U.S. who claims abuse, battery or extreme cruelty by a spouse or other family/household member, or who is a victim of a severe form of human trafficking;
- Non-citizen whose children have been abused and non-citizen children whose parent has been abused who fit certain criteria.
If you’re unsure of your immigration status in order to apply for FEMA assistance, talk to an immigration expert to learn if your status falls within the qualified non-citizen category or one of the other eligible categories.
Qualified Minor Child
Adults who don’t qualify under one of the three categories above may be eligible to apply on behalf of a qualifying minor child. The parent or guardian of the minor child must live in the same household and may apply for assistance on behalf of the minor child who is a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national or qualified non-citizen. The minor child must be under age 18 as of the first day of the incident period or disaster declaration day, whichever comes first.
Voluntary Organizations
Voluntary organizations also offer help regardless of citizenship status. To find voluntary organizations in your disaster area:
- Call 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or look up online at https://www.redcross.org/find-your-local-chapter.html.
- Visit https://www.nvoad.org/our-members/ to learn more about other voluntary organizations.
Survivors in affected counties can register with FEMA in the following ways:
- Visit DisasterAssistance.gov
- Use the FEMA App for mobile devices
- Call 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585). Multilingual operators are available. The toll-free numbers are open from 6 a.m. to midnight local time, seven days a week. Those who use a relay service such as a videophone, InnoCaption or CapTel should provide FEMA with their specific phone number assigned to that service.