The Office of Newcomer Services (ONS) is responsible for coordinating, planning, implementing and evaluating Virginia's refugee program.

The Refugee Resettlement Program provides support for men, women and children from all parts of the globe who have been forced to flee their homelands because of wars, armed conflicts and/or gross violations of human rights. The program works with refugees to promote self-sufficiency, personal responsibility and to offer specialized support services and time-limited benefits to assist them and their families. ONS contracts with service providers with the goal that each community will achieve the earliest self-sufficiency.

Services and programs provided by the Refugee Resettlement Program include:

• Health screenings;
• Social and support services, including employment assistance and English language training;
• Financial and medical assistance;
• An unaccompanied minors program for refugee children without parents or guardians;
• Targeted assistance programs for refugees with particular needs
• The Virginia Refugee Student Achievement Project, which is targeted for school aged refugee children, grades K-12, in Northern Virginia and metro-Richmond.

Virginia's refugees have historically come from areas including Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Approximately fifty-five percent of refugees relocate in the Northern Virginia area.

Populations that are eligible for refugee services include refugees, Amerasians, asylees, Cuban/Haitian Entrants, special immigrant visa holders (SIVs), unaccompanied refugee minors, and victims of human trafficking.