Former U.S. Partners Call for Continued Special Visas for Afghans
Former Afghan partners of the U.S. government have issued an appeal to U.S. President Donald Trump, members of Congress, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, calling for the continuation of the special immigrant visa process for Afghan nationals who worked with the U.S. government.
The appeal says the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa, or SIV, programme was created from the outset to support people who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government and who faced serious threats because of that cooperation. The signatories said the process should not be stopped or weakened at the final stage, after years of waiting.
According to them, trust between former Afghan partners and the United States was built over years of cooperation in the field, and it is unacceptable for that trust to be lost at the most difficult stage. They also stressed that holding an Afghan passport should not mean applicants are judged on the basis of the actions of governments or extremist groups in Afghanistan.
The signatories called for each case to be reviewed based on the applicant’s history of cooperation, performance and personal circumstances. They added that behind every SIV case is an individual and a family, and that many applicants have spent years going through the various stages of the process, from submitting employment records and recommendation letters to service verifications, review by the chief of the U.S. mission, the National Visa Center and consular مراحل.
The appeal also says that some cases have faced administrative reviews or the process known as 221(g). The signatories said they are not seeking to eliminate security vetting and understand America’s responsibility to protect its national security.
According to the appeal, the legal basis for the programme was first established in 2006 for some Afghan and Iraqi translators. Then in 2009, the U.S. Congress expanded the scope of this protection by passing the Afghan Allies Protection Act to cover more Afghan nationals who had worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government.
