In 2009, the SIV program was established to allow Afghans who had served in the United States military to resettle in the country. A long-standing problem with the program’s processing speeds got much worse in the latter days of the United States military’s presence in Afghanistan.
If the visa program that was set aside for Afghans who assisted the United States throughout its 20-year war in the nation runs out of space, they may soon no longer have the chance to leave.
Due to a shortage of Special Immigrant Visas, the United States may soon have to terminate its program helping Afghan translators and contractors find new homes.
With a backlog of more than 120,000 applications and less than 8,000 SIVs left, activists are pleading with Congress to allow more visas.
The United States government has neglected Afghanistan since its departure in 2021. Not only does Washington not recognize the Taliban government, but it also does not fund opposition parties.
Afghanistan, a significant topic of debate in past U.S. policy meetings, was utterly absent from President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech this week.
According to a review by Military.com, the State Department’s Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program may run out of visas as soon as the summer of this year. Congress is presently negotiating how to finance around half of the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, and one of the many sticking points is the inclusion of 20,000 additional open seats.
The State Department reportedly changed the procedure, allowing the monthly approval of about 1,000 applications. Unfortunately, only around 7,000 visa spaces are left due to the expedited schedule, so they may run out later this year.
Legislators from Biden’s Republican party frequently attack his management of the disorganized pullout. Opponents of the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would provide humanitarian admission to the United States to tens of thousands of Afghans in 2021 and 2022 and then legal pathways to permanent residency, point the finger at the Republican-led House.
