The Biden administration announced plans Monday to streamline the application process for Afghan allies who assisted the U.S. war effort and who are seeking a special visa to live in the U.S., cutting Homeland Security out of the adjudication process.
Afghans now only need to file their form with the State Department, rather than fill out a second form for Homeland Security and wait for that department’s approval, officials said.
That could cut weeks out of the current processing time, which stood at roughly two years according to the latest data. The change should also lessen the burden on Afghan applicants, according to officials who said the second Homeland Security form was more intensive to fill out.
“Transitioning the adjudication of SIV petitions to one agency rather than two – in this case, the Department of State – is consistent with administration efforts to break down barriers, create efficiencies, and eliminate unnecessary burdens in our immigration system,” a Homeland Security official told reporters.
The treatment of Afghan allies has been a black eye for the Biden administration, which a year ago promised a surge of resources to get them out of Afghanistan as the Taliban moved to take over that country’s government.
Instead, analysts say the chaotic airlift last summer brought out much of Kabul’s middle class, who had little connection to the U.S. war effort, and left thousands of authentic allies stranded.
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The allies are eligible for what’s known as the Special Immigrant Visa which is available to those who served alongside U.S. troops for a length of time, working as guides, translators or other support staff, and whose lives are in danger because of it.
Nearly 75,000 people are currently in the SIV pipeline, though officials said many of those may be deemed ineligible. Some of those are people airlifted out last summer.
Administration officials said roughly 10,000 Afghans have made it through approval and are getting their final documents together for resettlement. Counting their family members, perhaps 50,000 total migrants are already on a fast track to SIV status.
For those left behind, the difficulty in getting an SIV is that it requires an in-person interview, and the State Department no longer has a presence in Afghanistan.
SIV hopefuls who have been stranded in the country say they’ve been told to try to make it to a neighboring nation like Pakistan for an interview. Afghans say crossing borders is fraught with peril under the Taliban and finding a way to make ends meet while waiting in a foreign country is tricky.
The current total processing time for an SIV is 734 days, according to the latest State Department data dating back to the start of this year.
Homeland Security’s filing and processing account for 33 of those days, according to the data.
The Biden administration said it has surged manpower to the processing side to speed applications as much as possible.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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