Embassy will restart procedures to get visas for Afghans

ISLAMABAD — The U.S. Embassy in Kabul will soon resume processing thousands of stalled special visa applications for Afghans who aided American forces, having halted visa interviews in March because of the pandemic.

A State Department official said the embassy would begin “a phased resumption” of in-person interviews next month. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules imposed by the State Department, would not comment on how many visas the embassy expects to process.

More than 7,000 special visas allocated to Afghans by Congress in 2020 went unissued, compared with about 5,000 the year before, State Department data shows. Nearly 19,000 visa applications were stuck in processing as of September 2019, according to a State Department audit last year, a number that was all but guaranteed to grow with the coronavirus disruptions.

Created to support Afghans and Iraqis who came under threat for their work with the U.S., the special visa programs have lengthy application processes that have prolonged the average wait time to three years. And as they wait, Afghan applicants to the program are increasingly vulnerable: The Taliban and other militant groups view them as traitors, putting them in a perilous position as the Taliban expands its influence and as thousands of U.S. troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

The program, called the Special Immigrant Visa, offers a fast track to U.S. citizenship and benefits such as housing assistance that other immigrants to the U.S. are not entitled to, including refugees.

All Special Immigrant Visa applicants already hold some kind of security clearance that allows them to work closely with U.S. military or government personnel, but they are vetted again by multiple U.S. security and intelligence agencies. Applicants are also required to sit for multiple interviews and a rigorous medical examination. In all, 14 steps are required before an applicant and their immediate family is cleared to travel.

For many members of the U.S. defense and diplomatic community, protecting Afghans who supported the U.S. mission is not only a moral imperative but a national security concern.

Daniel Elkins, a Green Beret who served in Afghanistan and founded Special Operations Association of America, an organization that represents members of the special operations forces community, said he’s hearing from more former interpreters who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan asking for help.

“These interpreters risked their lives and their families’ lives by aiding the U.S. military,” Elkins said. “If we abandon our side of the commitment now, people in the future will be less willing to work with us.”