Afghanistan Resource Center
After some two decades, President Biden announced that US troops would depart Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. Recent events and decisions have accelerated that timeline significantly, and resulted in an upsurge for violence direct at Afghans who work with Americans. Congress has established a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) for Afghan nationals who were employed by/on behalf of the U.S. Government. Many PSC members are seeking to apply for SIVs for their employees who may be in significant danger of Taliban reprisal. Below we have posted the information we have received to the SIV program.
Unlike other visas that may be related to employment, the SIV application process is applicant driven. This means that each employee needs to initiate the SIV process on their own in accordance with the guidelines in the attached document. More information about this can be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ webpage regarding SIVs for Afghan nationals here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/special-immg-visa-afghans-employed-us-gov.html.
Apart from providing this information to their employees, your members can further assist their Afghan employees who may qualify for SIVs by providing employment-related documents – both the HR letter and Letter of Recommendations as listed under required documents numbers 1 and 2 in the attached document. The information should be as complete as possible. The more information your members are able to provide, the easier it will be for the Department of State to determine qualification for an SIV. Additionally, we request that your members provide a point of contact whereby we can verify the employment of these individuals should any questions arise while processing their applications.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact policy@pscouncil.org or reach out to AfghanSIVApplication@state.gov.
Department of State Information
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Please Contact: |
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| Have questions on how to receive Chief of Mission (COM) approval |
National Visa Center |
AfghanSIVapplication@state.gov |
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| Have questions regarding filing requirements and instructions for an SIV Form I-360 petition |
Contact USCIS Nebraska Service Center |
sivtranslator.nsc@dhs.gov |
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| Have an approved Form I-360 petition and have questions regarding your case status |
National Visa Center (NVC) |
NVCSIV@state.gov |
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| Have questions about your immigrant visa interview, the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where the interview will be scheduled |
You can find a list of our U.S. Embassies and Consulates at: |
http://www.usembassy.state.gov |
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Would like information about SIV resettlement benefits and post-arrival services
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The Refugee Processing Center
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SIV@wrapsnet.org |
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| Are a supervisor of an SIV applicant that has received COM approval and would like to submit additional information in support of the pending visa application |
Visa Office |
SIV-Applicant-Supervisor@state.gov |