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When Ahmad, his spouse and three kids traveled to Pakistan in November final 12 months, they had been hoping to remain there for a brief interval earlier than migrating to the U.S. by way of the Particular Immigration Visa (SIV) program for Afghans.
The chaos that adopted the Taliban’s return to energy in Afghanistan in August made the household’s journey to the neighboring nation extraordinarily costly, together with hefty charges and bribes to get visas and aircraft tickets to Islamabad.
Six months later, the household’s hopes had been dashed once they had been knowledgeable that their SIV software had been denied.
Ahmad instructed VOA {that a} advice letter included in his software had failed authentication, inflicting the denial.
From October to December 2021, greater than 1,300 Afghan SIV candidates had been denied, in response to quarterly knowledge from the U.S. State Division. Within the previous quarter, July to September, 1,462 Afghan principal SIV candidates had been denied.
Denials are issued for varied causes, akin to lack of adequate documentation, failure to show worthwhile service to the U.S. authorities, and the presence of derogatory data related to the principal applicant.
“I’ve secured a really robust advice letter from our chief of mission, which I’ll submit in my enchantment,” stated Ahmad, who didn’t need to use his full identify due to safety considerations. “However I’m dropping hope as a result of I see too many individuals are being rejected.”
Approvals make up lower than 10% of SIV purposes.
From July by way of September final 12 months, 1,292 principal SIV visas had been issued.
However solely 117 principal candidates obtained visas within the final three months of the 12 months.
Journey for migration
For the reason that closure of most embassies in Kabul final 12 months, Afghan candidates should journey to a 3rd nation to pursue their immigration instances, whether or not they’re making use of to the U.S., Canada, the European Union or Australia.
Many Afghans have traveled to neighboring Pakistan to course of their visa purposes. And greater than 14,000 Afghans have migrated to Germany by way of Pakistan over the previous 9 months, German International Minister Annalena Baerbock stated final week.
Canada, which has pledged to confess 40,000 Afghans, has additionally used its Excessive Fee in Islamabad to course of Afghan immigration purposes.
“The dearth of a bodily presence in Afghanistan has introduced challenges in how we gather and confirm the knowledge of candidates nonetheless within the nation. In some instances, this had led to finishing parts of the screening course of, akin to amassing biographic data, whereas Afghans are transiting by way of third nations,” a spokesperson for Canada’s immigration company instructed VOA.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad can also be a significant hub for Afghans who search to come back to the U.S. as refugees, guests or college students.
Along with the SIV, thought-about a precedence program, the U.S. authorities has provided a Precedence-2 refugee admissions program for Afghans who had been affiliated with U.S. tasks in Afghanistan till August 2021.
“As soon as a person with an entire referral arrives in a 3rd nation, they’re eligible to start processing their refugee case. We don’t publicly disclose the variety of refugee instances america is processing in particular third nations,” a State Division spokesperson instructed VOA.
With greater than 2.6 million refugees, largely in neighboring Iran and Pakistan, Afghans already make up the third-largest refugee group on this planet, in response to the United Nations.
Rising unemployment and poverty, and the prospects of migration to the West, have considerably elevated the variety of Afghans who go away their nation.
Candidates vs. visas
Since 2015, greater than 17,800 Afghans have obtained SIV visas, excluding visas issued to the dependents of the principal candidates.
Roughly 50,000 SIV purposes are presently being evaluated. Out of the overall 34,500 visas Congress has allotted for the Afghan SIV program, 16,515 principal visas stay out there.
This implies practically two-thirds of the purposes within the pipeline will probably be unsuccessful, if not rejected, except Congress approves extra visas for this system.
Estimated processing time, even for the prioritized SIV purposes, takes about two years. Precedence-2, because the identify suggests, is deemed much less pressing and requires extra wait time.
From October 2021 to Could 2022, 583 Afghan refugees had been resettled within the U.S.
Final month, a bunch of Afghans protested in Islamabad in opposition to denials of or uncertainty about their immigration purposes.
“I labored as governance specialist for a U.S. undertaking in Afghanistan and have two advice letters from my earlier employer, however I’ve bought no response to my software for six months,” stated Ghulam Sakhi, a protester.
U.S. officers say the Nationwide Visa Heart has obtained “tons of of 1000’s” of inquiries from potential SIV candidates since August.
“We’re working diligently to course of this monumental surge in purposes,” stated the State Division spokesperson.
Till their immigration purposes are settled, the tens of 1000’s of Afghans who had been as soon as affiliated with or labored for the U.S. authorities both stay in hiding from the Taliban in Afghanistan or as refugees in third nations.
Practically all candidates, 94%, have reported going through financial hardship due to unemployment, in response to a survey by the Affiliation of Battle Time Allies, a nongovernmental group that advocates for people who help U.S. navy engagement of their nations.
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