Afghan SIV Program Update

October 26, 2014

The Department of State’s authority to issue Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) to Afghan nationals under section 602(b) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009, as amended, was extended. 1,000 SIVs, in addition to the 3,000 visas for Afghan principal applicants originally allocated for use in Fiscal Year 2014, may be issued until December 31, 2014. We expect that these visas will all be issued before that date. We welcome action by Congress to extend this program. We are making arrangements to quickly resume issuances of SIVs to Afghan principal applicants if more visas are allocated.

For more information, please see:

  • Afghan SIV Fact Sheet
  • FAQs for Afghan SIV Applicants

The deadline to apply for Chief of Mission approval under this program is December 31, 2014, although the current law provides that no SIVs may be issued under this program after that date.