SIV program for Afghans may grind to a halt this year

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States is likely to stop issuing the Special Immigration Visa for Afghans known as “SIV” by the end of this year.

The program that resettles in the United States Afghans who worked with the US government could grind to a halt later this year.

The congressionally-authorized limit of 38,500 Special Immigration Visas (SIVs), which offer a path to US citizenship, is expected to be reached sometime around the August anniversary of the withdrawal, and it looks unlikely that the divided US Congress will approve a Biden administration request for 20,000 more.

“We have somewhere around 8,000 (SIVs) left,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a briefing. “We have urged Congress to raise the cap and allow us to meet our obligation to those Afghans who put their lives on the line for the United States.”

aw/ma

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