US extends special visa schemes for Afghans
Published on March 26, 2017 in USA/Visas
In a fiercely concluded debate in US Congress, it has been decided that the Special Visa schemes for the Afghans will continue. The SIV program stands for a special immigration visa scheme for Afghani people who want to resettle in the USA as they might be harmed or killed by the Taliban terrorists for supporting the USA in the war against them. Most of the Afghans who have applied for SIV supported the US army as firefighters and construction workers. Recently L-1 and HIB visa scheme were compromised due to president Trump’s decision of change in immigration rules. Through E2 and E1 visa scheme was not compromised, but due to the low number of available visa, it is not possible to pass every Afghani applicant for SIV scheme.
SIV scheme was first introduced in 2014. In 2016, the previous president, Mr. Obama signed an NDAA act, where it was mentioned that SIV scheme may be extended up to four more years. According to the act, Federal Government has now announced an extension of $446 million to serve the SIV scheme. But many of the senators have extremely opposed this decision as according to them this extension may create a brain drain in Afghanistan. Senator Mr. Shaheen also mentioned that extension of the SIV scheme in this year was tougher than it was in 2016.
https://immigrationnews.com/us-extends-special-visa-schemes-for-afghans/
