The Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security of the U.S. have announced a development in the SIV Program aimed to streamline the application process for Afghan applicants. From this week onwards, the new applicants can;

• File only one form, a revised form DS-157, as their petition instead of filing Form I-360, Petition for Special Immigrant Status, with DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

In order to make the program more efficient, it is expected that this change will eradicate the hindrances for applicants and reduce the time required for application processing. This change does not diminish any of the robust security vetting processes required before the benefit is processed and granted.

We believe it is one of the many steps the U.S. administration has taken to ameliorate the SIV process while protecting national security. Since the beginning of the processing, resources have thoroughly surged for this noteworthy program, and every stage has been statutorily reviewed to process it swiftly wherever possible.