The US Department of State has launched a special page called “Family Reunification for Afghans” on its official website so that Afghans living in the United States can invite their family members to this country, regardless of their residency status.
The United States Department of State announced on Monday, November 14 (23 Aqrab) that since August 2021, the United States has supported reunification and resettlement programs for Afghan families. However, according to this announcement, there are still a number of eligible Afghans. This program is facing problems.
The purpose of creating this special page is to help many Afghan families who have been separated until now. This page explains to Afghans living in the United States, from US citizens to permanent resident card holders and those with temporary humanitarian residency, how they can be reunited with their next of kin.
According to the information on this page, if a person is a citizen of the United States, initially the person’s spouse, children, and parents are considered eligible to immigrate to the United States. US citizens can still apply for siblings, but in the past the process was time-consuming and took years.
People who have a US permanent resident card (green card), their spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 are considered eligible to immigrate to the US.
Those who have received US Permanent Resident Cards through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, their spouses and children under the age of 21 are considered eligible to immigrate to the United States under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program.
Also, Afghans who have an immigration or political asylum case in the United States are eligible to invite their spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 to the United States.
Those Afghans who have temporary humanitarian residency in the United States and are gradually granted temporary protective residency, their spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 are also considered eligible to immigrate to the United States.
After the withdrawal of US military forces from Afghanistan in August of last year, the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan and the blocking of the US Embassy in Kabul, a number of Afghans eligible to immigrate to the US have faced problems due to the lack of US consular offices in Kabul. The US State Department has pledged to facilitate and speed up the processing of these Afghans’ requests.
