The US Department of State has established a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) visa facility. Under these individual facilities, the applicant no longer needs a US citizen’s referral.
The Special Immigration Visa (SIV) is for foreign nationals who have worked with the US military and institutions. In the past, the applicant had to submit a recommendation from their supervisor that they should be an American citizen.
The International Refugee Assistance ( IRAP ) project, however, says the State Department waived these requirements late last month following a complaint by US-Afghan and Iraqi military colleagues against US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
The director of the US Department of State’s Special Immigration Visa Unit at the State Department has even stated that as of December 21, 2021, the Department no longer requires applicants to send a letter of recommendation or signature to their US Administrator in support of the COM application.
This means that SIV applicants can send a letter of recommendation from anyone who has supervised them, regardless of their citizenship status, he said.
The International Refugee Assistance Project has added that when the SIV program was created, Congress stated that an individual could provide the loyal and valuable services needed to obtain an SIV by providing a positive recommendation or evaluation from their supervisor.
Congress has not imposed any restrictions on the nationality or nationality of the guardian.
But for years, the State Department refused to give credit to letters that were not signed by American citizens.
The International Refugee Assistance Project has said the State Department policy would lead to unnecessary delays.
The project states that for various reasons, a person may not be able to make direct contact with an American citizen. According to the International Refugee Assistance Project, for example, people who run important U.S. government projects through local companies often do not work directly with U.S. citizens.
