Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) attorney

Your service to the United States is the reason you're in danger now, and the reason the law allows you to leave. Every month your Chief of Mission application sits in a queue at the State Department's Afghan SIV Unit in Rosslyn, Virginia, or idles at the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is a month your family stays exposed. The fear isn't abstract — it's a name on a list, a supervisor who's gone silent, a case-status page that hasn't changed in a year. We work this specific pipeline because waiting it out alone is not a plan.

An Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) attorney represents interpreters and contractors who served the US government or military, handling Chief of Mission (COM) applications, USCIS Form I-360 petitions, National Visa Center processing, and federal unreasonable-delay litigation under the Administrative Procedure Act when a case stalls past the Department of State's 9-month processing goal.

The Hard Truth

The SIV pipeline is slow by design and slower in practice. The Department of State's own processing goal for Chief of Mission review is nine months, set by the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8 § 602, as amended by NDAA FY2022 § 1601), and a large share of cases run well past it. A COM denial is not appealable through the Board of Immigration Appeals — the only path is a targeted reconsideration request to the State Department's SIV Coordinator, and that request works only when the record is rebuilt with specific, verifiable evidence of the service performed. If your supervisor can't be reached, if the employment verification letter was destroyed, or if the file was marked abandoned for non-response to an email you never saw, there's no shortcut around it. There's only the work of reconstructing the record and pressing the right office for the right action.

What Happens If You Wait

Every stage of this process has a point where a file dies quietly. The State Department terminates cases for 'abandonment' when an applicant doesn't respond to a request within the stated window, and that window can close while you're moving between safe houses, not checking email. Supervisors who could confirm your service are being killed, fleeing the country, or going silent, and a verification letter that isn't secured now may be impossible to replace in a year. Congress set the SIV cap at 34,500 principal applicants under NDAA FY2022 § 1601 — not unlimited, and not something that waits on a stalled file. A paused case doesn't just sit still. It loses the witnesses and paperwork that were proving it.

Step-by-Step Process

1. Assemble the COM application packet — employment verification letter, supervisor statement, and a credible-threat statement — and submit it to the Department of State's Afghan SIV Unit (Rosslyn, Virginia).
2. The Chief of Mission reviews the packet and issues an approval or denial; a denial is not a BIA appeal — it requires a reconsideration request to the SIV Coordinator supported by new or corrected evidence.
3. Once COM-approved, file USCIS Form I-360 with the USCIS National Benefits Center in Lee's Summit, Missouri.
4. After I-360 approval, the case moves to the National Visa Center (Portsmouth, New Hampshire) for the DS-260 application, affidavit of support, and civil document collection.
5. NVC schedules the immigrant visa interview, typically at a post outside Afghanistan, followed by medical exam and visa issuance.
6. Travel to the US, most commonly through Dulles International Airport for arrivals in the National Capital Region, followed by resettlement support (groups like the International Rescue Committee in Falls Church, Virginia, and the Afghan American Community Center in Alexandria assist newly arrived families).
7. Spouses and children left behind follow a separate follow-to-join process, including adjustment interviews handled by the USCIS Washington District Office in Fairfax, Virginia.
8. If a case sits past the State Department's 9-month COM processing goal with no movement after a documented case inquiry, an Administrative Procedure Act § 706(1) unreasonable-delay action in the US District Court for the District of Columbia becomes a real option — the kind of claim litigated in Afghan and Iraqi Allies Under Serious Threat Because of Their Work with the United States Armed Forces v. Pompeo, No. 1:18-cv-01388 (D.D.C. 2018).

A Real-World Example

Consider a composite case, not a real client: a former interpreter — call him Hamid — worked with a US Army unit in Helmand Province from 2011 to 2014 and submitted his COM application in 2022 with an HR letter, his contract, and a supervisor statement. Fourteen months in, the file was still pending at the Afghan SIV Unit with no COM decision issued. Our team submitted a documented case inquiry through SpecialImmigrantVisas@state.gov, laid out the specific threats he'd reported, and requested expedited handling on that basis. When the file still didn't move within a reasonable period after that inquiry, we built the administrative record and evaluated whether an APA § 706(1) unreasonable-delay filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia was the right next step, the same type of claim at issue in the Pompeo litigation. At every stage the work looked the same: gather specific evidence, send it to the office with authority to act, and keep a written record so there's something to litigate if the agency doesn't respond.

William J. Vasquez handles Afghan SIV matters as part of this firm's immigration practice, including COM application preparation, I-360 petitions, National Visa Center follow-up, and federal filings addressing State Department processing delays. His work on these files involves direct correspondence with the Afghan SIV Unit's case-inquiry channel and, when a case stalls past the Department's own processing benchmarks, assessing whether a District of Columbia federal filing is warranted. BIA appeals and COM reconsideration requests are handled nationwide under his state bar license, consistent with 8 C.F.R. 1292.1.

Key Terms Explained

Chief of Mission (COM) approval: the Ambassador-level determination that an Afghan applicant's qualifying US government or military service meets the statutory standard — the gateway step before any visa petition can be filed.

USCIS Form I-360: the petition filed after COM approval, adjudicated by the USCIS National Benefits Center in Lee's Summit, Missouri, confirming the applicant's special immigrant classification.

National Visa Center (NVC): the State Department office in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that collects civil documents, the DS-260 application, and the affidavit of support before scheduling the visa interview.

Follow-to-join: the process by which a spouse or children who were not included in the original SIV case can later join the principal applicant in the US, often involving the USCIS Washington District Office in Fairfax, Virginia.

APA § 706(1) unreasonable delay: a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act asking a federal court to compel an agency to act when it has failed to meet a legally required or self-imposed deadline, such as the 9-month COM processing goal.

Abandonment termination: the State Department's practice of closing a case when an applicant doesn't respond to a request for information within the stated deadline, regardless of the reason for the non-response.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What's the difference between the Afghan SIV program and the P-1/P-2 priority referral program? A: SIV status is based on documented, qualifying service for the US government or military and leads directly to immigrant visa status; P-1/P-2 is a refugee priority category for Afghans at risk because of US affiliation but without SIV-qualifying employment, and it follows the refugee admissions process rather than the SIV pipeline.

Q: My Chief of Mission application was denied. Can I appeal it to the BIA? A: No. A COM denial isn't reviewed by the Board of Immigration Appeals — the only avenue is a reconsideration request submitted directly to the State Department's SIV Coordinator, supported by new or corrected evidence of your service.

Q: My case has been sitting at the National Visa Center for over a year with no update. What are my options? A: Submit a documented case inquiry to the Afghan SIV Unit, and if the delay exceeds the Department's 9-month COM processing goal with no response, an Administrative Procedure Act § 706(1) unreasonable-delay action in the US District Court for the District of Columbia is an available remedy.

Q: I lost my employment verification letter. Can I still qualify for an SIV? A: Yes, with alternative evidence — pay records, unit rosters, witness affidavits from fellow service members, or correspondence showing the working relationship — but the record has to be rebuilt carefully before it's resubmitted.

Q: Can my spouse and children still in Afghanistan join me after I arrive in the US? A: Yes, through the follow-to-join process, which involves a separate NVC filing and, for cases processed domestically, an adjustment interview at a USCIS district office such as the one in Fairfax, Virginia.

Families who've gone through this pipeline with our office describe the same pattern: a direct answer about what stage their case is actually in, instead of a generic 'it's pending' response. That's the standard this practice holds itself to on every SIV file it takes on.

If your COM case has stalled, your I-360 came back with a request for more evidence, or your employment verification letter is gone, the next conversation should be with someone who can read the actual file and say what's missing — not another government mailbox.

Call our office to schedule a case review focused specifically on your Afghan SIV file — Chief of Mission status, I-360 petition, National Visa Center processing, or a potential unreasonable-delay filing. Bring whatever documentation you have, including partial or incomplete records, so we can assess what's missing and what to file next.