After a six-year travail that garnered media attention throughout the country, Afghan interpreter Zainullah Zaki has received a final denial for his Special Immigrant Visa application.

The State Department continues to allege that Zaki cannot demonstrate the 12 months of service to the U.S. government that are necessary to qualify for an interpreter SIV. Marine Corps Maj. Tom Schueman, who has helped Zaki through each hurdle of the SIV process, contests the adjudication. In July, Schueman told me that Zaki spent four years working for the U.S. government, though some of his work did not meet SIV qualifications. Documentation Zaki provided in his SIV application demonstrates 10 months of service with one U.S. contracting agency and nearly 24 months of service with a second agency.