The Biden administration will waive fees and expedite the application process for tens of thousands of Afghan citizens airlifted and brought to the United States over the summer.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services agency announced Monday plans to exempt up to 70,000 Afghans who were brought to the U.S. in a chaotic evacuation following the White House’s decision to pull out the U.S. military from the country amid its falling to the Taliban in August.
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“By providing these evacuees with access to streamlined processing and fee exemptions, we will open doors of opportunity for our Afghan allies and help them begin to rebuild their lives in communities across our country more quickly,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “These actions demonstrate our ongoing commitment to Afghan nationals who provided valuable assistance to the United States over the past two decades as well as other Afghans at risk.”
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The 70,000 Afghans were paroled into the U.S. for humanitarian visas and were eligible to apply for documents that will allow them to work legally. The $495 application fee is waived.
Afghans who apply for immigration benefits, including the Special Immigrant Visa, lawful permanent residence, or asylum, will also not have to pay the normal fees when they submit an application. Only 40% of the 70,000 whom the Biden administration airlifted out of Afghanistan are believed to qualify for the Special Immigrant Visa program as a result of assisting the U.S. military during the war.
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The Biden administration claimed this summer that it was evacuating largely people from this category, but chaos at the airport evacuation sites led to tens of thousands more unverified Afghans boarding the planes.
