Up to 300 Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines on January 6th to complete the processing of their US Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs). They will be staying in the country for up to 59 days, with restrictions on their movements.
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“There’s something about this project, there’s something about helping people who have taken a lot of risks to do the right things, and their kids, to get them to safety and to get them to a better life,” a US State Department official told reporters in the briefing ahead of the Afghan nationals’ arrival.
The program itself will last only 100 days, meaning all SIV applicants should have left the Philippines by March 2024. But each Afghan may only stay in the Philippines for a maximum of 59 days. If they are unable to get their SIVs within 50 days, they have to leave the Philippines. “We have a firm commitment from the US government that the applicant will be replicated to another platform or another country,” said the Philippine official.
According to the US State Department’s Office of Inspector General , an Afghan must “have been employed by or on behalf of the US government in Afghanistan between October 7, 2001, and December 31, 2024, for at least one year and provided faithful and valuable service in this capacity.” The person should also “be experiencing or have experienced a serious ongoing threat as a consequence of the employment.
The long, albeit complicated relationship and friendship of the Philippines and the US has made the request and the negotiations possible, too.
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