News report | | 24/06/2022 | ±2 minutes reading time

The US government has recently relaxed some of the strict requirements that Afghan citizens must fulfil if they want to immigrate to the United States.

Strict immigration rules for Afghans to be relaxed

The US government has recently relaxed some strict immigration rules for Afghans seeking to settle in the United States. Until recently, Afghan citizens who held civilian positions or paid for government services under the yoke of the Taliban regime were not eligible for visas to the United States. The US government feared that they could have ties to a terrorist group. The Biden administration has made it known that this is no longer the case.

Both the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State have pressed the US Government under the Immigration and Nationality Act to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis for citizens who would otherwise be entitled to a visa. This allows the government to offer protection to Afghans who pose no risk to national security. It also allows them to obtain permanent immigration status in the United States. All Afghans who worked as civil servants during the Taliban regime between September 1996 and December 2001 and after August 2021 are eligible.

Still, many immigration rules remain unclear

Afghans who have applied for admission to the US through Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), a special programme introduced by Congress in 2009, are required to submit, among other things, a letter of recommendation from an executive from a US project in Afghanistan. According to the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), a private organisation in the US, for many years, applicants were asked to have the letter of recommendation verified by a US citizen, or to have a US citizen sign it even if the supervisor was not a US citizen.

It is not yet clear whether this requirement has been removed. According to IRAP, the US State Department does ask for these signed letters, but Congress has never imposed this requirement. The State Department did say that applicants should try to obtain such a letter, and reiterated that the requirement has not been dropped completely.

IRAP believes that this requirement creates unjustified obstacles and difficulties for applicants who, under certain circumstances, cannot find or know a US citizen to sign this letter. This has also become increasingly difficult since the US military and other US personnel have withdrawn from Afghanistan. This is especially true for Afghans who have been laid off or forced to change their contact details.

No residence permit needed? Then apply for an ESTA

Travellers from the UK, Ireland and other EU countries who do not intend to settle permanently in the United States and only want to stay there for a short time have to apply for an ESTA. An ESTA is an electronic travel authorisation that allows for visa-free travel to the United States. The ESTA is valid for two years from the date of granting and costs £49.95. An ESTA allows you to stay in the USA for up to 90 days.

Please note: this news article about the ESTA for the USA is more than one year old. It might contain outdated information and advice, and no rights can therefore be derived from this article. Are you going on a trip soon and do you wish to do know what rules currently apply? Read all about the up-to-date information about the ESTA for the USA.

e-Visa.co.uk is a commercial and professional visa agency, and supports travellers in obtaining, among others, the ESTA USA. e-Visa.co.uk is an official partner of the International Air Transport Association, IATA, with membership number 57231226, acts as an intermediary, is no law firm, nor does it employ lawyers, does not provide legal advice, and is in no way part of any government. You can also apply for a ESTA directly with the immigration service (21 USD per ESTA, via esta.cbp.dhs.gov). However, not with our level of support. If you submit your application via e-Visa.co.uk, our support centre is available to you 24/7. In addition, we manually check your application and all the documents you provide before submitting it to the immigration authorities on your behalf. If we suspect any errors or omissions while doing so, we will personally contact you to ensure that your application can still be processed quickly and correctly. To use our services, you pay us 21 USD in consular fees, which we pay to the immigration service on your behalf, as well as £33.36 in service fees as compensation for our services, including VAT. Our services have saved many travellers from major problems during their trip. Should an application be rejected despite our support and verification, we will refund the full purchase price (unless an application for a previous USA ESTA was rejected for the same traveller). Read more about our services here.