This bill — the Afghan Allies Protection Amendments Act of 2018 — would authorize an additional 4,000 Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for Afghans who served alongside U.S. military and diplomatic personnel as translators, interpreters, or other support staff in fiscal year 2019. Afghans would be eligible if they worked with the U.S. during a period prior to the end of fiscal year 2021. Unused visas that have been authorized would carry over to future fiscal years, and unused visas from the Iraqi SIV program (which ended in 2014) would also be made available.
Afghans who assisted the U.S. in their country face threats on their lives from the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and ISIS which led to the creation of the Afghan SIV program, which authorized the issuance of 14,500 visas since December 2014 and will end when visas have all been issued.