The program will be based in a U.S. Army base in Qatar where eligible evacuees will be taken to complete interviews with U.S. officials, medical checks and security screenings.
The Biden administration is establishing a system based in Qatar designed to fast-track the processing of at-risk Afghans overseas and ensure they can arrive in the U.S. with permanent legal status and a resettlement destination already selected, senior government officials announced Tuesday.
Through the new program, the U.S. is seeking to ensure future Afghan arrivals come to the country when they finish the refugee or Special Immigrant Visas process — which typically takes years to complete — and are ready to be placed in American communities without further processing at domestic military sites.
The processing hub in Qatar, an administration official said, will assist Special Immigrant Visa applicants who are in the final stages of the 14-step process and ready to be interviewed by American officials, as well as at-risk Afghans with family members in the U.S. The latter group could be processed through the traditional refugee resettlement program.
"This means that every Afghan, regardless of whether they are processed as a refugee, as a parolee, as an SIV, will, at a minimum, undergo rigorous multi-layered screening and vetting process before they are allowed to enter the U.S.," the official added. For several months, refugee advocates have been urging the Biden administration to allow additional Afghans who were not airlifted last summer to enter the U.S., including special visa applicants and their family members and others, such as activists and journalists, who could be harmed by the Taliban.