Afghans seeking Special Immigrant Visas in Philippines leave for the US

MANILA, Philippines – The United States Embassy in the Philippines announced on Sunday, January 19, that all Afghan nationals seeking Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) had left for the United States barely two weeks after they first arrived in the Philippines. 

“The government of the United States extends deep appreciation to the government of the Philippines for their cooperation and support for U.S. efforts to assist Afghan Special Immigrants,” Kanishka Gangopadhyay, spokesperson for the embassy, said in a statement. 

The Philippines and the United States had earlier agreed to let up to 300 Afghans nationals fly into the Philippines, where they would undergo the final steps to get an SIV. They arrived in the Philippines on January 6 and were moved to an undisclosed billeting facility. 

Each person had a maximum of 59 days to stay in the Philippines, while the program itself would only be allowed to run for 100 days. Any Afghans still without a SIV after 59 days or after the program lapsed in 100 days would have to be moved to another country. 

The SIV program started in 2009 “to resettle Afghans who had worked on behalf of the United States.” It covers Afghan nationals who worked for the US between October 2001 and December 2024 for at least least a year and should “be experiencing or have experienced a serious ongoing threat as a consequence of the employment.” 

Their family members are also eligible for the program. Of the less than 200 Afghans who flew to Manila, for instance, over 60% were minors, according to Gangopadhyay. 

The Afghans travelled for immigration to the United States via commercial flights from January 15 to 17, said the US Embassy. 

The program — even when it was still being negotiated — had been criticized over supposed security concerns and worries that it would take from the Philippines’ resources. All Afghans allowed to fly into the Philippines obtained visas and underwent health and security screening from both the US and the Philippines. It was also the US that shoulder the expense of hosting the Afghans in the Philippines. 

“Let everyone be clear that this is about our shared desire and our shared commitment to provide the children, women, and men who are part of this entire project the opportunity to start anew and to rebuild their lives with hope in a better future… This was never a demand on the part of the US,” a Philippine official earlier told a press conference. – Rappler.com