WASHINGTON, The US Department of State and US Department of Homeland Security announced Monday a change to the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Program to simplify and streamline the application process for Afghan applicants.

“The United States continues to demonstrate its commitment to the thousands of brave Afghans who stood side-by-side with us over the course of the past two decades,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in a joint statement.

“We have already undertaken substantial steps to improve the SIV Program and today’s announcement reflects our commitment to do so.” They added that the new streamlined process would help eliminate barriers for applicants and reduce application times.

“This change does not reduce or remove any of the robust security vetting processes required before the benefit is granted. This is one of many steps we have taken to improve the SIV process while safeguarding national security,” they clarified.

Source: Kuwait News Agency