VisaAfghan SIV applicants must distinguish COM appeals from visa issuance restrictions
Current US guidance preserves a 120-day appeal route for specified decisions, while Afghan SIVs no longer have the former categorical travel-ban exception.
Official source date: 2026-11-02
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Different stages carry different deadlines
Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants reviewing their position in November face separate rules for Chief of Mission approval, appeals and visa issuance. The State Department’s current programme page says the deadline for new COM applications and reapplications was 31 December 2025, with outstanding supporting documents due by 5 June 2026. Those dates have passed; this is a current procedural review, not an announcement that applications have reopened.
The same official page expressly distinguishes later visa-processing steps after COM approval from those filing deadlines. Applicants should identify their present stage from the actual decision or National Visa Center correspondence. An approved employment-related case, a pending appeal and a scheduled consular interview do not establish the same position. The programme page is the starting resource for that distinction, particularly where an old checklist appears to invite a fresh application without explaining the elapsed deadlines.
A decision-specific appeal can remain relevant
The State Department’s Afghan FAQ says a COM denial or withdrawal of support may be appealed after the general application deadline if the appeal is filed within 120 days of the emailed notification. Read that notification closely and retain its date. The 120-day period attaches to the individual decision; it is not a general extension of the December or June deadlines, and sending unrelated new application materials is not the same as challenging the stated reason for refusal.
For preparation, the separate COM instructions identify the signed DS-157, employment evidence, a supervisor recommendation and Afghan identity evidence as the core review documents. The instructions explain what employment letters and recommendations should establish, including qualifying dates and the relationship between the writer and the applicant. Use that document-specific resource to address the actual concern in the decision. Do not invent missing employment, replace a supervisor’s knowledge with an agent’s statement, or assume a new document necessarily changes the outcome.
The January restrictions are a separate issuance barrier
The department’s current suspension notice explains that Presidential Proclamation 10998 took effect on 1 January 2026 and removed the previous categorical exception for Afghan SIVs. Thus, establishing COM eligibility does not by itself establish an exception from the entry and issuance restrictions. The notice says affected applicants may still submit visa applications and schedule interviews but may remain ineligible for issuance or admission. Treat an appointment as a processing event, not a travel guarantee.
The notice describes limited exceptions, including specified dual nationals using a passport of a nationality outside the suspension, and case-by-case national-interest determinations. It also explains the proclamation’s scope by reference to being outside the United States and lacking a valid visa on its effective date; visas valid on that date are treated separately. Readers should use the current notice to check the precise category and date conditions. Earlier guidance listing Afghan SIVs as categorically exempt cannot settle a case under the later proclamation.
Keep the case active without assuming travel is funded
The official SIV steps page says NVC needs current contact details, location, case number and date of birth to assess interview readiness. It warns that failure to respond to NVC notices for a year can lead to termination, with limited reinstatement provisions for circumstances beyond the applicant’s control. Preserve correspondence and respond through the channel named in the case instructions. A suspension affecting issuance does not make silence a safe case-management strategy.
The FAQ confirms there is no Afghan SIV application fee, while self-relocating applicants remain responsible for medical-examination costs and interview-related travel and accommodation. Kabul is not providing visa interviews. The steps page cautions against seeking reassignment unless the applicant can safely leave Afghanistan and support the family through a potentially lengthy third-country stay. Confirm lawful entry and stay in that country before requesting transfer. Neither these resources nor COM approval supplies a guaranteed completion date, host-country immigration permission or a promise that the US restrictions will be lifted.
