IMPORTANT SIV UPDATE:

The government has paused issuing visas to Afghan SIV applicants. 

The deadline to file an application for COM approval under the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program was December 31, 2025. 

If you have a pending COM application, the U.S. government has stated that the deadline to submit any outstanding documents for your pending COM application is June 5, 2026.

If you receive a COM denial letter and you are able to appeal it, you should still have 120 days from the date the decision letter was sent to you, even if that date is after June 5, 2026. The June 5, 2026 deadline is only to submit additional documents for a pending application.

You can learn more about what this means for SIV applicants here.

Summary

This guide gives information about a court case filed by IRAP that requires the government to process certain SIV applications more quickly. This information applies only to Afghan or Iraqi SIV applicants who: 

• applied for Chief of Mission (COM) approval before February 28, 2022 

AND 

• are still waiting for a decision from COM or are at a later part in the SIV application process. 

Case background

In 2018, IRAP filed a court case to challenge the U.S. government’s delay in the Afghan and Iraqi SIV programs. IRAP filed the case as a “class action”, which allows IRAP to represent a large group of Afghan and Iraqi SIV applicants in court without requiring each SIV applicant to file their own case. On November 30, 2022, the judge in the case decided that the government’s delay in deciding SIV applications was unreasonable and must be fixed. Now, the judge has ordered the government to speed up the application process and to share information about its progress in following this order.

Who does this case apply to?

This case covers all Afghan and Iraqi SIV applicants who, on November 30, 2022, had been waiting for a decision at any part of the SIV process for more than 9 months and have not yet received a final decision on that application. If this has happened to you, you are automatically a “class member” and you do not need to take any action to be covered by this case.

That means that if you submitted a COM application before February 28, 2022, and have not yet received a final decision on that SIV application (either at the COM approval stage or a later step in the process), you are most likely covered by this case. 

If you submitted a new COM application after February 28, 2022, you are not covered by this case. If you are not covered by this case, that means that the judge has not ordered the government to speed up its decision on your SIV application and the information below about wait times does not apply to your case.

What is the U.S. government required to do?

Because of the judge’s order, the government is required to process applications within a certain number of days at each step in the SIV application process.

Every 90 days, the government must submit a report (the “progress report”) explaining whether or not it is meeting the required timeline for each step in the SIV process. If the government does not meet the timelines, it must explain why in the progress report. The government’s most recent progress report is available here and covers the period between June 5, 2025 and September 3, 2025.

The information below shows how many days the government has to complete each SIV processing step. The chart also says whether the government was meeting each required timeline between the dates June 5, 2025 to September 3, 2025:

Afghan SIV Program Steps

National Visa Center (NVC) reviews COM application and decides if it is complete

• Required timeline: 
  • After the applicant emails their documents to NVC, NVC must tell the applicant whether the COM application is complete within 10 business days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • NVC is meeting this deadline.

COM staff review and decide COM application or appeal

• Required timeline: 
  • After NVC says the application is complete, COM must decide the application or appeal within 120 calendar days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • COM is not meeting this deadline for all applicants. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decides the I-360 petition (Only for applicants who submitted I-360 petitions to USCIS) 

• Required timeline: 
  • After the applicant submits the I-360 petition to USCIS, USCIS must decide the I-360 petition within 60 calendar days, OR ask the applicant for more evidence by sending a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).
  • After the applicant responds to an RFE or NOID, USCIS must decide the I-360 petition within 60 calendar days.
  • USCIS may take longer to decide cases that USCIS says involve national security concerns.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • USCIS is generally meeting the deadline:
    • USCIS is deciding most I-360 petitions within 60 calendar days.
    • USCIS reports that some cases are taking longer due to national security concerns:
      • 0 waiting 90-180 days
      • 0 waiting 181-240 days
      • 1 waiting more than 241 days

NVC sends applicants an instruction packet about how to submit their visa application

• Required timeline: 
  • After COM approval is granted (or, if the applicant has an I-360 petition, after the I-360 petition is approved), NVC must send the applicant an instruction packet (about how to submit their visa application) within 10 business days.
• Status as of September 3, 2025 Progress Report:
  • NVC is not meeting this deadline for all applicants. 

NVC reviews the visa application and decides if it is complete

• Required timeline: 
  • After the applicant submits a visa application (DS-260), NVC must tell the applicant if the application is complete within 10 business days. If the application is complete, NVC will tell the applicant how to request an interview at an embassy outside of Afghanistan.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • NVC is meeting this deadline. 

NVC schedules the visa interview

• Required timeline: 
  • After the application is complete and after the applicant notifies NVC of the embassy outside of Afghanistan where the applicant can attend an interview, NVC must contact the applicant to give them an interview date within 8 business days. The interview date must be within 60 calendar days of NVC contacting the applicant.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • NVC is not meeting the 8-business-day deadline to give applicants interview dates. 
  • NVC is not giving interview dates within 60 calendar days to all applicants.

The State Department and other parts of the U.S. government do background checks (“administrative processing”)

• Required timeline:
  • After the interview (or after the applicant submits more information, if required), the State Department must start its background checks (“administrative processing”) within 5 business days and finish within 90 calendar days, unless other parts of the U.S. government also do administrative processing. 
  • If other parts of the U.S. government do administrative processing for national security concerns, they may take longer than 90 days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • The State Department is meeting the requirement to begin administrative processing within 5 business days after the interview.
  • The State Department is not meeting the requirement to finish its administrative processing for all applicants within 90 calendar days.
  • For cases where national security administrative processing is taking longer:
    • 253 people are waiting more than 120 days
    • 239 people are waiting more than 180 days
    • 199 people are waiting more than one year

Iraqi SIV Program Steps

National Visa Center (NVC) reviews COM application and decides if it is complete

• Required timeline: 
  • After the applicant emails their documents to NVC, NVC must tell the applicant whether the COM application is complete within 10 business days. After that, NVC will send completed applications to COM within 5 business days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • No COM applications or appeals were pending.

COM staff review and decide COM application or appeal

• Required timeline: 
  • After the application is sent to COM, COM must decide the application or appeal within 60 calendar days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • No COM applications or appeals were pending. 

USCIS decides the I-360 petition

• Required timeline: 
  • After the applicant submits the I-360 petition to USCIS, USCIS must decide the I-360 petition within 60 calendar days, OR ask the applicant for more evidence by sending a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).
  • After the applicant responds to an RFE or NOID, USCIS must decide the I-360 petition within 60 calendar days.
  • USCIS may take longer to decide cases that USCIS says involve national security concerns.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • No 1-360 petitions were pending.

NVC sends applicants an instruction packet about how to submit their visa application

• Required timeline: 
  • After the I-360 is approved, NVC must send the applicant an instruction packet (about how to submit their visa application) within 10 business days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • No I-360s petitions were approved.

NVC reviews the visa application and decides if it is complete

• Required timeline: 
  • After the applicant submits a visa application (DS-260), NVC must tell the applicant if the application is complete within 10 business days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • NVC is meeting this deadline. 

NVC schedules the visa interview

• Required timeline: 
  • After the visa application is complete, NVC must contact the applicant to give them an interview date within 5 business days. The interview date must be within 60 calendar days of NVC contacting the applicant.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • No applicants were waiting for interviews.

The State Department and other parts of the U.S. government do background checks (“administrative processing”)

• Required timeline:
  • After the interview (or after the applicant submits more information, if required), the State Department must start its background checks (“administrative processing”) within 5 business days and finish within 90 calendar days, unless other parts of the U.S. government also do administrative processing. 
  • If other parts of the U.S. government do administrative processing for national security concerns, they may take longer than 90 days.
• Status as of September 2025 Progress Report:
  • The State Department is meeting the requirement to begin administrative processing within 5 business days after the interview.
  • The State Department is not meeting the requirement to finish its administrative processing  for all applicants within 90 calendar days.
  • For cases where national security administrative processing is taking longer:
    • 28 people are waiting more than 120 days
    • 27 people are waiting more than 180 days
    • 22 people are waiting more than one year

What does this mean for my SIV case?

If this lawsuit applies to you, you are a class member in the lawsuit, and the government is supposed to meet the timelines above in processing your application. However, despite these requirements, it is possible that the government will not meet the timelines in every case. IRAP will continue to push the government to meet these timelines in all SIV cases covered by the lawsuit.

Additional information and resources

To learn more about the Afghan and Iraqi Allies case, please visit IRAP’s website: Afghan and Iraqi Allies v. Rubio: Challenging systemic delays in deciding Special Immigrant Visa applications.

IRAP’s resources for Afghan SIV applicants are available here. IRAP’s resources for individuals from Iraq are available here. Information about how to request legal assistance from IRAP is available here.