2,500 Afghans benefited from visa programme

WASHINGTON (PAN, had benefited from a special immigrant visa programme, a US official said on Thursday.

 “Overall, over 2,500 Afghans and their family members have benefitted from the program,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.

 “Across the US government, every effort is being made to ensure qualified applicants are processed in a timely fashion.  We have redirected increased resources to improve efficiency at all stages of the SIV process without compromising national security,” she said in response to a question.

As a result of these processing improvements, waiting times for initial visa interviews had dramatically been reduced, Psaki said. 

“Additionally, there is no longer a backlog of applicants waiting for an eligibility decision from the Chief of Mission Committee,” she said. 

However, she said processing times depended on variable factors specific to each individual, and overall processing period had improved dramatically over the past two years. “And we’re still continuing to focus on that,” the spokesperson said.

ma

Visits: 5