The Foreign Service Journal, April 2015

Helping Our Afghan and Iraqi Colleagues BY LARRY COHEN, RETIREE VICE PRESIDENT Recently, several Provin- cial Reconstruction Team interpreters and staff with whom I served in Afghanistan contacted me for letters of support. They need these recommendations to apply for Special Immigrant Visas, an employment-based pro- gram for Afghans and Iraqis under the Immigration and Nationality Act. You may recall that last year the departments of State and Homeland Security caught flak for extraordinarily protracted SIV processing. Critics accused the depart- ments of making the pro- gram overly complicated and agonizingly slow. Whether visa procedures have improved, I cannot say. State says they have. Due to multiple layers of scrutiny, SIV applicants will likely continue to find that meeting program require- ments, which include secur- ing reference letters from a long chain of former military and civilian supervisors, is a tall hurdle. My own letters of support, like those of other Ameri- cans who worked alongside Afghans in the field, may only fill part of the gap. Because American and international supervisors, many of whom are retired, are scattered to the winds, our Afghan and Iraqi colleagues may need assistance tracking us down. Facebook is one tool they use. Word of mouth is another. If you served with Afghans or Iraqis eligible for SIVs and can commend their perfor- mance, consider reaching out to them. At a minimum, keep an ear open, especially with regard to former colleagues who may be active on social media. For more information on the SIV program, see the January Congressional Research Service report on the Iraqi and Afghan SIV Programs: https://fas.org/ sgp/crs/homesec/R43725. pdf. n AFSA NEWS 82 APRIL 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL If you served with Afghans or Iraqis eligible for SIVs and can commend their performance, consider reaching out to them. At a minimum, keep an ear open, especially with regard to former colleagues who may be active on social media.