Afghan nationals who were evacuated from Afghanistan under Operation Allies Welcome (“OAW”) in August 2021 and granted humanitarian parole in the United States will be able to extend their status in June 2023.  Under OAW, Afghan nationals who had worked for the United States Embassy or for the United States government in Afghanistan were evacuated to the United States and granted humanitarian parole for two years on a case-by-case basis.  The extension of humanitarian parole (“re-parole”) will allow them to continue living and working in the United States on a temporary basis.  The Department of Homeland Security has not yet announced the specific process for obtaining “re-parole.”

For Afghan nationals who were not evacuated and left Afghanistan on their own, they may benefit from Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) if they can demonstrate continuous residence in the United States as of March 15, 2022.   The TPS designation provides additional protection to individuals who received the two-year humanitarian parole, as well as to other Afghan nationals already present in the United States as of March 15, 2022. With TPS, Afghan nationals can remain in the United States until September 2023 (or longer, if the designation is extended). 

TPS beneficiaries are given work authorization, protected from removal, and may obtain travel permission. Information on registering for TPS is available here, and more information on the TPS designation can be found here.  

Finally, Afghan nationals currently inside the United States may apply for asylum using Form I-589. Afghan nationals may be eligible for asylum if they can demonstrate that they have either been persecuted, or fear that they will be persecuted, because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The applicant does not need to have come into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome to apply for asylum.

Asylum applicants must be physically present in the United States when they apply, and must submit the application within one year of their arrival. Asylum beneficiaries can include their spouse and unmarried children under 21 on their application. 

USCIS is currently making several efforts to expedite processing of asylum applications filed by Afghan nationals who were allowed into the United States under Operation Allies Welcome. The Service has said that they are aiming to schedule asylum interviews for beneficiaries of the Operation Allies Welcome program within 45 days of receipt of the application, and are targeting final adjudication within 150 days (we are seeing longer processing times on the ground). To help achieve this goal, the Service has also expanded the list of offices where asylum interviews for beneficiaries of Operation Allies Welcome can take place. The new list of offices for these select individuals can be found here. 

Asylum applicants become eligible to apply for work authorization once 150 days have passed since they submitted the asylum application. One year after being granted asylum, the individual can apply for permanent residence using Form I-485, and will be eligible to apply for citizenship five years after they become a lawful permanent resident. 

Between humanitarian parole, TPS and asylum, Afghan nationals who fled the humanitarian crisis following the Taliban takeover in August 2021 have some form of relief available to them in the United States. 

This alert is for informational purposes only. Please contact me if you would like to discuss these options further.