Past Time To Speed Up Process For Afghan Visas

Nearly two years after the U.S. left Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan refugees from the Taliban regime remain in limbo, seeking visas to enter the U.S. Many of these refugees aided the U.S.'s effort over many years, putting their lives at risk as interpreters, battlefield guides, U.S. embassy workers and more. When the Taliban took over in 2021, they, a number of the lucky ones were given temporary protected status to allow quick admittance to the U.S.

However, that process has slowed considerably in the months since. One of examples of the delays in the U.S. visa process for Afghans is that of photojournalist Firooz Mashoof, who is currently in Albania waiting for a U.S. visa:

"Today, thousands of miles from his homeland, the 35-year-old photojournalist and former employee of the Afghan soccer federation, is languishing in warm and sunny Albania. With each passing day, his anxiety grows over the delay in the promised U.S. visa, casting a shadow on his dreams of a new beginning in America.

For hundreds of others like him, it’s an emotional roller coaster. Some try to find work and live with a semblance of normalcy but the concern and fear for families back home permeates their days — even in welcoming Albania.

They are hopeful, despite the prolonged bureaucracy, and look to a new life.

In Shengjin, a town on the Adriatic coast some 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of the Albanian capital of Tirana where hundreds of Afghans were given temporary shelter, Mashoof often goes for long walks by the sea. He has found work at a mall, an hour’s bus ride away.

The walks stave off panic attacks that he has been forgotten — or the 'crazy fear' for his family back in western Herat province.

'I was saved, ... and now I am to start my new life in America,' he said, 'But when?'” (our emphasis)

Albania is one of Europe's poorest countries, so their humanitarian welcoming of Afghan refugees makes it all the more important that Afghan refugees get expedited action on their U.S. visa requests. President Biden has already provided for a process to extend the visas of Afghans already residing in the U.S. It's time his State Department, working with the Department of Homeland Security, expedite the intake of refugees from the Taliban regime. 

(photo: Afgans arriving at Dulles Airport in 2021. Jose Luis Magana / AP)