Letter to Acting Inspector General Shaw, Acting Inspector General O'Donnell, Acting Inspector General Ullom, and Special Inspector General Sopko - Afghan SIV Audit
Letter
Dear Acting Inspector General Shaw, Acting Inspector General O'Donnell, Acting Inspector
General Ullom, and Special Inspector General Sopko,
I request the U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General (State OIG), U.S. Department
of Defense Office of Inspector General (DOD OIG), U.S. Agency for International Development
Office of Inspector General (USAID OIG), and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction (SIGAR) conduct a comprehensive joint audit of the Special Immigrant Visa
(SIV) process in Afghanistan.
The Afghan SIV program was enacted through the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 to
provide a lifesaving path to resettlement for Afghan nationals who have assisted U.S. military
and government officials. Although the law requires SIV applications to be processed within
nine months, the program has been plagued by backlogs leading to processing times that can last
over three years. These delays put our Afghan allies at an increased risk of facing violent
retribution by the Taliban.
As Congress conducts oversight on U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, it is critical that we
examine the execution of the SIV program, and ways in which the program can be streamlined.
Therefore, I am interested in the IG community's past and future oversight of the SIV program to
identify where the United States succeeded, fell short, and must improve to protect our allies.
The IG community should thoroughly examine individual department and interagency processes
and practices pertaining to the Afghan SIV process. I request all responses be provided in an
unclassified form, to the extent possible, with a classified annex where necessary. At a minimum,
the review should include:
1) the numbers of SIV applications received, approved, and denied, by year, since enactment of
The Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009;
2) the average time taken to process an application from the date of submission until final
disposition;
3) the degree to which the Department of State implemented recommendations made by the
Department of State Office of Inspector General in its June 2020 reports on Review of the
Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program (AUD-MERO-20-35) and Management Assistance
Report: Quarterly Reporting on Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program Needs
Improvement (AUD-MERO-20-34);
a) the success implementation of report recommendations had in addressing barriers in the
SIV program;
4) what changes, if any, the Department of State made in vetting SIV applicants since the
establishment of Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation (SRAR) in 2018;
5) the extent to which the Department of State adjusted practices and procedures to vet
applicants at any point following the February 2020 Doha Agreement with the Taliban;
6) the impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the Afghan SIV process, if any, and
adjustments the Department of State made to account for COVID-19 impacts;
7) to the extent practicable, the current location and status of all SIV applicants; where not
possible, a description of the approximate number of applicants;
8) the resettlement outcomes for SIV recipients as compared to U.S. Refugee Admissions
Program (USRAP);
a) factors to be examined should include location of resettlement, school enrollment,
employment status, and housing placement during the Reception and Placement (R&P)
program, as well as the number of recipients who become naturalized U.S. citizens;
9) recommendations to strengthen and streamline the SIV process;
10) the lessons learned on best practices for SIV programs in countries with ongoing U.S.
military involvement; and
11) any additional points of interest deemed necessary by the IG community.
I request that all agencies utilize existing audits while compiling the report to avoid duplicative
efforts.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter and consideration of this request.
Source