During the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Biden administration, under the legal framework of Operation Allies Welcome, relocated tens of thousands of Afghans into the United States via humanitarian parole.

Individuals who enter the U.S. through humanitarian parole find themselves under a cloud of legal uncertainty, and with fewer opportunities than if they entered as Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders or as refugees through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).

The Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA) would cover Afghans who entered the United States as a result of the Taliban take over in August 2021.

Virtually all Afghans who arrive via humanitarian parole would otherwise be categorized as a refugee or eligible for SIV and had they been admitted through the normal process, would have been eligible for lawful permanent resident status.

However, given the nature of the rapid evacuation, parolees were unable to access the USRAP or SIV pipelines, and many were forced to destroy identifying information that would’ve aided an application for asylum.

The AAA puts our new Afghan neighbors on the same legal footing as people admitted through the U.S. resettlement program while still protecting the security of the United States.

The United States has done adjustment acts before - this is not new.

Following several past U.S.-involved conflicts or humanitarian crises – the Cuban Revolution, America’s withdrawal from Vietnam, and U.S. military actions in Iraq – Congress passed adjustment acts that granted individuals from those countries, who had entered the U.S. as non-immigrants or parolees, the opportunity to adjust to permanent status.

The Afghan Adjustment Act is similar, allowing Afghan refugees to apply for lawful permanent resident status, the same legal status they would have received had they been admitted as refugees.

The Afghan Adjustment Act protects our national security.

While the U.S. government has conducted robust, multi-layered screening and vetting for all Afghans during the relocation process, under the AAA, additional screening would be conducted before an individual receives permanent status in the U.S.

This screening conforms to the USRAP security check guidelines, which is the most rigorous background investigation process in the immigration system.

The United States’ evacuation after the fall of the elected government in Kabul in August 2021 created a situation where thousands of Afghans were brought to the U.S. without guarantee of long-term status.

The government cannot remove them back to Afghanistan and their only other option currently is to undergo a lengthy and traumatizing asylum process. AAA allows the administration to ensure that Afghans seeking safety are not arbitrarily barred from protection due to existing law that fails to consider the perilous journey they were forced to take to arrive in the United States.

The AAA would save these Afghans from years of legal limbo and ensure that they are properly screened and vetted to gain legal permanent residence much more quickly.

The SIV application is specifically designed for a small set of individuals who were employed by the U.S. government. Roughly 5% of Afghans who were brought to the U.S. through Operations Allies Welcome are SIV applicants.

According to State Department data, another 35% of the evacuees are eligible for an SIV but have not applied - though this number is highly disputed by NGOs and advocates. This means that, at best, technical fixes to the SIV process would help fewer than half of those Afghans who have already been brought to the United States.

Additionally, those technical fixes may only help improve processing time by a matter of weeks or months for a program that often takes up to four years.

The Special Immigrant Visa program is a unique process that is meant to help a very specific set of people and does not address the reality that the United States has an obligation to adequately resettle and resolve the status of all parolees brought here by the U.S. government during last year’s chaotic evacuation.

If Congress fails to act, it will create additional strain on the already-overwhelmed asylum and immigration court systems, which, respectively, have a current affirmative asylum backlog of more than 400,000 cases, and a broader immigration backlog of 1.4 million cases.

Without AAA, tens of thousands of recently arrived Afghans will have to find an existing immigration pathway to remain lawful once their parole expires. That will mean tens of thousands of new asylum claims to this overburdened system.

Afghans will also face difficulties in completing asylum claims. Many were forced to destroy important documents to avoid Taliban persecution, and others had important documents destroyed by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as the city fell.

These complications could make asylum claims more difficult and increase the likelihood that Afghan parolees end up in already-overwhelmed immigration courts.

This section contains the short title of the legislation

This section contains important definitions for those reading and later implementing the bill

Expresses sense of Congress that Afghan nationals who meet the requirements for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) or referral to the United States Refugee Assistance Program (USRAP) supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and the United States should increase support for them.

(a) Response to Congressional Inquiries. Requires the Department of State (DOS) to respond to Congressional inquiries about SIV applications or USRAP referrals.

(b) Office in Lieu of Embassy. Requires the DOS to implement an office capable of reviewing visa applications and providing other consular services for Afghans as long as there is no operational embassy in Afghanistan.

(a) Establishment. Requires the President to establish an Interagency Task Force on Afghan Ally Strategy (“Task Force”) to develop and oversee the implementation of the strategy and report required by paragraph (d).

(b) Membership. Establishes that the Task Force will be comprised of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of National Intelligence, or their designees, and any other officials designated by the President.

(c) Chair. Designates the Secretary of State as the chair of the Task Force.

(d) Duties. Establishes the duties of the task force, including to develop and oversee the implementation of a strategy for supporting Afghan nationals outside of the United States who meet the requirements for an SIV or USRAP referral. Requires the Task Force to publish a report documenting the number of Afghans with pending SIV applications or USRAP referrals; the steps the DOS has taken to facilitate relocation and resettlement; the considerations that limit the DOS’s ability to facilitate relocations and resettlements. Requires the Task Force to brief the Senate and House committees on Appropriations and Foreign Affairs.

(e) Termination. Specifies that the Task Force will remain in effect for ten years or until the strategy has been implemented, whichever comes first.

(a) Defined Term. Requires applicants to be (1) citizens or nationals of Afghanistan or have last habitually resided in Afghanistan (2) who are present in the United States.

Eligible applicants must either (1) have been inspected or admitted to the U.S. before enactment, (2) were paroled into the U.S. between July 30, 2021 and enactment, or (3) arrived in the U.S. after enactment and have been determined by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and DOD to have directly and personally supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan to an extent comparable to the support provided by SIVs.

(b) Adjustment of Status. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust the status of eligible individuals who apply and meet the requirements, and who the Secretary determines that the adjustment of status of the eligible individual is not contrary to the national interest, public safety, or national security of the United States.

(c) Admissibility. Makes all of the admissibility requirements for refugees applicable to applicants for adjustment of status, and adds the additional requirements that any terrorism grounds and any crimes committed in the United States may not be waived.

(d) Interview and Vetting Requirements. Requires DHS, in consultation with Department of Defense (DOD) and, as appropriate, the Department of Justice (DOJ), to establish vetting requirements for all applicants equivalent in rigor to those used in the USRAP, including an in-person interview; biometric and biographic screening to identify any derogatory information; and a review and analysis of federal government holdings, including biographic and biometric records, iris scans, fingerprints, voice biometric information, hand geometry biometrics, and other identifiable information.

Clarifies that interviews at a port of entry do not satisfy the in-person interview requirement and requires DHS to vet applicants in a manner that ensures national security. Requires DHS, in consultation with DOD, to maintain a vetting database with information on non-priority applicants.

(e) Record of Admission. Prioritizes those who supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan by allowing SIVs with COM approval to have their record of admission backdated to the date that they were inspected and admitted or paroled in the United States.

Makes other applicants’ admission date the date on which their application for adjustment of status is approved.

(f) Deadline for Application. Establishes a deadline for application of the later of two years after final guidance implementing the bill is published or two years after an applicant becomes eligible to apply. Allows for an exception to the application deadline for extraordinary circumstances.

(g) Prohibition on Further Authorization of Parole. Prevents an eligible applicant who does not apply for adjustment under this section from being eligible for the renewal of parole.

(h) Employment Authorization. Allows DHS to extend employment authorization for eligible individuals under this section.

(i) Implementation. Requires DHS to publish guidance implementing this section within 3 months of enactment, and publish final guidance within one year after enactment.

(j) Administrative Review. Requires DHS to establish review procedures.

(k) Prohibition on Fees. Prohibits DHS from charging certain fees.

(l) Pending Applications. Prevents DHS from removing applicants who comply with application requirements during the pendency of their application.

Allows DHS to pause the consideration of another application while their application for adjustment of status is pending.

(m) Eligibility for Benefits. Allows eligible individuals to remain eligible for benefits and services to the same extent that they would be if they had been admitted to the United States as refugees.

(n) Parents and Legal Guardians of Unaccompanied Children. Allows certain parents and legal guardians of unaccompanied minors covered by the section to adjust status under the bill.

(o) Exemption From Numerical Limitations. Exempts those who adjust status under the Act from visa limitations.

(p) Notification of Eligible Individuals. Requires DHS to make reasonable efforts to notify eligible individuals, including those who independently departed military bases, of the details of the program.

(q) Reporting Requirements. Requires DHS and DOD to consult with Congress about their plan for vetting applicants 90 days after enactment and then again before accepting applications for adjustment of status.

Requires DHS to brief Congress within one year of the application deadline on vetting under the section and any security threats posed by eligible applicants who did not submit applications. Allows members of Congress or Congressional committees to request information on the basis for the denial of an application under this section.

(r) Rule of Construction. Prohibits section from being construed to prevent an eligible Afghan national from receiving any other immigration benefit.

(s) Authorization for Appropriations. Authorizes $20,000,000 to be appropriated to DHS each year from 2023 to 2027 to carry out this section.

(a) At-risk Afghan Allies. Allows DHS or DOS to issue SIVs to previously omitted groups and their family members, including members of the special operations forces of the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces, the Afghanistan National Army Special Operations Command, the Afghan Air Force, or the Special Mission Wing of Afghanistan; a female member of any other entity of the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces; an individual associated with former Afghan military and police human intelligence activities, former Afghan military counterintelligence or with the former Afghan Ministry of Defense; and certain senior officials of the former Ministries of Defense and Interior of Afghanistan.

Establishes requirements for background checks and security vetting for SIV applicants.

Requires DOD to make a recommendation on eligibility based on the applicant’s service record.

Establishes review procedures.

(b) Special Immigrant Status for Certain Relatives of Certain Members of the Armed Forces. Allows brothers and sisters of applicants to apply for SIVs.

(c) General Provisions. Prohibits fees from being charged, allows applicants to be represented by counsel, excludes SIVs from numerical limitations on visas, and allows DOD to determine the order that SIVs will be awarded.

Requires the DOS to assist SIVs with approved applications to enter the United States, makes SIVs eligible for resettlement support and adjustment of status, and authorizes appropriate funds to be appropriated to DHS, DOS, DOD, and HHS to carry out the section.

Allows DHS and DOS to waive certain fees for Afghan applicants.

Makes the Act severable if a portion is deemed unconstitutional.

Prevents DHS from granting applications for adjustment of status or SIVs before January 1, 2024 or before implementing the required vetting procedures.