Interpreter Describes Ordeal of U.S. Visa

A former Afghan interpreter who lived and worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan for years describes the terror he endured while waiting for a U.S. visa. It took him 3 1/2 years to get a visa to come to the United States. During that time, because he assisted the U.S. military, the Taliban kidnapped his father and killed him. They later kidnapped his little brother and held him for ransom; he was released when the interpreter paid a $35,000 ransom (a lot of money for an Afghan). The U.S. State Department has been extremely negligent in the processing of visas for interpreters. It is estimated that up to 80% of Afghan interpreters have been unable to acquire visas. One of the State Department's lame excuses is that that Afghan's are a security risk and that detailed background checks are required. This is questionable - for instance, when this specific interpreter finally received his visa his legal name on the visa was "FNU Mohammad". FNU stood for First Name Unknown. How thorough of a security investigation was conducted if the visa doesn't have the first name right? Read more in "Afghan Who Helped US Describes Sheer Terror of Being a Taliban Target", Business Insider, October 23, 2014.

Comedian Taking Up Cause of Afghan Interpreters

A comedian has lambasted the United States Department of State for its inept handling of the Afghan interpreter Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. Read more in "Why is a Comedian the Only One Talking About the Plight of Afghan Interpreters", Council on Foreign Affairs, October 23, 2014.

State Dept Blasted on Afghan Interpreter Issue

The State Department has done a horrible job in managing the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghan interpreters. Congress has allocated by law thousands of visa quotas for Afghans who served as interpreters and translators for the U.S. military yet the State Department has been an obstacle to allowing Afghans who served the U.S. military who wish to re-locate to the United States. For instance, in 2011 there were 1,500 visas that could have been granted; yet the State Department issued only 3 visas. Appalling! John Oliver, of the "Last Week Tonight" show, provides us with a humorous yet very pointed look at how badly the State Department has performed its duties. View a video (16 minutes of pure laughs) on a description of the red tape an interpreter must make his way through in order to get a visa at this link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QplQL5eAxlY

Interpreters and New Zealand

It appears that sentiment toward aiding interpreters that served foreign military organizations in Afghanistan may be waning. Many nations have very restrictive regulations on how many (if any) former Afghan interpreters can enter their countries. The United States Department of State was notorious for their fool-hardy decisions in the past. It would appear that New Zealand is having some internal political disputes on this issue as well. See "No Asylum for Afghanistan's Interpreters: Defense Minister", New Zealand Times, October 15, 2014.

Afghan Interpreters Still Wait for VISAs

The State Department seems to be still having some difficulty in the issuing of visas to Afghans who worked for the military over the past decade. Although state did a better job in 2014 than in previous years there still is a backlog of interpreters waiting on their visas. In years past the State Department did a horrible job. "In 2009, the Afghan Allies Protection Act allocated 7,500 visas for Afghans employed by the US government, the majority as military interpreters. But, by 2011, the US embassy in Kabul had not processed a single visa". (Quote is from news article linked to below). Many interpreters who filed an application for a visa were denied because they were "blacklisted". One could get blacklisted for a number of minor reasons. Read more in "Afghan interpreters demand promised US visas", Yahoo.com, October 1, 2014.

Report - Special Immigrant Visa Programs

The United States Department of State (until 2014) did a horrible job of managing the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. Since 2006 Congress has enacted a series of legislative provisions to enable Afghan nationals who worked as translators and interpreters to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs) of the United States. These individuals face death from the Taliban once they have been identified as working for the U.S. The U.S. State Department has been roundly criticized for its inability to process applicants - the principal bottleneck was apparently the embassy staff in Kabul. Hopefully that person(s) has lost his/her job(s) for the disservice done to Afghan interpreters who laid their lives on the line for the U.S. military. Visa issuance under the SIV programs for Afghans who worked for, or on behalf of, the U.S. government have fallen well below the statutory ceilings. Read more in Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Programs, CRS Report R43725, Congressional Research Service (CRS), by Andorra Bruno, September 12, 2014.

Interpreters Try to Leave Afghanistan

There is a rush out the door for interpreters trying to leave Afghanistan. With the withdrawal of ISAF troops, future reductions in foreign aid, contracting of the Afghan economy, and the threat of the Taliban (they are not defeated and certainly are not going away) the interpreters are seeing job prospects diminish and their future uncertain. The U.S. State Department has a horrible record in its ability to provide VISAs to Afghan interpreters even though Congress provided authorization for thousands of VISAs. It is only recently (2014) that the State Department (after an internal review prompted by external criticism) has actually processed VISAs to an acceptable standard. Read more about the plight of Afghan interpreters in "As a U.S. War Winds Down, Afghans Look for a Way Out", Public Radio East, September 11, 2014. at this link.

Interpreters Abandoned by U.S. State Dept

The U.S. State Department continues to receive admonishment for its abandonment of the loyal Afghan interpreters who served the U.S. military for many years in war-torn Afghanistan. Despite the State Department's best efforts at minimizing the public's negative perception of the visa backlog for Afghan interpreters the message from all corners is very clear. Members of Congress and the military want the State Department to take action instead of stonewalling the interpreters visa requests. Unfortunately the State Department appears to be abandoning the Afghan interpreters. Read more in "Tongue tied in Afghanistan", PBS Newshour, February 19, 2014.

Afghan Interpreters for New Zealand Finally get Residency

It seems that the U.S. State Department isn't the only organization having problems processing visas for Afghan interpreters. Evidently it has taken New Zealand over three years to process residency permits for some Afghan interpreters that worked for the New Zealand special operations forces. New Zealand has been a steady partner of the NATO forces in Afghanistan. Their special operations forces were operating in western Afghanistan conducting "rat patrols" through Shindand, Nimroz, and Helmand province in 2002. Later New Zealand forces stood up the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyam. They also provided forces in other areas of Afghanistan as well. All these endeavors required the use of Afghan interpreters. Read more in "Afghan interpreters finally offered residency", 3 News, February 14, 2014.

An Afghan Interpreter's New Life in the United States

An Afghan interpreter who worked for the U.S. military in northeastern Afghanistan for over ten years is now living in the United States. He is one of the few interpreters that the U.S. State Department has approved for a visa - the majority of those interpreters have their visa applications rejected. It took two years for him to be able to get his visa all the while under constant threat of retaliation by the Taliban for working for the U.S. military. Although he is happy that he and his family are now safe there are still some challenges in adjusting to the new country, its people and culture. Read more in "Escape from Afghanistan: A father's journey", WUSA, February 9, 2014.

Afghan Interpreters in Limbo - State Department Identified as Culprit

Read the story of an Afghan interpreter who has been waiting five years for his U.S. visa - U.S. visa backlog leaves Afghan interpreters in limbo, The Seattle Times, February 8, 2014.

Afghan Interpreters: Trusted With a Gun but Not a Visa

Afghan interpreters who are seeking a U.S. visa continue to be stone-walled by the United States Department of State. Read more in "The US trusted them with a gun, but not a visa", Brisbane Times, February 4, 2014.

Afghan Interpreters Still Getting Screwed Over by State Department

It appears that the State Department is not taking Congress and its critics seriously on the State Departments inability to process visas to deserving Afghan interpreters who have put their lives at risk to aid our military. The State Department has been heavily criticized the past year for not processing visas in a timely manner (if at all). One would think that with the heavy public pressure the State Department would respond to fix their failure but evidently they are so insulated from reality they are not aware of it - or maybe they just don't care about the Afghan interpreters. I have been told the problem resides within the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Perhaps a little less time in the "Duck and Cover" and more time behind the computer would achieve better results. Read more on this topic in "U.S. backlog for visas leaves Afghan interpreters in limbo", Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2014.

Interpreter Dodges Taliban and Waits Out State Department

Read the story of an interpreter who survived retaliation by the Taliban for his assistance to the U.S. Marines and who frustratingly waited for the State Department to get its act together so he could get a visa to the United States. The State Department has done a horrible job granting visas to Afghans who put their lives on the line for U.S. military personnel. See "Left Behind: Afghan translator dodges Taliban on long road to America", NBC News, January 23, 2014.

NY Times Interpreter Killed in Afghanistan

Noor Admad Noori, an Afghan interpreter for The New York Times, was found beaten and stabbed to death outside of Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Many interpreters are trying to receive visas from the United States Department of State to avoid the violence and because they feel they are targeted by the Taliban because of there work for the military or foreigners. See "Former Interpreter for The Times is Killed in Afghanistan", The New York Times, January 24, 2014.

State Department Bungles Visas for Afghan Interpreters

The U.S. State Department has not covered itself with glory on the issue surrounding the lack of visas processed for Afghan interpreters under the Special Immigrant Visa program. If you read the State Department website you would think everything is under control and proceeding nicely.

"Across the U.S. government, every effort is being made to ensure qualified applicants are processed in a timely fashion before the Afghan program's scheduled end date." 

That is just a bucket full of HORSE MANURE!

Read a recent news column on how well (or badly) the State Department is doing with the processing of visas for Afghan interpreters and translators in "Support Afghans who helped U.S. soldiers", USA Today, January 3, 2014. The quote above comes from a statement on the State Department website found at the following link. http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3738.html. Perhaps the bureaucrats working on the approval committee for visas at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul should visit the website and read the above statement.

The U.S. Should Process Visas for Afghan Interpreters

The United States Department of State is taking the low road in the implementation of granting visas to Afghan interpreters who served side-by-side (or Shona-ba-Shona) with their U.S. counterparts for a number of years. With the war winding down (at least for the U.S.) the need for employing the interpreters diminishes. In addition, many of these interpreters are at risk of retaliation from the insurgents because they assisted the United States. Congress approved a visa program for the interpreters but the State Department has dragged their feet. Evidently the problem resides within the U.S. Embassy in Kabul where a small committee of bureaucrats who spend much of their time sipping "tea" at the "duck and cover" are taking their sweet time processing visas. Many times they just stamped "rejected" on the application with no explanation of why the visa was rejected. This is definitely not the way we should treat loyal allies. Secretary Kerry needs to get involved and fix this mess. Read more in "Afghan translators deserve special visas - and fast", The Washington Post, January 2, 2014.

One Day in the Life of a Female Interpreter in Afghanistan

Read an interesting account of a female interpreter working for a Marine Female Engagement Team (FET) in Afghanistan.  See "American interpreter takes a stand in Afghanistan", Stars and Stripes, January 28, 2011.

Mission Essential Personnel Providing Unqualified Interpreters for Afghan War Effort

A U.S. firm providing interpreters to the U.S. military is accused of providing interpreters who are not qualified.  Mission Essential Personnel is accused by a former worker of cheating on the lucrative contract.  Read more in "Whistleblower Claims Many US Interpreters Can't Speak Afghan Languages", ABC News, September 8, 2010.

"Failure to Communicate" - How Interpreters Can Help or Hurt the Military's Efforts

Neil Shea has wrote an excellent article about the use of interpreters in Afghanistan.  He states that the interpreters are not properly screened, are sometimes not motivated, and that military NCOs and Officers are not properly trained to use interpreters.  Read more in "Failure to Communicate", Foreign Policy, August 23, 2010.