Below are some of the requests in SIV applications from Afghan translators and interpreters. They detail their threats, some simply say 'help' and others reach out directly to the White House in hopes of staying alive. Some of the passages have been paraphrased. None have been identified because of the ongoing safety concerns they face in Afghanistan.
'SIV is our last hope of staying alive.'
'I have served for more than two years as an interpreter/translator and more than seven years on the USAID funded projects in Afghanistan. My visa is pending administrative processing for no reason besides waiting for my recommendation letter.'
'I did my medical on September 16, 2020 , but am still waiting for issues to be resolved.'
'The embassy has cancelled my application for (unfaithful services), a general term they are putting for thousands of translators to cancel their petitions. Contrary to the fact that we risked our lives, our entire family and could have been killed.'
'I have worked with oil companies as an supervisor also worked with US army and coalition forces as an translator.
'I applied for SIV in August 2014. I was finally down to my interview at the Kabul US Embassy September 2018. Then the Console Section gave me a yellow card and told me to bring a new recommendation from my supervisor. I haven't been able to find him in two years because his email is not working and I don't have his personal email address. My family is in trouble. I am still receiving threats from ISIS and the Taliban. I don't know where I can go or or to whom I can tell my problems.'
'Kindly pass our message on that we have suffered a lot for American soldiers. We have worked with them honestly for a bright future. Now we have been left behind, and no excuses have been given.'
'Me and my family are living under serious threat in Afghanistan.'
'I want to speed up our case. We are still living in fear and we have been waiting for asylum into the US for so long.'
'I have been waiting for my visa since 2016. I started working for the US Special Forces in 2009 until 2013.Then our program closed in 205. Since then I have been working with US ASS Mentors at COB Morehead in Kabul. I am still an interpreter, and as you know we are at risk of threat and violence in Afghanistan. It's very hard to live any more because of my work for the US government. Please save my life, my two children and my wife.'
'In April 2020, the State Department Consular section in Baghdad refused my SIV case. It seems loyalty to U.S. goals are not appreciated, just like 100s of American soldiers who returned home and were not taken care of. No surprise at all.'
'I have been waiting for my SIV case to process for four years. More than four of my close friends have lost their lives. After our work with the US, we have put the lives of our family members in great danger and the
