In 2007-2008 I worked in Afghanistan training police and prosecutors to use that country's formal criminal justice system. This program I worked with was administered by the U.S. State Department and we relied heavily on teams of interpreters and Afghan lawyers.
One of the young Afghan lawyers I worked with has sought asylum in the United States. After I left the country, this young man and his wife received a "night letter" from the Taliban threatening their lives should they continue to work for the foreigners. He and his family were relocated to Kabul from their city and still live under threat of violence or death for continuing to work for Americans.
In late 2009, he contacted me for advice and for over four years now I have been attempting to assist him with an escape from the dangerous situation they live in.
In 2009, Congress passed the Afghan Allies Protection Act, allowing 1,500 Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) to be issued each year for interpreters who had been threatened for their work for Americans. The SIV program is described here.
In the four years I have tried to provide assistance, I have contacted my elected federal representatives, with varying degrees of success. We have sought to expedite the process, avoided scammers who wanted him to send money for fake visas, and provide what support we can from the opposite side of the world.
Four years into the process, his application has been approved, but we have no indication of when he will be allowed to re-settle. His visa was apparently approved in August, and the State Department is determining where to send him, at least that is where we understand the process to be.
Only 1,500 such visas are issued each year. It is difficult from the outside to distinguish between approval and a preliminary approval.
According to the State Department, the process is improving, but it still leaves people in harm's way for too long.