Philippines allows temporary stay of Afghans in transit

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has agreed to the United States’ request to temporarily host a limited number of Afghan nationals while their special immigration visas to the US are being processed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

“The Philippines and the United States have agreed on allowing a limited number of Afghan nationals to transit to the Philippines to complete their visa processing for Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) and resettlement to the United States,” the DFA said in a statement.

Under the Philippines-US SIV agreement, the DFA said all Afghan SIV applicants “will be subject to full security vetting by Philippine authorities and should secure appropriate entry visa prior to arrival, in accordance with Philippine laws and regulations.”

The Bureau of Immigration, however, retains full authority to exclude any applicant from entry into the Philippines as a result of the standard immigration examination upon arrival in the country.

According to the DFA, each applicant shall be authorized to stay in Philippines for no more than 59 days.

All costs for the sustainment of the Afghans while in the Philippines will be shouldered by the US government. This includes expenses for food, housing, security, medical and transportation to complete visa processing.

The Afghan nationals will be confined to their billet facility for the duration of the processing of their SIV applications by the US embassy in Manila.

The US government, with the International Organization for Migration as facility manager, will ensure that the applicants, especially the children, will have adequate social, educational, religious and emotional support during their stay in the billet facility.

The US embassy said Afghan SIV applicants will temporarily reside at a CARE (Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts) operated facility in the Philippines.

Afghans with visas approved by the Philippine embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan will have been medically screened in Afghanistan before entering the Philippines.

They need to leave their billet facility only once for their consular interview at the US embassy.

“The agreement is currently undergoing the final domestic procedures required for effectivity,” the DFA said.

The embassy did not disclose some details like the number of SIV applicants or the place outside Manila where they will be billeted.

“For operational security purposes, we will not comment on the capacity of the platform or how many guests are in the Philippines at any given time,” said US embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay. “We are still discussing timelines and operational specifics with the government of the Philippines.”

The Afghan nationals being considered for resettlement had worked for the US government but were left behind when US forces withdrew from the country in August 2021, allowing the Taliban to return to power.