Description
The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is a joint program run by the Department of
State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). As of August 2, 2021, Afghans
affiliated with the U.S. government may be referred to the P-2 program access type if they fall
within the eligibility criteria.
The Afghan P-2 program complements the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). Afghan nationals
eligible for the SIV program should not be referred to the USRAP. The Afghan P-2 designation
permits U.S. government agencies, U.S.-based NGOs, and U.S.-based media organizations to
refer Afghans (and family members: spouse and children of any age, whether married or
unmarried) who fall into the below three categories for P-2 USRAP access:
1. Afghans who do not meet the minimum time-in-service for a Special Immigrant Visa
(SIV) but who work or worked at any time as employees of contractors*, Locally
Employed (LE) Staff, interpreters/translators for the U.S. government, United States
Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), or
Resolute Support;
2. Afghans who work or worked at any time for a U.S. government-funded program or
project in Afghanistan supported through a U.S. government grant or cooperative
agreement*;
3. Afghans who are or were employed in Afghanistan by a U.S.-based non-governmental or
media organization.
*Note: Afghans who work/worked for sub-contractors and sub-grantees do not qualify for P-2. In addition, staff of
intergovernmental organizations like the UN do not qualify for P2 referral.
If you are an Afghan national interested in USRAP, and you believe you fall into any of the three
categories above and might be in danger now or in the foreseeable future because of your
affiliation with the U.S. government and/or U.S.-based NGOs or U.S.-based media
organizations, please read the instructions below.
Guidance:
• If you are eligible for referral to the USRAP Afghan P-2 program because you are a
former or current employee of an entity described in categories 1 or 2 above, you must
be referred by a U.S. government official involved in that project.
o Your eligible employer may already be submitting lists of staff data to a U.S.
government official – contact your eligible employer to ask whether they are
working with the U.S. government to prepare and submit Afghan staff
information for referral.
o If they are not, please contact a U.S. government official who has knowledge of
your eligible employment (e.g. the U.S. official who provided oversight to the
U.S.-funded contract/grant that employed you). They will need to submit
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information and supporting documents about you, your eligible employment, and
your immediate family members to a dedicated USRAP Afghan Referrals
Workgroup Representative at their agency.
o You cannot directly refer yourself to the USRAP.
• If you worked for a U.S.-based media organization or U.S.-based nongovernmental
organization (NGO) (category 3 above) project that was not funded by a U.S. government
agency, you must be referred by the senior-most U.S. citizen employee of the media
organization or NGO’s headquarters in the United States (e.g., CEO, Executive
Director, etc.). This senior-most U.S. citizen employee will need to submit information
and supporting documents about you, your eligible employment, and your family
members for a referral. You may direct referrers from U.S.-based media organizations
and U.S.-based NGOs to consult further instructions here. You cannot directly refer
yourself to the USRAP.
In general, your referrer will need to submit a complete referral package for you that must
contain:
• A full and complete Referral Form (see end of this document) – your referrer can paste
this into an email using the chart found at the end of this document or attached using the
excel version.
• Scans of the following documents (this is optional to include but highly encouraged if
available):
o Documents to establish identity: passport; national ID; birth certificates
o Documents to establish relationships: marriage, divorce, death, and/or birth
certificates
o Documents to establish employment history: employment badges, employer
affidavit
• Evidence that they have confirmed your current/previous employment with an eligible
organization.
If you are a former or current employee of an entity described in categories 1 or 2 above, your
referrer must follow their agency’s established process for submitting referrals. Your referrer
should contact their agency’s USRAP Afghan Referrals Workgroup representative for further
information. Please note that they will only accept referral packages submitted by referrers
described above and will not accept referral packages submitted directly from applicants.
If you are a former or current employees of a U.S.-based media organization or U.S.-based NGO
(category 3 above), your referrer must send completed referral packages to the U.S. Department
of State at USRAPAfghanReferrals@state.gov. They can visit wrapsnet.org to obtain full
referral instructions. Please note that we will only accept referral packages submitted by
referrers described above and will not accept referral packages submitted directly from
applicants.
Once the Department of State reviews and determines the referral package is complete, we will
contact you directly at the primary email address provided in the referral package to let
you know you have been referred to the program and to direct you to contact us once you have
reached a location where processing can begin. Although referrals can be made for Afghan
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nationals who remain in Afghanistan, case processing cannot begin until/unless you relocate to a
third country. Note: A referral is not a guarantee that an application will be successful, but it is
necessary to begin the process.
Other Issues to Consider:
• There is no resettlement processing in Afghanistan and certain neighboring countries
such as Iran. If/when you and your family make the difficult choice to leave
Afghanistan, you will need to arrange and pay for your own travel to a third country.
• Once you have arrived in a third country, you must contact the U.S. Department of State
to begin processing your case. Case processing can be lengthy (potentially 12-14
months), so please be aware that this process could require living in and supporting
yourself and your family in a third country for a substantial amount of time until case
processing is complete.
• Even if you qualify for the P-2 program and travel outside of Afghanistan, there is no
guarantee that you will be approved for resettlement to the United States. In particular,
applicants must pass extensive security checks.
• The United States is unable to provide protection or support to you while you await a
decision on your refugee case. If you leave Afghanistan, you can register for
international protection and assistance as a refugee with the government of the country
you are in, if the country has an established asylum process; or, you can register with the
UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
