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Explore visasI-360 / DS-260Overview

SI / SQAfghans and Iraqis who worked for the U.S. government

For Iraqi and Afghan nationals who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government, or as translators or interpreters with U.S. forces or under U.S. embassy authority, and want a green card, plus their spouses and children.

At a glance

How you apply
Iraqi and Afghan employees first apply for Chief of Mission (COM) approval; Afghans who start on or after July 20, 2022 file Form DS-157 with the State Department together with that application. Translators and interpreters, Iraqi employees after COM approval, and Afghans who received COM approval on or before July 20, 2022 file Form I-360 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), unless an Afghan's COM approval letter says their signed DS-157 was approved as the petition High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,2,3,4]
What you get
A green card (permanent residence) as a special immigrant. If you live outside the U.S., your case goes through State Department consular processing for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV); if you are in the U.S. and did not enter on the SIV, you file Form I-485 to adjust status High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,3]
Can family come
Generally, yes. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 may qualify as derivatives, may come with you or join you later, and do not count against the program's cap High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,5]
Work and travel
While your Form I-485 is pending, you may generally apply for a work permit (Form I-765) and for advance parole, permission to travel abroad and return (Form I-131) High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,6]
Fees
$0 for Form I-360, Form I-485 and the related USCIS forms listed below (fee schedule Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26). By law, qualifying Iraqi and Afghan employees (SQ) and their surviving spouses and children (SW) pay no U.S. government fee in connection with the visa; cases converted from SI1 to SQ1 must pay all required fees High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[5,6,7]

Overview

High confidence Three programs lead to a green card for Iraqi and Afghan nationals who served the U.S. government: one for translators and interpreters (symbols SI1–SI3, under section 1059 of Public Law 109-163), one for Iraqis employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government (section 1244 of Public Law 110-181, the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007), and one for Afghans employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government or the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) (section 602(b) of Public Law 111-8, the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009). The two employee programs share the symbols SQ1–SQ3.[1,2,3,4,8]

Iraqi and Afghan employees are classified as special immigrants under section 203(b)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the fourth employment-based preference (EB-4); translators and interpreters are fourth-preference special immigrants too. Afghans granted special immigrant status are not counted against the INA's worldwide employment-based, per-country or EB-4 numerical limits, but the law caps the total number of Afghan principal applicants.[5]

Who qualifies

  • Translators and interpreters (SI1): you are a national of Iraq or Afghanistan; you worked directly with the U.S. Armed Forces, or under COM authority, as a translator or interpreter for at least 12 months; your faithful and valuable service is documented in a favorable written recommendation from a general or flag officer in the chain of command of the unit you supported, or from the COM if you worked under COM authority; and you cleared a background check and screening as determined by that general or flag officer or by the COM.[5]
  • Iraqi employees (SQ1): you were employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq on or after March 20, 2003 and before September 30, 2013, for at least one year, and you applied for COM approval by September 30, 2014. Surviving spouses and children who qualify may apply after that deadline while visas remain available (see Spouse and children).[5]
  • High confidence Afghan employees (SQ1): you were employed in Afghanistan on or after October 7, 2001, for at least one year, either by or on behalf of the U.S. government, or by ISAF or a successor mission as an interpreter or translator for U.S. military personnel while traveling off-base with them, or doing work for U.S. military personnel stationed at ISAF or a successor mission. Employment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and by governments participating in ISAF counts as ISAF employment.[1,5]USCIS's page describes qualifying employment between Oct. 7, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2023, and the same page says a December 2022 law extended the program through Dec. 31, 2024; the State Department's manual gives only the start date. Congress has extended the program more than once, so check the current dates with the State Department before relying on them.
  • Both SQ1 groups must show faithful and valuable service, documented in a positive recommendation from your supervisor and a human resources letter from the employer, and an ongoing serious threat as a consequence of the employment; the COM or the COM's designee decides both. Iraqi applicants must submit information showing the threat, which may include statements from an employer, personal statements or statements from community leaders. The State Department has determined that Afghan SIV applicants are inherently under threat, even if the job has ended or they have moved, so qualifying service in Afghanistan is enough to meet that requirement.[5]
  • High confidence Everyone must clear a background check and screening and be otherwise eligible for an immigrant visa and admissible to the United States for permanent residence. The public charge ground of inadmissibility does not apply, and USCIS says the labor certification ground does not apply either when you apply for a green card in these categories.[1,2,3,5]

How you apply

  1. Translators and interpreters: Form I-360

    High confidence Translators and interpreters file Form I-360 with USCIS, whether they live inside or outside the U.S. If you worked with the U.S. Armed Forces, the unit, not the State Department, is your advocate and will help with the required documents. USCIS changed the Form I-360 filing locations on Oct. 7, 2026, so check its Direct Filing Addresses page before you mail the form.[2,5,9]

  2. Iraqi and Afghan employees: COM approval, then the petition

    High confidence Employees first apply for COM approval. Afghans who start on or after July 20, 2022 file Form DS-157 with that application; after determining the requirements are met, the COM may approve the signed DS-157 as the petition, and they no longer need Form I-360. Iraqi applicants, and Afghans who received COM approval on or before July 20, 2022, file Form I-360 with USCIS after COM approval, unless an Afghan's COM approval letter says their signed DS-157 was approved as the petition.[1,3,4,5,9]For Afghans in the U.S. whose COM application was pending on July 20, 2022, USCIS says: with a signed DS-157, file Form I-485 once COM and the DS-157 are approved; with an unsigned DS-157 or none, file Form I-360 once COM is approved.

  3. Outside the U.S.: the visa

    High confidence If you live outside the U.S., USCIS forwards an approved Form I-360 to the State Department for consular processing, and the National Visa Center (NVC) sends it to a designated U.S. embassy or consulate. The immigrant visa application is Form DS-260, the Electronic Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration. Translator and interpreter principal applicants are interviewed in English only and must provide a written description of their position and their translation or interpretation duties for the interview.[3,5,10]If the COM conditionally approved an unsigned DS-157, a consular officer may approve it as the petition when you sign it electronically before the officer at the same time as your Form DS-260.

  4. Inside the U.S.: Form I-485

    If you are in the U.S. and did not enter on the SIV, you file Form I-485 to adjust status once USCIS approves your Form I-360 or the State Department approves your Form DS-157.[1,3]

Getting the green card in the U.S.

High confidence You may be eligible to adjust status if: you were inspected and admitted or paroled into the U.S. (USCIS's pages for translators and Iraqis say admitted or paroled as a nonimmigrant); you are physically present in the U.S.; you have an approved Form I-360, or for Afghans an approved Form DS-157; an immigrant visa is immediately available to you when you file; and you are admissible or eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility or other relief.[1,2,3,11]

Unless an exemption applies, the bars to adjustment in INA section 245(c) make you ineligible. For these categories, USCIS says you may be exempt from some bars and still adjust even if you are working or have ever worked in the U.S. without authorization, are not in lawful status on the day you file, did not continuously keep lawful status since entry, or violated the terms of a nonimmigrant visa after being admitted as a nonimmigrant. Whether another bar or a ground of inadmissibility applies depends on your history; an immigration attorney can check it against your facts.[1,2,3]

If you are an Afghan national, or the spouse or unmarried child under 21 of one, with an approved Form I-360 or DS-157, and you were paroled into the U.S. because of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, USCIS asks you to file a separate Form I-485 for each family member, check the box for "Certain Afghan or Iraqi national" as the application type, include a copy of your Form I-360 approval notice or the COM approval letter showing your DS-157 was approved, and send all your family's forms in one envelope to the USCIS lockbox address on its page. USCIS cannot accept a Form I-485 without your signature.[1,2]

Spouse and children

High confidence Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 may get derivative visas (SI2 and SI3, or SQ2 and SQ3) and do not count against the program's cap. They may travel with you or follow to join you later. In the U.S., USCIS says the spouse or unmarried child under 21 of an Afghan principal may apply for a green card as a derivative applicant.[1,5,8]

If the principal applicant has died, or a qualifying employee died before applying for COM approval, the surviving spouse or child may qualify as a principal applicant, classified SW1, and counts against the cap. They must show that the deceased person met the eligibility requirements, clear screening and be otherwise eligible for an immigrant visa. If a translator's approved petition was revoked or ended because of the translator's death, the spouse and children named on it are also entitled to special immigrant status, and the approved SI petition may be converted to an SQ petition.[5]How survivors file depends on how far the case got. If the deceased principal already had COM approval, the survivors file Form I-360 with USCIS unless they were already on a pending I-360 the principal filed. In Afghan cases where the principal's COM application was still pending, or was never filed, the surviving spouse and each child file the required evidence with a new Form DS-157 with the NVC.

A surviving spouse must still have been married to the deceased at the time of death. A surviving child must have been unmarried and under 21 when the deceased filed the COM application, and must not have married before the death; if no COM application was filed, the child must have been unmarried and under 21 at the time of death. Turning 21 or marrying after the death does not end eligibility, and a qualifying survivor's own spouse or child may qualify as the survivor's derivative. Iraqi surviving spouses and children who meet the criteria may apply despite the September 30, 2014 COM deadline, while visas remain available under section 1244(b)(3).[5]

Fees

USCIS fees from Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and 8 CFR 106.2; State Department fee from 22 CFR 22.1 (eCFR as of Oct. 1, 2026). Amounts are for the Afghan and Iraqi special immigrant categories on this page.
ItemAmountNotes
Form I-360, special immigrant petition (USCIS)$0Also $0 for the surviving spouse and children of a deceased principal
Immigrant visa application (State Department, per person)No fee for qualifying SQ and SW applicants22 CFR 22.1 lists no fee for certain Iraqi and Afghan special immigrant visa applications, and the State Department's manual says qualifying SQ and SW applicants pay no U.S. government fee for the visa. Cases converted from SI1 to SQ1 must pay all required fees. The general fee for other special immigrant visa applications is $205
USCIS Immigrant Fee$0The general fee for people immigrating as permanent residents is $235
Form I-485, green card application in the U.S.$0For principal applicants and derivative family members
Form I-765, work permit (category (c)(9))$0Initial and renewal cards, and replacing a lost, stolen or damaged card, for people seeking adjustment as a special immigrant Iraqi or Afghan national
Form I-131, travel documents$0Covers all reentry permits, travel documents, parole documents and arrival/departure records. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) charges a separate fee under Public Law 119-21 each time you seek parole at a port of entry, unless it finds you qualify for an exception
Form I-601 waiver, and Form I-212 permission to reapply filed with USCIS$0For people seeking or granted these special immigrant visas or this status, including derivatives
High confidenceChecked Oct 18, 2026[5,6,7,12]

Recent policy changes

Recent policy changes

Official

Updates

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Answers come from our sourced database and your own timeline, sorted into fact, public data, inference and unknown. No AI model is used in this version, so questions outside what we cover get an honest "not covered".

Questions people ask

I was an interpreter for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Do I apply as SI1 or SQ1?

High confidence It depends on your record. SI1 requires at least 12 months working directly with the U.S. Armed Forces or under COM authority as a translator or interpreter, plus a recommendation from a general or flag officer (or the COM), and is limited to 50 principal applicants per fiscal year plus any numbers left unused the year before. Once that limit is reached, an approved SI1 petition may be converted to SQ1 as long as visas remain available under section 1244 (the Iraqi program), and converted cases must pay all required fees. SQ1 covers at least one year of employment by or on behalf of the U.S. government or, for Afghans, ISAF, and Afghan interpreters and translators come first in the State Department's processing order for Afghan SQ1 visas. An immigration attorney can tell you which program fits your facts.[5]

Can I bring a lawyer to my interviews?

If you are an SQ applicant, yes. You may have an attorney or other accredited representative present during all interviews and examinations in the SIV process, including the COM application process, but not at U.S. government expense. The State Department tells embassies not to allow remote representation by video or teleconference, and you must still answer the officer's questions yourself.[5]

My child turned 21 while our case was pending. Can they still come?

High confidence Possibly, under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). The child's CSPA age is their age on the date the visa became available (for SQ cases, currently the date the petition was approved) minus the number of days the petition was pending; for Afghans who used Form DS-157 instead of Form I-360, the DS-157 counts as the petition. The State Department's manual notes that a derivative of an SQ applicant who was under 21 when the petition was filed will have a CSPA age under 21, provided the child stays unmarried and applies for permanent residence within 1 year of the date the visa became available.[1,4]For visas abroad, the State Department's manual runs this calculation for derivatives of a living principal and applies the surviving-child rules above to children of a deceased principal. USCIS's page on adjustment in the U.S. also describes the calculation for a child who self-petitioned as the child of a deceased principal. An immigration attorney can check which rule applies to your child.

Related categories

Content last reviewed: Oct 18, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. 1.Green Card for an Afghan Who Was Employed by or on Behalf of the U.S. Government - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  2. 2.Green Card for an Afghan or Iraqi Translator or Interpreter - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  3. 3.Green Card for an Iraqi Who Was Employed by or on behalf of the U.S. Government - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  4. 4.9 FAM 502.1 IV CLASSIFICATIONS OVERVIEWU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  5. 5.9 FAM 502.5 SPECIAL IMMIGRANTSU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  6. 6.Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  7. 7.22 CFR 22.1 - Schedule of fees for consular services (Department of State)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  8. 8.22 CFR 42.11eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  9. 9.I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  10. 10.22 CFR 42.63 — Application forms (immigrant visas)eCFR · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  11. 11.8 CFR 245.1eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  12. 12.8 CFR 106.2 - USCIS feeseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026