U.S. to Send Afghan Visa Applicants to Virginia Military Base

At the president’s direction, the Department of State is working to relocate interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their families who have been approved through the special immigrant visa or S.I.V. program as the next step in that process, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Defense has agreed at the request of the Department of State to allow the use of Fort Lee, Va., as the initial relocation site for the pool of applicants who are closest to completing special immigrant processing. These are brave Afghans and their families, as we have said, whose service to the United States has been certified by the embassy in Kabul and who have completed thorough, S.I.V. security vetting processes. They will be provided temporary housing and services as they complete the final steps and the special immigrant process. We expect to begin the first relocation flights before the end of July as you heard from the president. Approximately 2,500 Afghans and family members are currently eligible to finish special immigrant processing in the United States, and we’ll certainly provide more details as they become available.