Congress has extended the Special Immigrant Visa Program for Iraqi nationals. This program covers Iraqi citizens who—from March 20, 2003 to Sept. 30, 2013—worked for the U.S. government in Iraq for at least one year. The extension allows USCIS to approve visa or adjustment of status applications in any Iraqi SIV case that were pending with USCIS or the Department of State (DOS) when the program expired on Sept. 30, 2013.
The legislation also authorized the approval of an additional 2,000 cases as long as the initial applications to the DOS Chief of Mission in Iraq was made by Dec. 31, 2013. The authority to grant derivative SIV status to spouses and children of principal Iraqi SIVs did not expire on Sept. 30, 2013, and is not numerically capped.
