Afghan SIV Congressional Cap Reference and COM Letter

What this is

The Chief of Mission (COM) approval letter confirming the Afghan national's qualifying U.S. government or contractor employment, faithful and valuable service, and the threat element. Also include any congressional allocation reference or DOS status documentation confirming visa number availability under the Afghan SIV program. Verify the current DOS Afghan SIV page for operational status before relying on prior cap availability information, as the program is subject to suspensions and operational changes.

Case-specific: Whether this document matters depends on category, facts, or relationship to the case.

Who usually needs it

Applicants in special immigrant classifications whose case depends on a narrow petition theory, court finding, employer record, or government certification.

When it usually appears

Usually during petition building and again when the later visa or adjustment stage must connect back to that special immigrant classification.

What changes by process, path, or post

The classification matters more than the document label. Similar-looking records can serve very different legal theories depending on the special immigrant route.

Common format or evidence traps

• Treating one special immigrant record as reusable across different I-360-based classifications.
• Assuming an approval notice eliminates the need for the route-specific evidence behind it.

Related pages

• Pathway explorerUse pathway families if you still need the legal route.
• Petition stage guideUnderstand what petitions decide and what they do not.
• Consular processing guideSee the immigrant-visa route abroad.
• Adjustment of status guideSee the USCIS route inside the United States.

Related glossary terms

Special immigrant · Pathway family

Examples from current exact-support flows

Coverage posture: Current public exact-support flows attach only one direct example to this document. Treat that example as narrow context, not as proof that the document only matters in that one scenario.

• Usually needed

  Provide the Chief of Mission (COM) approval letter confirming the Afghan national's qualifying U.S. government or qualifying contractor employment, faithful and valuable service, and the threat element as required by the Afghan SIV program. Also include any congressional allocation reference or DOS status documentation confirming visa number availability under the current Afghan SIV program. This is distinct from the Iraqi SIV pathway and from the translator/interpreter SIV pathway in this product. (Sources: uscis_afghan_usgov_gc, dos_afghan_siv, dos_afghan_siv_steps, uscis_i360_instructions, uscis_policy_h9_afghan_nationals)

  Shown when: scope.green_card_path: special-immigrant · scope.processing_context: adjustment-of-status · special_immigrant.subcategory: afghan-siv