Former Interpreter for U.S. Government, Threatened by Taliban, Finds Safety in America

Paul, Weiss, alongside the International Refugee Assistance Project, achieved a significant immigration victory on behalf of an Afghan citizen who worked as an interpreter for the United States government. After more than six years of applications, appeals, reapplications and other roadblocks, our pro bono client and his family have now immigrated safely to the United States.

Our client served as an interpreter from 2008 to 2010, working with members of the U.S. army tasked with training members of the Afghan National Army’s 209th Shaheen Corps and the Afghan National Police. Since the start of our client’s employment with the U.S. government, Taliban operatives repeatedly threatened him and his family and made numerous attempts against his life. Out of fear for his safety and the safety of his family, our client applied for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) for Afghans who were employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government. Paul, Weiss, has been involved in the case since November 2017, when our client received notice that his Chief of Mission Approval had been denied.

We guided our client through several years of administrative processes. Our work on the matter included filing an appeal in November 2017, a request to reopen the appeal in December 2019 after it was erroneously denied, a new application for Chief of Mission Approval in August 2020, another appeal in August 2021 after the new application was denied, and a new application for Chief of Mission Approval in July 2022, which was ultimately approved. Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, our client and his family were forced to flee their home. We worked with IRAP to try and secure our client’s immediate evacuation from the country and were able to secure space for him and his family on a U.S. evacuation flight, but the flight was canceled following a terrorist attack at the Kabul Airport. Our client was forced to move around the country and ultimately embarked on a dangerous journey to Pakistan with his family to await processing of their visas. Our client, his wife and their five children have now made it safely to American shores.

The Paul, Weiss team was led by corporate associate Lewis Fainer and included, among others, associates Sheena Singh and Bailey Kay. The team was supervised by corporate of counsel Eric Goodison.