New Classes of Admission for Surviving Spouses and Children of Certain Afghan and Iraqi Special Immigrants

This announcement provides information about three new classes of admission (COAs) for the surviving spouses and children of deceased Afghans and Iraqis who previously worked for or on the behalf of the U.S. government. The new COAs are:

• SW1: Surviving Spouse or child of an SQ1-eligible person;
• SW2: Current spouse of SW1; and
• SW3: Unmarried child of SW1.

Individuals with these COAs are lawful permanent residents (LPRs). LPRs are employment authorized incident to their LPR status.

They may present the following documentation that includes a SW1, SW2, or SW3 COA:

• Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (Green Card);
• Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record with a Temporary I-551 Permanent Resident Stamp;
• Foreign passport with a Temporary I-551 Permanent Resident Stamp; or
• Foreign passport with a Temporary I-551 Machine Readable Immigrant Visa.

For additional information about documentation, please visit SAVE’s Commonly Used Immigration Documents webpage.

SAVE Verification

SAVE can provide an initial verification response of “Lawful Permanent Resident – Employment Authorized” for a COA of SW1, SW2, or SW3.

If the automated SAVE response is unexpected or is not sufficient for an agency to make a benefit eligibility determination, the agency should institute Additional Verification. SAVE Additional Verification provides a detailed verification response, including:

• Additional immigration statuses and categories, if any; and
• Pending immigration applications.

Eligibility for Federal Public Benefits

These Special Immigrant LPRs meet the immigration status requirement for public benefits under section 602(b)(8) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. § 1101 note) and section 1244(g) of the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007, which state that individuals granted this special immigrant status “shall be eligible for resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and other benefits available to refugees admitted under section 207 of [the Immigration and Nationality] Act (8 U.S.C. 1157)...”

Additional Information

SAVE recently updated the Information for SAVE Users: Afghan Arrival Categories, Documentation, and SAVE Responses webpage to include these new COAs.