The Afghan Adjustment Act is proposed federal legislation that would let Afghan nationals paroled into the United States after the 2021 evacuation apply for lawful permanent residency. It has not become law. The current version, H.R. 4895, was introduced in the 119th Congress and referred to the House Judiciary Committee in August 2025, with no vote scheduled.1Congress.gov. H.R.4895 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): Afghan Adjustment Act Because the bill is still pending, none of its provisions are in effect, and Afghan parolees cannot yet file for adjustment of status under it.
If you were paroled into the country through Operation Allies Welcome, this matters directly. Do not prepare an adjustment application under the AAA. The pathways that exist for you right now are different, and some of them have filing windows that will not wait for Congress.
Why the Bill Exists
More than 76,000 Afghan evacuees were brought to the United States after the August 2021 withdrawal.2Homeland Security. DHS Operation Allies Welcome Afghan Evacuee Report Most entered on humanitarian parole, a case-by-case authorization that runs for two years.3Homeland Security. Operation Allies Welcome Parole lets you live and work in the country temporarily. It does not give you a right to stay once it expires, and it is not a green card.
That gap between temporary parole and permanent status is what the Afghan Adjustment Act is written to close. It would give parolees a defined route to lawful permanent residence rather than requiring them to piece together relief from other parts of the immigration system.
Where the Bill Stands
The Afghan Adjustment Act was first introduced in 2022 and has been reintroduced each session since. H.R. 4895 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee in August 2025 and has not moved to a committee vote, a floor vote, or the president’s desk.1Congress.gov. H.R.4895 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): Afghan Adjustment Act Everything below about who would qualify and what vetting would look like reflects the bill’s text, not current law.
Who Would Qualify If It Passed
The bill defines an “eligible individual” as a citizen or national of Afghanistan (or a stateless person who last lived there) who is present in the United States and falls into one of three categories.4Congress.gov. S.2327 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Afghan Adjustment Act – Text
The broadest group is people paroled into the country between July 30, 2021, and the date the act becomes law, whose parole has not been formally terminated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The second group is Afghan nationals who were inspected and admitted through any lawful channel on or before enactment. The third covers people admitted or paroled after enactment, but only if DHS, working with the Department of Defense, determines that they directly and personally supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan at a level comparable to those approved for a Special Immigrant Visa.
Parents and legal guardians of eligible children (those under 18 at the time of admission or parole) would also qualify if they were themselves paroled or admitted after that date. The bill separately creates a special immigrant category for Afghan nationals who are the parent or sibling of a U.S. service member or veteran.4Congress.gov. S.2327 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Afghan Adjustment Act – Text
Vetting the Bill Would Require
Every applicant would need to clear screening equivalent in rigor to what refugees go through, regardless of any vetting already done during evacuation. The bill lays out four components: an in-person interview (waived only for children under 10 at the time of admission), biometric and biographic screening for derogatory information, review of records held by DoD, DHS, and interagency partners, and collection of detailed personal information for a vetting database.4Congress.gov. S.2327 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Afghan Adjustment Act – Text Biometrics would go beyond fingerprints to include iris scans, voice data, and hand geometry.
The bill states plainly that a brief inspection by a CBP officer at a port of entry does not satisfy the interview requirement. No application could be approved until every layer of screening is complete.
What Would Disqualify Someone
The bill applies the standard grounds of inadmissibility from federal immigration law, with one carve-out: applicants would not be denied solely on the “public charge” ground, meaning the possibility they might rely on government benefits. Every other inadmissibility ground would still apply.5Congress.gov. H.R.4895 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): Afghan Adjustment Act – Text
The Secretary of Homeland Security could waive certain grounds case by case, but not serious criminal grounds and not any security-related grounds. Approved applicants would initially receive conditional permanent resident status, and DHS could revoke that status during the conditional period if criminal or security disqualifications came to light. Anyone with a criminal record or a past security flag should talk to an immigration attorney before assuming the bill would help them.
What Afghan Parolees Can Actually Do Now
With the bill stalled, the practical question is what relief is available today. The answer has narrowed sharply in the last year.
Re-Parole
DHS has said the humanitarian reasons behind the original parole grants generally continue and will consider Afghan parolees for extensions case by case. If you do not qualify for the streamlined re-parole process, file Form I-131 before your current parole expires. If you already have a pending asylum application or an adjustment-of-status application filed before your parole expired, you do not need to file separately for re-parole.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Re-Parole Process for Certain Afghans Nationals
Asylum
Afghan nationals who fear persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group can apply for asylum. The general rule requires filing within one year of your last arrival, but USCIS treats maintaining valid parole up until a reasonable time before filing as an extraordinary circumstance that can excuse a late filing.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Information for Afghan Nationals The exception may still apply if you file within a reasonable period after your parole expired. Asylum, once granted, opens a path to permanent residency after one year.
Special Immigrant Visas Are Now Closed
DHS estimated that more than 40 percent of Afghan evacuees were potentially eligible for Special Immigrant Visas based on work for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Afghanistan.3Homeland Security. Operation Allies Welcome The State Department fully suspended Afghan SIV issuance effective January 1, 2026, under Presidential Proclamation 10998, and the deadline for Chief of Mission approval applications was December 31, 2025.8U.S. Department of State. Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans – Who Were Employed by the U.S. Government For new applicants, this route is effectively closed.
Temporary Protected Status Has Ended
Afghanistan’s TPS designation, granted in May 2022, was terminated effective July 14, 2025.9Federal Register. Termination of the Designation of Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status Afghans who held TPS no longer have that protection, and USCIS is not accepting new TPS applications under the Afghanistan designation.
The closing of TPS and SIV is why advocates now describe the Afghan Adjustment Act as urgent. For anyone whose initial parole has run out or is about to, the immediate step is not to wait on the bill but to file for re-parole, asylum, or both, and to do it with legal help. Many nonprofits that serve refugee communities offer free or low-cost immigration representation, and DOJ-recognized legal service providers can assist even when private counsel is out of reach.