H.R. 4895 & S. 2679 · The Afghan Adjustment Act
The permanent fix for the allies America already brought home
Two companion bills, the Afghan Adjustment Act in the House and the Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies Act in the Senate, together known as the Afghan Adjustment Act, would give the Afghans the United States evacuated a real path to permanent status, after a second round of rigorous vetting. It is bipartisan. It is not new. And it is stalled.
Prepared by AfghanEvac · Updated July 27, 2026
Bottom line up front
A permanent answer to a temporary-status problem
Tens of thousands of Afghans were brought to the United States after August 2021 on humanitarian parole that has now largely expired. Parole was never meant to be a permanent status. It is a temporary key that runs out.
The Afghan Adjustment Act is the permanent answer. It would let those Afghans apply to become lawful permanent residents after a second security screening equivalent in rigor to refugee vetting. It also reopens processing for allies still trapped in Afghanistan, expands who counts as an ally, and reunites the families of American servicemembers.
Two companion bills carry it: the Afghan Adjustment Act in the House and the Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies Act in the Senate. They are substantively the same bill, and both are commonly called the Afghan Adjustment Act. Both are bipartisan. Both are stalled in the Judiciary Committees, with no markup scheduled.
Where AfghanEvac stands
The right destination, and the honest timeline
AfghanEvac has long supported the Afghan Adjustment Act, and we still do. Permanent status, not a temporary one, is the right destination for the people America already vetted and brought home. But we will not pretend about the timeline. The bill is stalled, and permanent status is not reachable in this Congress. So our immediate legislative priority is the bridge that can pass now, with the Afghan Adjustment Act as the durable fix that should follow.
Bridge, then destination. Pass the Afghanistan TPS Act to stop the immediate harm, and move the Afghan Adjustment Act as the lasting answer. The two are complementary, not competing.
At a glance
Section by section
Every claim below is traceable to the introduced text of H.R. 4895 and S. 2679.
| Provision | What it does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sec. 3 – Support for allies abroad | Requires the State Department to answer congressional inquiries on Afghan cases and, while there is no embassy in Kabul, to designate an office to review applications, conduct interviews, and issue visas. | Keeps the pipeline moving for allies still in Afghanistan even without a functioning embassy. |
| Sec. 4 – Conditional permanent residence | Lets DHS adjust eligible Afghans present in the United States, those paroled in between July 30, 2021, and enactment or lawfully admitted, to conditional lawful permanent resident status. | This is the core fix. It converts expiring parole into a real, permanent path off the cliff. |
| Sec. 4(c) – Rigorous re-vetting | Requires a security assessment equivalent in rigor to the refugee vetting used in USRAP before status is granted, and a second review before conditions are removed, by the earlier of four years or July 1, 2027. | Answers the security objection directly. Adjustment is earned through screening, not automatic. |
| Sec. 5 – Refugee pathway for at-risk allies | Defines who counts as an Afghan ally, designates them refugees of special humanitarian concern for ten years, allows remote processing inside Afghanistan, and builds a DoD referral portal with written denials and an appeal. | Reaches allies the SIV categories missed, and opens a door for those still trapped in country. |
| Sec. 6 – Efficiency and oversight | Authorizes remote and biometric processing, requires adequate vetting staff, and stands up an Interagency Task Force on Afghan Ally Strategy that must report to Congress. | Fixes the machinery, so faster processing does not mean weaker screening. |
| Sec. 7 – Special immigrant visas | Creates a new SIV category for the Afghan parents and siblings of U.S. servicemembers and veterans, capped at 2,500 a year and 10,000 total. The House bill also extends and modernizes the underlying Afghan SIV program. | Reunites the families of those who serve, and, in the House version, keeps the SIV program itself alive. |
The provisions in full
What each section actually says
Sec. 4 – Conditional permanent residence
Section 4 lets the Secretary of Homeland Security adjust eligible Afghans to conditional lawful permanent resident status. An eligible individual is present in the United States, is a citizen or national of Afghanistan, has not already been granted permanent residence, and was either inspected and admitted or paroled in during the window from July 30, 2021, to enactment. People who entered between ports of entry along the southwest border are excluded.
Conditions can be removed by the earlier of four years after admission or July 1, 2027, after a second review. The section tolls parole expiration while an application is pending, so no one falls out of status waiting on the government, and it preserves the ability to seek asylum and other benefits in parallel.
Sec. 4(c) – The security standard
This is the answer to the security question. Adjustment under this Act is not automatic and it is not a shortcut. Before status is granted, the government must run an assessment equivalent in rigor to the screening used for refugees admitted through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, and it screens again before conditions are removed.
The Secretary retains case-by-case authority to find any individual inadmissible on security, criminal, or fraud grounds. The only ground set aside is the public-charge test, which does not measure whether someone is a threat. The bill layers screening on top of the vetting these Afghans already passed to be evacuated in the first place.
Sec. 3 and Sec. 5 – The allies still in Afghanistan
Section 3 requires the State Department to answer congressional inquiries on specific cases and, while there is no embassy in Kabul, to designate an office to review applications, conduct interviews, and issue visas or travel documents.
Section 5 goes further. It defines an Afghan ally to include members of the Afghan special operations forces, the Afghan Air Force, and the Special Mission Wing, female members of the security forces, intelligence and counterterrorism personnel, judges and prosecutors who worked on U.S.-funded rule-of-law efforts, and anyone who supported the U.S. mission for at least a year. It designates those allies refugees of special humanitarian concern for ten years, allows remote processing inside Afghanistan, and directs the Defense Department to build a secure referral portal with written denial reasons and a right to appeal.
Sec. 7 – Special immigrant visas
Both bills create a new special immigrant visa category for the Afghan parents, brothers, and sisters of U.S. servicemembers and veterans, capped at 2,500 a year and 10,000 total, with unused numbers carried into the next year.
The House bill goes further and modernizes the underlying Afghan SIV program itself. It extends the program through 2029, expands eligibility for interpreters and others wounded in the course of their work, and authorizes applicants to sign and verify their visa applications by secure video. The Senate bill does not include those SIV-program amendments. This is the one real difference between the two, and it is covered in full below.
House and Senate
How the two bills differ
Same bill, two names. The Afghan Adjustment Act (H.R. 4895) and the Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies Act (S. 2679) are companion legislation. They share the same adjustment pathway, the same refugee-equivalent vetting standard, the same Afghan ally refugee designation, the same interagency task force, and the same benefit and fee provisions. They diverge in only a few places, listed here.
| Feature | House – Afghan Adjustment Act | Senate – Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies Act |
|---|---|---|
| Short title | Afghan Adjustment Act (H.R. 4895) | Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies Act (S. 2679) |
| Afghan SIV program reauthorization | Extends the Special Immigrant Visa program under the Afghan Allies Protection Act through 2029 and updates its filing deadlines. | Not included. |
| Allies wounded in the course of their work | Expands SIV eligibility for allies injured or killed on the job, including interpreters who traveled off base with U.S. forces. | Not included. |
| Virtual consular interviews | Authorizes SIV applicants to sign and verify their applications by secure video before a consular officer. | Not included. |
| Baseline dates | Appropriations and refugee-reporting baselines start in fiscal year 2025. | Same provisions, but baselines start a year earlier, in fiscal year 2024. |
The practical takeaway is that the House bill does everything the Senate bill does, and also keeps the Special Immigrant Visa program itself alive and current. On the core question, permanent status for evacuated Afghans after rigorous vetting, the two are identical.
For the record
What this bill does not do
Precision protects credibility with the staff who have actually read the bill.
- It does not grant citizenship automatically. It grants conditional permanent residence, subject to a rigorous assessment and a second review before conditions come off.
- It does not waive security vetting. It requires refugee-equivalent screening and preserves case-by-case inadmissibility on security, criminal, and fraud grounds. The only ground waived is public charge.
- It does not cover anyone who crossed between ports of entry along the southwest border.
- It does not replace the SIV program. It supplements it, and the House version strengthens and extends it.
How it moved
Legislative timeline
Read the bills yourself
Our analysis is traceable to the text. The primary documents and the broader record live on The Ledger, AfghanEvac's public record.
About this analysis
Prepared by AfghanEvac and updated July 27, 2026. This analysis reflects the introduced text of both bills. We will update this page as either bill moves.
Educational reference only, not legal advice. This analysis is provided for general informational purposes. Immigration law is complex and changes without warning. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. If you or someone you know needs help with an active case, consult a qualified immigration attorney or contact AfghanEvac.