Afghan government urges its citizens stranded in Qatar while awaiting US visas to return home

In a statement on Saturday, the Government of Afghanistan appealed to its citizens who are stranded in Qatar due to their inability to acquire visas for the USA, assuring them of their safety and warm welcome back to the country.

According to the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi reported that Afghan citizens stranded while waiting to travel to the USA have been instructed to either go back to Afghanistan or find a third country in which to seek residence.

He stated, “The Republic of Afghanistan is the common homeland for all Afghans” and encouraged these individuals to come back with “complete assurance and peace of mind,” noting that not one citizen would be forced out of Afghanistan due to safety concerns.

Further, he stated that any citizen that may wish to relocate should be able to take that route via “dignified and lawful processes” at an appropriate time.

The ministry also assured other governments that it was ready to work with these nations bilaterally to protect the rights of its citizens.

Since the Taliban regained control in 2021, thousands of Afghan nationals have been waiting to relocate to other destinations, most notably the USA.

On April 22, the Trump administration was in talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo to resettle 1,100 Afghans who have been stranded in Qatar awaiting US ​visas, according to an advocacy organisation that works on their behalf.

The discussions underscore the legal hurdles facing Afghans who fled the ‌Taliban after US immigrant visa processing for Afghan nationals was effectively halted, leaving them in limbo more than four years after the US withdrawal from Kabul.