Afghan Evac Glossary

A listing of terms and acronyms associated with the evacuation and relocation of American citizens, LPRs, and at-risk Afghans with SIVs from Afghanistan since August 2021.

AAR. Afghan Referral Record. This number is provided by the Resettlement Support Center as part of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).

AMCIT. American citizen.

AEA. Afghan Evac Alliance. An umbrella organization that includes over one hundred volunteer organizations assisting in the evacuation and resettlement of Afghans from Afghanistan.

BC. Battle Captain. A term used by some Afghan evac organizations to coordinate evacuation of Afghans from HKIA in August 2021.

CEAC. Consular Electronic Application Center. An online application platform.

CBP. Customs Border Protection. Part of the Department of Homeland Security.

CONUS. Continental United States.

CWS. Church World Services.

DAS-T. The DoD ASIV Support Team is the name of the former Project Rabbit effort that the Department of Defense organized in August 2021 to assist the Department of State to verify the employment of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants.

DoD. Department of Defense.

DHS. Department of Homeland Security.

Doha. Capital of Qatar.

DoS. Department of State.

EAD. Employment Authorization Document. U.S. employers must check to make sure all employees, regardless of citizenship or national origin, are authorized to work in the United States. Having an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766/EAD) is one way to prove that you are authorized to work in the United States for a specific time period. https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/employment-authorization-document

EHC. Emirate Humanitarian City in UAE.

EOA. Evacuate Our Allies. A resettlement focused organization.

F-1. Student visa. Secondary and below.

FLD. Front Line Defender.

GH. Guest house. A house where Afghans stay for safety and also to pre-position for flights out of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul. Some are monitored and registered with the Taliban and others are not. A house not known to the Taliban is sometimes referred to as a 'Safehouse'.

HACC. The Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Committee was established by the IEA in January 2022.

HC. Humanitarian City in UAE.

HKIA. Hamid Karzai International Airport. Now just referred to as the Kabul Airport.

HIAS. Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. https://hias.org/

HP. Humanitarian Parole.

HRF. Human Rights First.

Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Committee (HACC). This organization was established by the IEA in January 2022. The IEA requested the international community to coordinate the distribution of aid with the HACC.

HVT. Highly Vulnerable Traveler. A high value target from the Taliban perspective.

HRD. Human Rights Defender.

IEA. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The name of the current Afghan regime post August 2021.

K-1. Fiancee visa.

LPR. Lawful Permanent Resident. An Afghan with a 'green card' that entitles him to live in the United States.

MC. Movement Coordinator. Someone from a volunteer organization that coordinates movement of Afghans from Afghanistan to a lily pad, third country, or the United States.

Moral Injury. Many veterans who served in Afghanistan and 'volunteers' who assisted Afghans fleeing the Taliban during the Kabul NEO and since August 31, 2021 have suffered from moral injury.

NOLB. No One Left Behind. An evacuation and resettlement organization formed years ago to assist Afghan interpreters.

OCONUS. Outside of Continental United States.

P-2. Priority 2 referral to USRAP. (Not a visa).

Project Rabbit. An initial, ad hoc attempt by the Department of Defense in August 2021 to assist the Department of State in verifying the employment of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants. it was later renamed to DoD ASIV Support Team (DAS-T). Link to Project Rabbit.

Resettlement Support Center. See RSC below.

RFI. Request for Information.

RSC. When a U.S. Embassy or a specially trained non-governmental organization refers a refugee applicant to the United States for resettlement, the case is first received and processed by a Resettlement Support Center (RSC). This a a part of the International Organization of Migration (IOM). RSC MENA, Middle East and North Africa, is in Amman, Jordan.

SIV. Special Immigrant Visa.

SME. Subject Matter Expert.

SS. Social Security.

TB. Taliban.

TPS. Temporary Protected Status. In March 2021, the Department of Homeland Security announced Temporary Protected status (TPS) for Afghans who were evacuated from Afghanistan.

UAE. United Arab Emirates. Location of Emirate Humanitarian City or EHC.

USCIS. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Where the initial visa petion is filed.

USRAP. United States Refugee Admissions Program.

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