How To Apply for Chief of Mission (COM) Approval for the
Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Program
If you wish to apply for Chief of Mission (COM) Approval for the SIV program, you are required to email
the following information to
IraqSIVapplication@state.gov. All information must be contained in one
email with the principal applicant’s name in the subject line.
In order to streamline the process, please do not submit your application from multiple email
addresses; if you have more than one email address, please choose one and use it exclusively
throughout the process. Choosing to use more than one email account will delay the processing of
your application. Applicants are also required to apply for COM Approval separately; do not submit
applications for multiple applicants in the same email.
Once we have received your application, you will receive an automated confirmation of delivery.
Please be patient while we take the time to review your application for completeness.
Please do not submit anything more than what is listed below unless we request you to do so.
Specifically, do not submit photographs, certificates of appreciation, training certificates, resumes or
academic transcripts. These documents have no bearing on your COM Approval application and will
not be considered.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION:
1. Form DS-157: Available from
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/79964.pdf, this form must
be completed in full and include start and finish dates for all employment, academic and military history
provided, for example: 01/01/2005 to 01/01/2007.
2. Verification of 12 months employment with the U.S. government in Iraq: A memo from the Human
Resources (HR) office of the company that employed the applicant, which provides the dates of
employment and advises if there is any derogatory information in the applicant’s personnel file. Note:
If you were directly employed by a U.S. government agency and do not have a HR official to obtain this
documentation from, you must submit a copy of your employment contract to demonstrate that you
meet the 12 month requirement;
3. Letter of Recommendation from the applicant’s direct, American citizen supervisor:
The Principal Applicant must provide a letter of recommendation via a forwarded email or scanned
letter from their recommending supervisor. The recommending supervisor should normally be the
United States citizen who directly supervises the employee, or supervises the company for which the
Iraqi worker is employed. In all cases, before offering a recommendation for the employee for
purposes of obtaining an SIV for the employee, the recommending supervisor must have met the
employee and must certify, in writing, that the referred applicant is personally known to the supervisor
and, to the best of the his or her knowledge, presents no threat to the national security or safety of the
United States. The recommendation must also contain the supervisor’s corporate or military email
address.
If the above recommendation is not possible to obtain from a U.S. citizen supervisor, please carefully
review
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_4172.html#3d for guidance.
Updated: January 14, 2009
Letter of Recommendation Requirements:
Employee name:
Company name:
Beginning and end dates of employment:
Position Title:
Confirmation that you are the supervisor of the employee
Confirmation that the employee is currently (or resigned) in good standing
Confirmation that the employee presents no threat to the national security or safety of the United States, to the best of the supervisor’s knowledge
Name, title, corporate or military email address and phone number of the supervisor
4. Evidence of Iraqi nationality: A scanned copy of the Principal Applicant’s Iraqi passport. If no passport is available please send a scanned copy of the jensia (al Bitaqa al Shakhseya).
5. Biographic data for the Principal Applicant, in the following format:
First name:
Father’s name:
Grandfather’s name:
Family name (Tribe):
All other names/alias:
Nationality:
Passport number: (if available)
Date of birth:
Place of birth:
Gender:
Marital status:
Email address and/or phone number:
6. Employee badges: If available, a scanned copy of the applicant’s employee identification badge(s)
7. Statement about threats received as a consequence of the applicant’s employment: If this information is not included in the letter of recommendation, the applicant must submit a brief statement (1-2 paragraphs) about the threats they have received as a result of their employment with the U.S. government in Iraq.
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While this list specifies the documents required of all applicants, we reserve the right to request additional information and documentation should questions arise during processing. Once an application has been submitted to
IraqSIVApplication@state.gov, the applicant can expect a 6-8 week wait for a response from our office.
If you have further questions about the SIV program, please first review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) at
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_4172.html. If your question is not answered, you may write to the Iraq SIV program at
IraqSIVapplication@state.gov
