When an Afghan birth certificate, Tazkira, marriage certificate or police certificate does not exist or cannot be obtained, we write the signed expert report that explains why — and weighs the secondary evidence and affidavits offered in its place — for USCIS, immigration courts, consulates and tribunals.
Last reviewed 23 September 2026. Reviewed by Hassan Ukasha, Managing Partner.
A document unavailability and secondary evidence report is a signed expert report that establishes why a required Afghan civil document — a birth certificate, Tazkira, Nikah Khat or police certificate — does not exist or cannot reasonably be obtained, and assesses the secondary evidence and affidavits submitted in its place.
Immigration attorneys file it with USCIS, the immigration courts, the National Visa Center and U.S. consulates, and with tribunals in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and across the European Union. It is written to the rule that applies when primary documents are unavailable — in the United States, 8 CFR 103.2(b)(2).
Adjudicators apply one evidentiary rulebook to every country. Afghan records do not behave like most countries’ records, and a file that does not explain the difference reads as a gap rather than a fact.
Registration differs more than fifteen-fold between provinces. The regulation asks about the time and the place; so does every report.
Source: UNICEF and NSIA, Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2022–23. National figure 47.8%.
U.S. rules set a sequence. The report is organized around it, so an officer or an immigration judge can see each step satisfied on the page.
8 CFR 103.2(b)(2)(i)–(ii)
INA § 208(b)(1)(B)(ii); INA § 240(c)(4)(B)
8 CFR 103.2(b)(3)
8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(iv)
One method, six formats.
Ten documents decide most Afghan cases. For each, the State Department’s published status, the reason it is so often out of reach, and the records we assess in its place.
Status as published in the U.S. Department of State’s Reciprocity Schedule for Afghanistan, read on 23 September 2026. The schedule notes that procedures change with great frequency; every report restates the status on the day it is signed.
An adjudicator does not ask whether a file is thick. It asks whether each fact at issue is carried by something reliable. The report maps every record to the facts it records.
A general guide to what each type of record records. The weight of a particular record depends on when and where it was issued, its condition and its consistency with the rest of the file — which is what the report assesses.
The same finding travels across forms, forums and countries. These are the matters we are instructed on most.
Ten parts, in the order an adjudicator reads them. Nothing is asserted without a source on the page.
Formatted to the forum: a U.S. declaration under 28 U.S.C. § 1746, a UK expert report with a statement of truth, and translated editions for German, French and other proceedings.
One engagement, one team and one point of accountability, from the notice to the testimony.
Every engagement begins with a written scope.
Before anything is filed
For filing
Through decision
How we deliver, and how we are different
No U.S. certification exam exists for Pashto or Dari translation, and no credential exists for Afghan civil-records expertise. So we set the standard ourselves and train our linguists and analysts to it. An adjudicator weighs the method on the face of the report — so we put ours there, in full.
Afghan document cases are delivered by a team from the Afghan community — alumni and scholars of leading universities who understand how Afghan records were issued across provinces and periods, and who are trained to explain that to a U.S. or European adjudicator.
Most document reports are written either by translators or by generalist country experts. Ours are written by people who read the originals in their own languages and write to the standard the adjudicator applies. Every report is signed by a named author, and the author’s CV is filed with it.
Languages: Pashto and Dari (native); English, Urdu and Hindi; working Arabic
We read Afghan records in the language and script they were written in, including records issued in Pakistan and Iran, and deliver reports in English and 12 further languages for courts and authorities outside the United States.
Pashto — پښتو
Dari — دری
German — Deutsch
French — Français
Turkish — Türkçe
Urdu — اردو
Secondary evidence is any record, other than the required civil document, that proves the same fact — for a birth, school, religious or hospital records. Under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(2)(i), USCIS accepts it after the applicant shows that the primary document does not exist or cannot be obtained.
The applicant must show that the birth certificate does not exist or cannot be obtained, submit secondary evidence of the birth, and — if that is also unavailable — submit two or more affidavits from people who are not parties and have direct personal knowledge. For Afghanistan, the State Department’s Reciprocity Schedule notes that the Tazkira serves as a quasi-birth record and that its age is usually an estimate because birth records are seldom available.
For immigrant visas, the State Department requires the Tazkira and passport and does not require a birth certificate. USCIS may still request a birth record in petitions and adjustment cases. Our report explains the Tazkira’s role, why a separate birth certificate usually never existed, and what else proves the date and place of birth.
Some documents are still issued, but inside Afghanistan they come from offices under the de facto authorities and generally require in-person attendance and biometrics. The United States does not recognize the Taliban as the Government of Afghanistan. Whether a particular request is possible — and whether it is safe for relatives — is assessed case by case in the report.
They continue to be submitted, and the State Department’s schedule describes them while noting that the United States does not recognize the Taliban as a government. The weight a particular document receives is for the adjudicator. The report states what each document is, who issued it, when and under what procedure, so that it can be weighed correctly.
The regulation calls for two or more affidavits from people who are not parties and have direct personal knowledge of the event — typically older relatives or neighbors present at or near the time of the birth. We set out what each affidavit must cover and certify the translations. We do not script what affiants say.
Afghan records are dated in the Solar Hijri calendar, and many Tazkiras record only an estimated age. We convert every date, show the conversion, and explain year-only and 1 January entries in U.S. records, so an age difference is not mistaken for an inconsistency.
No. A country conditions report addresses risk and persecution. This report addresses records: whether a specific document existed, whether it can be obtained, and what proves the same fact instead. The two are often filed together.
Certified translation renders a document that exists. Our expert witness service gives an opinion on whether an existing Afghan document is consistent with how such documents were issued. This service covers the document that does not exist or cannot be obtained.
No. We do not route requests, documents or data through channels controlled by the de facto authorities, and we do not ask relatives to approach those offices for us. Where a family has made attempts, we document them as the family reports them.
Timelines are set at intake against the filing deadline. An RFE response period cannot exceed twelve weeks and a NOID thirty days, so matters with a response window or a detained docket are scheduled first.
We read records in Pashto, Dari and 21 more Afghan languages, and records issued in Pakistan and Iran. Reports are written in English and, on request, in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Chinese, Russian or Turkish, for proceedings in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the rest of the European Union, Australia and elsewhere.
Most reports are commissioned by attorneys, accredited representatives, legal aid organizations, courts and agencies. Individuals can contact us directly; where a filing is involved, we work alongside their attorney or accredited representative. We do not give legal advice.
Since late 2025, Afghan benefit requests have faced adjudication holds, re-reviews and litigation. On 5 June 2026 a federal court vacated several of those USCIS policies, and the government’s appeal is pending in the First Circuit. Files are being read more closely and more than once, and a missing record that is explained, sourced and signed holds up better on a second reading. Current as of September 2026.
When a document exists and its issuance or consistency is in question.
When a document exists and needs a certified English translation.
When the question is risk and persecution rather than records. The two reports are often filed together.
When the applicant will be interviewed on the same facts.
When the author or a witness testifies.
When the case file reaches beyond civil documents.
When the corroboration is a recording or a message.
For teams carrying an Afghan docket.
Counsel receive a written scope — the questions, the forum, the deadline and the fee — before any work begins.
Or call (202) 771-0224
1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006
