Afghan University of Missouri graduate Maseeh Wassil now has a work permit and a job, but immigration status for him and others in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program remains in flux.
When he graduated in December with a master’s degree in public affairs, neither he nor his wife had a work permit and therefore no way to get a job or earn an income. They have two daughters.
He and his wife received their employment authorization in early January. The job offer from the Missouri Department of Social Services came as his employment authorization arrived. He started there on Feb. 1 as a research and data analyst.
“Luckily I found a job right after I received my employment authorization,” Wassil said during a Wednesday interview at the Columbia Activity and Recreation Center.
His studies at MU started at MU on Aug 5, 2021, after he received his student visa. Within a few days, the Taliban took over when the Afghan government fell. He also was working with Fulbright and the U.S. State Department to get his wife and kids from Afghanistan, across the Pakistan border and eventually to the U.S. They arrived on Jan. 17, 2022.
Wassil applied for asylum for himself and his family last May and submitted fingerprints in July, with no updates.
“I did apply for asylum, and like me, I believe most Afghan Fulbrighters that applied for asylum, most of us have only had our biometrics taken and few of us have had their interviews so far,” Wassil said. “But unfortunately, I believe no one has an approved asylum case here.”
Biometrics is fingerprinting and background checks, he said.
Those in the Fulbright program are being treated differently than refugees evacuated from Afghanistan by the U.S. government, he said.
“I’m trying to raise the voices of all the Fulbrighters, not only me but all the Fulbrighters who came from Afghanistan, which the number could be around 130,” Wassil said. “Their immigration cases have not been processed the way the rest of the Afghans who are being taken out of the country in the Operation Allies Welcome process.”
He hopes someone in the government will take notice and help Afghans who came here through the Fulbright program, he said.
“They came here to the U.S. to study and now they can’t go back to Afghanistan,” Wassil said of students in the Fulbright program. “None of the Fulbrighters can return to Afghanistan.”
The employment authorization expires in two years, so it’s important the cases get processed before then, he said.
The worries haven’t gone away, but they’re adjusting, Wassil said.
“We are almost getting used to life here, getting adapted to society,” Wassil said. “Life goes on with all the problems and challenges we’re facing.”
Adapting won’t happen overnight, but will take time, he said.
Celebrating Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr was a recent high point, he said.
“It was great,” Wassil said. “The Islamic Center of Central Missouri did a great job. Every evening there was food for singles in the mosque and on weekends families could join. So the community was really supportive. We really did enjoy the month of Ramadan here, celebrating together with our Afghan and Muslim community.”
Roger McKinney is the Tribune’s education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He’s on Twitter at @rmckinney9.