Foreigners in Afghanistan with old visas can stay: Taliban

Afghanistan’s Taliban government says it will allow people in the country on visas issued by the former Western-backed government to stay for now

Afghanistan’s Taliban government said on Monday it would allow people in the country on visas issued by the former Western-backed government to stay for now, but that they would not be allowed back in without documents from a Taliban-approved diplomatic mission.

The announcement by the Taliban's Foreign Ministry on the social media platform X clarified its July 30 announcement that it would no longer accept documents from consulates and diplomatic missions abroad staffed by members of the former government.

The move is part of the Taliban's efforts to gain control of Afghanistan’s representation abroad since returning to power in 2021.

The Taliban's blacklisting of diplomatic missions in Canada, Australia and several European countries means that many people may have to travel hundreds of even thousands of miles to get documents issued, renewed, or certified.

Documents from missions in the U.K., Belgium, Switzerland, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and Australia are invalid unless they are registered with the ministry in Kabul, the Taliban's Foreign Ministry said.

The documents otherwise are “invalid due to administrative corruption, lack of transparency and lack of coordination," the Ministry said. It said the documents were in “clear violation of principles,” but did not elaborate on what those principles are.

The Taliban's Foreign Ministry, which operates diplomatic missions in countries including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Dubai, said Monday that its “acceptable” diplomatic missions in Europe are the consulate general in Munich, Germany and the country’s embassies in the Netherlands, Spain, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic.