WASHINGTON- US President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill authorising an additional 1,000 Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for the Afghan Nationals, the White House said.

The legislation in this regard was earlier passed by both House of Representatives and the Senate and welcomed by Secretary of State John Kerry.

So far more than 11,000 Afghans and their family members have benefited from SIV programs. And this fiscal year 2014, the US has had already reached its statutory cap of 3,000 visas for the Afghans who were employed by or on behalf of the US government.

The passage of this legislation enables the State Department to continue visa issuances for these deserving individuals who faithfully served with the US.