Yesterday, the Department of State (DOS) announced that the technological visa system issues experienced by U.S. embassies and consulates around the globe have been corrected. All visa-issuing embassies and consulates are now back online. Visa interviews are again being scheduled and nonimmigrant and immigrant visas are once again being issued.
More than 300,000 nonimmigrant visas have been issued since the correction. Consular staff will work through the upcoming weekend to clear the backlog, which the Department of State plans to have cleared by early next week. However, problems are still arising with some online immigrant visa application forms. The Department of State continues to work around the clock to fix this particular issue.
As posts are being brought back online, the DOS has been processing biometric checks. As those results are obtained and automatically transferred to posts, overseas staff has been completing the final adjudication steps to issue visas. Between June 9 and June 19, 335,000 visas were stuck in clearance. Of that number, more than 300,000 have now been printed. The 35,000 backlog is expected to clear by next week.
Between June 9 and June 19, affected applicants were advised to cancel and reschedule their appointments for a later time. Most applicants scheduled for interviews during that timeframe had submitted their applications before the system issues began and their interviews went ahead as scheduled. All posts have now reopened appointments and many have added capacity to accommodate rescheduled applicants. New appointments continue to be scheduled every day.
If you are interested in applying for a U.S. visa or immigrating to the United States, please contact our office to schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys today!
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