Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in National Visa Center

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couple-7445474_1280Recently, the Department of State released guidance to assist U.S. Citizens petitioning for family members in Lebanon.

Here are the highlights:

  • To facilitate family reunification, full immigrant visa processing has resumed for Lebanese family members of U.S. citizens, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
  • Routine nonimmigrant visa processing is not yet available. Individuals may apply for a nonimmigrant visa at any U.S. embassy or consulate.

Immigrant Visa Information

The National Visa Center (NVC) will directly email petitioners, beneficiaries, and representatives of spouses, children under 21, and parents of U.S. citizens with approved I-130 petitions to provide an immigrant visa interview appointment date and instructions.  Applicants must check their email for updates.

Immigrant visa cases will continue to be processed according to the final action date published in the Visa Bulletin.  In November/December, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut will schedule visa interviews for currently eligible family preference immigrant visa cases and nonimmigrant Fiancé (K-1) visa cases.  

Case Transfers from Beirut to Other Embassies/Consulates

Individuals wishing to transfer their immigrant visa case from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to another U.S. embassy or consulate may contact NVC via the Public Inquiry Form and in the “Enter Your Inquiry Below” box, include:

    • The U.S. embassy or consulate where they would like their case transferred; and
    • Likely dates of travel and preferred date for a new appointment.

Applicants must arrange their own travel to an alternate embassy or consulate for their visa appointment, including complying with any visa requirements for entering that country to attend their visa appointment.

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interview-6956089_1280-1In this blog post, we discuss the release of the Department of State’s October 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog report.

This is a monthly publication that provides data and statistics regarding the number of immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, documentarily complete cases that have been scheduled for visa interviews, and those that are still awaiting visa interviews.

We also compare the increase in the backlog from September to October 2024.

According to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of October 2024, there has been a modest decrease in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog from 385,800 pending cases in September to 363,242 cases in October — nearly a 5.8% decrease in the backlog.  

Additionally, when comparing the September and October Immigrant Visa backlogs, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were declared documentarily complete and ready to be scheduled for interviews decreased by 17,846 cases, from 431,110 (in September) to 413,264 (in October).

Additionally, 50,022 applicants whose cases were documentarily complete were scheduled for interviews in the month of October (in comparison to just 45,310 in September).

  • A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.

September 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of August 31 431,110
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for September 2024 interview appointments 45,310
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after September 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 385,800

October 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of September 30 413,264
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for October 2024 interview appointments 50,022
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after October 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 363,242

 Note: In Calendar Year 2019 on average, 60,866 applicants were pending the scheduling of an interview each month.

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interview-7695015_1280Recently, the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) released the August 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog report, which provides data and statistics of the number of documentarily complete immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, documentarily complete cases that have been scheduled for visa interviews, and those that are still awaiting visa interviews.

In this post, we compare the increase in the backlog from July to August.

According to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of August 2024, there has been a substantial increase in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog rising from 394,835 pending cases in July to 408,937 cases in August — nearly a 3.5% increase amounting to 14,102 additional cases added to the backlog in just a one-month period. 

Additionally, when comparing the July and August Immigrant Visa backlogs, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for interviews decreased by 23,519 cases, from 488,285 (in July) to 464,766 (in August).

  • A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.

August 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of July 31 464,766
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for August 2024 interview appointments 55,829
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after August 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 408,937

July 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of June 30 488,285
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for July 2023 interview appointments 53,450
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after July 2023 appointment scheduling was completed 394,825

Note: In Calendar Year 2019 on average, 60,866 applicants were pending the scheduling of an interview each month.

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july-5404922_1280We are pleased to inform our readers that today June 10th, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs released the July Visa Bulletin. In this blog post we breakdown the projected movement of the employment-based and family-sponsored categories during the month of July.

USCIS Adjustment of Status

For employment-based preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that in July it will continue to use the Final Action Dates chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence.

For family-sponsored preference categories, USCIS will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence.

Highlights of the July 2024 Visa Bulletin

Employment-Based Categories

Final Action Dates

EB-1 Aliens of extraordinary ability, Outstanding Professors and Researchers, and Certain Multinational Managers or Executives

  • EB-1 India will advance by eleven months to February 1, 2022
  • EB-1 China will advance by two months to November 1, 2022
  • EB-1 All other countries will remain current

EB-2 Members of the Professions and Aliens of Exceptional Ability

  • EB-2 India will advance by two months to June 15, 2012
  • EB-2 China will advance by one month to March 1, 2020
  • EB-2 All other countries will advance by two months to March 15, 2023

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers

  • EB-3 India will advance by one month to September 22, 2012
  • EB-3 China will remain at September 1, 2020
  • EB-3 All other countries will retrogress by eleven months and three weeks to December 1, 2021

EB-3 Other Workers

  • EB-3 India will advance by one month to September 22, 2012
  • EB-3 China will remain at January 1, 2017
  • EB-3 Philippines will remain at May 1, 2020
  • EB-3 All other countries will advance by almost three months to January 1, 2021

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In this blog post, we cover the newly released Immigrant Visa Backlog Report published by the Department of State. April’s report provides the latest data and statistics relating to the processing of immigrant visa applications at the National Visa Center.

This data includes information about the number of documentarily complete immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, the number of cases that were scheduled for interviews by the end of the month, and the number of immigrant visa cases still waiting to be scheduled for a visa interview after interview appointment scheduling was completed.

The April Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

According to the National Visa Center’s April Immigrant Visa Backlog Report there has been an increase in the overall immigrant visa (IV) backlog from 326,415 pending cases in the month of March, to 351,624 pending cases still waiting to be scheduled for a visa interview at the end of April. By comparison, in February, there were 338,256 pending cases waiting for interview scheduling.

On the bright side, the Final Action dates in the April and May Visa Bulletin have shown substantial forward movement for nearly all family-sponsored categories. This has enabled more family-based immigrant visa applications to become documentarily complete and receive interview scheduling at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the employment-based categories, which have remained stagnant with little to no forward movement in recent months.

Additionally, when comparing the March and April Immigrant Visa backlog reports, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for an interview at Consulates and Embassies increased from 374,532 (as of February 29, 2024) to 404,459 (as of March 31, 2024). Of these cases, only 52,835 applicants whose cases became documentarily complete were scheduled for interview appointments in April 2024. By comparison, only 48,117 applicants were scheduled for interview in March.

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In this blog post, we provide new insights recently shared by Charlie Oppenheim, the former Chief of Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting at the U.S. Department of State, who oversaw the monthly publication of the Visa Bulletin until his retirement in 2022.

In a recent Chatting with Charlie webinar, he provided his expertise regarding the future movement of the employment based and family preference categories on the Visa Bulletin.

The Dates for Filing for the employment based and family sponsored preference categories have remained the same since the publication of the October Visa Bulletin with no forward movement to be seen.

In the month of February, the Final Action Dates progressed only slightly as follows:

Employment-based

  • EB-2 Worldwide advanced by two weeks to November 15, 2022
  • EB-3 India advanced by one month to July 1, 2012
  • EB-3 all other countries advanced by one month to September 1, 2022 (except China)
  • EB-5 China (Unreserved) advanced by one week to December 15, 2015.

Family-sponsored

  • F2A all categories (except Mexico) advanced by more than 3 months to February 8, 2020
  • F2A Mexico advanced by more than 3 months to February 1, 2020

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We start the week with great news for Cuban and Haitian nationals.

On August 10, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced new publications in the Federal Register introducing changes to the Cuban and Haitian Family Reunification Parole processes.

The FRP program allows eligible Cuban and Haitian nationals to seek parole into the United States for the purpose of reuniting with their family members while they wait for their immigrant visas to become available to apply for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence.

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In this blog post, we share with you new information provided by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Department of State Liaison Committee following a meeting with the National Visa Center (NVC) addressing some common issues of concern for immigrant visa applicants waiting for their visas to be processed at the NVC and immigrant visa scheduling at U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad.

We provide a summary of the questions asked and responses from the Department of State down below. This discussion was part of a meeting with representatives from the Bureau of Consular Affairs, taking place on February 9, 2023.

NVC Statistics for Documentarily Complete Cases

Question: Can NVC confirm how many cases were completed in FY2022 compared with the 342,392 completed in FY2021?

Answer: Documentarily Complete cases (documents received, reviewed, and case entered into scheduling queue) by Fiscal Year:

  • FY 2020 = 321,274
  • FY 2021 = 342,392
  • FY 2022 = 343,277

Question: Can NVC confirm how many cases have been completed so far in FY 2023?

Answer: The number of immigrant visa cases determined to be documentarily complete by the National Visa Center thus far in fiscal year 2023 (as of 27 January 2023) is 140,084.

Question: What is the monthly volume of immigrant visa cases that the NVC processes?

Answer: On average, during FY 2022, NVC performed case creation for nearly 14,974 immigrant visa petitions, received 20,987 ELIS petitions from USCIS, and reviewed supporting forms and documents for another 72,337 immigrant visa cases per month.

Question: What is the monthly volume of nonimmigrant (fiancé) visa cases that the NVC processes?

Answer: On average, during FY 2022, NVC performed case creation for 1,138 l-129F petitions for Alien Fiancé(e)s per month.

Question: If a document is not considered acceptable, and the attorney re-submits the requested documents, on average, how long does the NVC take to review the new evidence?

Answer: When missing documentation is subsequently provided, it is reviewed in the order it was received. NVC processing times have dropped significantly in the past year. Applicants may refer to the NVC Timeframes page on travel.state.gov to track the current Document Review processing time. NVC Processing dates are updated weekly.

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Happy Veterans Day! On behalf of our law office, we would like to thank the servicemen and women who have dedicated their lives to protect our country. We are grateful to you for the sacrifices you have made and your service.

We close off the week with a recent update from the U.S. Department of State regarding immigrant visa processing in Havana, Cuba.

According to a new announcement made yesterday, the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, will fully resume immigrant visa processing beginning January 4, 2023.

This will include processing of immigrant petitions for immediate relatives, other family preference categories, diversity visas, and K fiancé(e) visas.

For its part, the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana, will continue processing of Cuban immigrant visa applications for those individuals who were scheduled to attend in-person interviews there through the end of December of this year.

Immigrant visa applicants whose appointments were originally scheduled in Georgetown will complete case processing in Georgetown.

Sadly, case transfers from Georgetown to U.S. Embassy, Havana are not available for applicants who have already been scheduled to attend interviews in Georgetown.

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We kick off the start of a brand-new week with very good news for Cuban nationals.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it will be resuming operations under the Cuban Family Reunification Parole program also known as CFRP starting with pending CFRP applications.

CFRP processing was suspended due to the significant decrease in U.S. government personnel at the U.S. Embassy Havana in 2017 and the closure of the USCIS field office in Havana in 2018.

What is the Cuban Family Reunification Parole?

Cuban Family Reunification Parole is a program that was created in 2007 to allow certain eligible U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to apply for parole for their family members in Cuba. If granted parole, family members can come to the United States without waiting for their immigrant visas to become available. Once in the United States, CFRP Program beneficiaries may apply for work authorization while they wait to apply for lawful permanent resident status.

Who is eligible?

You may be eligible to apply for parole for your relatives in Cuba under the CFRP program if:

  • You are either a U.S. citizen or LPR;
  • You have an approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for a Cuban family member;
  • An immigrant visa is not yet available for your relative; and
  • You received an invitation from the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) to participate in the CFRP Program. 

To be eligible, the principal beneficiary must:

  • Be a Cuban national living in Cuba; and
  • Have a petitioner who has been invited to participate in the CFRP Program.

You cannot apply for CFRP until you are invited to do so by the National Visa Center. Additionally, you cannot self-petition for the program.

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