So, in this video, once again, I give you our monthly update about
the status of embassies and consulates worldwide.
Make sure you stick to the end, and I'll give you all the latest information. Let's jump right in.
So, the issue of when embassies and consulates are going to reopen is the
biggest question that I'm getting from viewers of our channel, people who subscribe to our channel,
and a lot of comments and questions that I get personally. Everybody wants to know when our
embassies and consulates are going to finally reopen. And so, the latest update we have
from directly from the State Department, and I'm going to tell you in the video, also, about
what's happening, specifically in our practice, and just give you an idea. So, maybe it will apply
to your situation. But the formal announcement, the last update from the State Department
is actually from mid-November, which is only a few weeks from the date that I'm making this video.
And we're going to go over this update right now. You can see it on the screen right now.
So, we'll go over through that, some of the key points that the State Department
put in this announcement, and then we'll talk about what's happening in our office
and what I think is going to happen in the next few weeks. And of course, I'll continue
making those updates because I know that it is so important for you whether you're going through a
CR1 marriage petition, or a K1 or an F2A, we are all in the same boat in this case. So, the first
thing to know, and like I mentioned, almost in every update that I do on the embassy issues
is that each embassy in the respective countries will reopen based on the country’s conditions. So,
it doesn't mean that all the embassies or all the consulates are going to open at the same time.
They're going to be opening in different phases. So, if you have an interview, for example,
in Europe, or in Africa, it really depends on the specific embassy when they're going to reopen. So,
many of you are asking me when embassies are going to reopen? Well, I think the right answer to that
is, where is your case process? And based on that, to determine if your particular embassy
will reopen at one particular time. Remember, the embassies and consulates are not going to
reopen at the same time. It is something that the State Department specifically stated in their
announcement every time they do an update, that's when they start. Embassies are going to reopen
depending on the country conditions where they're located. And they're going to start reopening
under their own terms. Remember that they do have the authorization to reopen already from July.
It's just that they choose not to open right now because of their individual
processing. So, that's one thing that you have to remember, embassies are going to reopen,
respectively, depending on where they are. And it is important for you to check with your individual
embassy every single week. Depending on where your case is, whether it's a CR1 or a K1,
you have to work directly with your embassy. It doesn't matter if Paris will reopen, it doesn't
mean that Madrid will reopen. It is important to know that because I think, still, people have
the confusion that embassies are all going to reopen at the same time. That's not the case.
The other thing that we have to remember, it's also in the update all embassies and consulates,
no matter where they are, are providing emergency and expedited appointments, whether it's under the
National Interest Exceptions, or whether it's an emergency that requires an immediate appointment,
they are processing those. So, whether you are working with an individual embassy or consulate,
you have to follow the procedures on how to expedite your particular case with that particular
post. Those are currently being processed. If you qualify, you'll be able to give that. And again,
whether you're working with NVC with your cases, whether your case is filled with NVC,
or you're already past the NVC and the case was not yet sent to the NVC. The point is that
all of them are entertaining expedited appointments.
If you qualify or if they believe you qualify, they will issue that and they will open an
interview. And it's very important. And it's also stated on the update from the State Department,
as we will post a link in the description of this video. Also, based on their update,
all embassies and consulates that are processing immigrant petitions should give preference to
CR1 family petitions, international adoptions based on family, and also K1 visas. It is
required for them to do that, to give preference. Now, in reality, we know that it's not happening
but they have the authorization to do so. And they should be doing so as they start reopening slowly,
step-by-step. So, it's on their website. And it's an update from the State Department that they need
to prioritize the family petitions because so many couples have been separated for months and months.
And they know that but at the same time, they have some sort of disclaimer on their update saying
that they are going to reopen fully when it's safe to do so and they have the necessary resources
to process the cases, which again, to me, it's very ambiguous. It's very vague. It's a very broad
statement but it appears on their website. And it seems like a lot of these embassies
are using that vague… essentially, not to open interview appointments, at this time,
pretty much in all embassies. People were asking, actually, what are the criteria that these
embassies are following when they're making the decision whether they're going to reopen or not?
Because, again, they do have the authority to reopen, what's stopping them from doing
so? We'll look at what it says on their own announcement. It says the following.
“We are closely monitoring local conditions in each country where we have a US presence.
Local conditions that may affect where we can begin providing various public services include
medical infrastructure, and coordinating cases, emergency response capabilities,
and restrictions on leaving home.” So as you can see, those are, again, very broad conditions. But
hopefully, as things improve, in many, many other countries, hopefully, it will also force the US
embassies and those countries to start reopening and opening their calendars for routine visa
appointments. They're supposed to base on their own guidelines. So, a lot of people are wondering,
people that already had their appointments, and they're trying to reschedule.
For example, we have quite a few applicants that already had visa appointments in March.
But the visas expired already because they couldn't enter the US because of the Proclamation.
Those are K1s, as well as CR1, they just had their visas issued but they couldn't leave.
And then again, they paid their MRV fee, the visa fee. And now, it's already expired. So, some
people are trying to repay that again, and others have no idea what to do based on the guidance.
From the recent guidance, the State Department said that you don't have to pay the fee. Again,
the fee should be valid for at least a year. And they'll extend the validity of the fee
all through December 31 of 2021. So, you don't have to repay that fee, even if your
validity expired based on the current guidelines. And I would definitely wait for people. I would
hold off until the embassy opens your appointment before you making any payments or starting a
new medical exam just so you don't waste your resources for nothing. You can see on the screen
right now, where it says the Machine Readable Visa MRV is valid within one year. And you see
at the bottom, it says the department extended the validity of MRV fees until December 31, 2021,
to allow applicants who are unable to schedule a visa appointment to do so during the suspension.
So, that's another good news because that wasn't clear until this update that you don't have to pay
the MRV fee. Again, it is valid and until December of 2021. So, what's happening right now with some
of our cases? So, we've had some K1 approval based on expediting. Those are not routine appointments.
We've had them in Poland, we've had them in Madrid, we've had them in Frankfurt, recently.
We've had a few cases from Islamabad, also a few from Mumbai. All through our expedited processing,
they were not regular appointments. The only regular appointments we've seen were from Canada,
from Montreal, and we've seen one from Paris, from France, which were not expedited routine,
CR1 cases that were approved. Now, what does that mean? That means that some embassies are reopening
for routine visa appointments because of country conditions. We know that
Lebanon is opening for routine visa appointments. We know that Jordan is opening for routine visa
appointments. And we believe Tel Aviv as well, based on recent information; it’s going to start
getting routine visa appointments for family petitions sometime in January. So, you can see
that there are some embassies and consulates based on our personal experience for all cases that
are approving applicants even outside of expedited. Right? So, that means that
they are following some of these regulations, they're looking at the country’s conditions.
But again, this is very, very… compared to the thousands of cases that they have pending,
this is nothing. So, right now, the only thing that we see and we only think that
we suggest people to do is to continue to stay in contact with your individual consulate or embassy
to see if you qualify in any of the exceptions to get your case expedited. You do it through the NVC
via the embassy through an emergency appointment. And if you can, we strongly encourage you to do
so. We're doing a lot of those for our clients. We have seen a lot of success
in that respect. And again, it's all about a consistent follow-up. It’s staying the course
and trying to show the consulate that they do have the power to open for interviews and if
they don't… we have quite a few people that do qualify for these emergency appointments
because like I said, this is a major crisis, and families are being separated. It's putting a toll
on relationships, in my mind, a national crisis. So, once again, this is the update we have about
embassies and consulates. They are continuing to reopen, and it's a good sign that we've seen
quite a few of them are issuing those appointments without expedited but the majority of them
still remain closed. And the only way right now to get an appointment is if you qualify under
the expedited rules and try to get that moved along faster. So, let me know in the comments
if you have any other information. We get a lot of information also from our viewers,
from people in our private Facebook group. You can see a link in this video. If you’re here for the
first time, make sure to subscribe to our channel, give us a big like so YouTube can share this with
more people just like you. And I will continue to update you once I have more information
about different embassies, about our own cases, as we get more approvals. You can also read about
some of our success stories on our blog where we actually detail the full story of how we did that,
one of the criteria we use for K1 approval, expedited, and CR1s. You can find the link
to our blog, as well as the Visa Lawyer blog in the description of this video. So, once again,
thank you for watching. I really hope that I can give you even better news next time.
And I'll see you in our next video. Watch these two videos for more information just like them.