Hello, hello, everybody. Welcome to our Sunday Night Live Stream. We've got quite a few updates
that I wanted to share with you because a lot of things happened over the weekend. We'll talk about
embassies reopened updates. I've got a list of quite a few embassies that I wanted to share with
you to give you an update. So you're aware which embassies are now operating on in which capacity,
both for immigrant visas and for non-immigrant visas. I wanted to update you on the significance
of the judge's decision from Friday, essentially blocking all new deferred action applications for
DACA applicants. It's going to be also impacting what's gonna happen in the next two weeks
when it comes to immigration reform. I wanted to share that with you as well.
And also, probably in the next few days, the travel bans are going to be lifted. Biden
is essentially working on this in the next week or so. And I wanted to mention that as well,
in case you have an interest in that. So, if you're here for the first time,
make sure to subscribe to our channel. Click the notification bell and also give us a big like,
so you will be able to share this video with more people just like you. And let's jump right in.
All right, all right. Welcome, everybody. Let me know where you're
tuning in right now. Let me see if I can see the comments. We got a lot of Rodrigo and Susan and
Angel and all that we got Byron, Baja. Welcome, welcome. So we've got a lot to cover. And I wanted
you to know, we've done quite a few videos about the backlogs, NVC backlog,
embassy backlog. So, what I'm going to do is, I'm going to give you a bit of a background,
and then we'll jump into an embassy role. We're going to go through a bunch of embassies,
Moscow, Manila, Kenya, we're going to go through a lot of embassies, at least more
than 15 embassies that I'm going to go through and give you some updates. Before we jump into that,
remember that on Friday, we had a big decision from judge Hanen from Texas, essentially blocking
new deferred action applications. For those people that are currently here in the United States were
brought here as young children. Essentially no new DACA applications can be filed as of
Friday. They also blocked all the biometrics for all the DACA applicants. Our clients
are getting text messages from USCIS saying no more biometrics for first-time DACA applicants
until further notice from the court or if there's an appeal that is going to be filed. The reason
why it's significant is because, as you know, right now, with their reconsideration budget
talks in the Senate, there could be a push for some sort of reform and immigration
because of that court decision because if there's going to be no solution for DACA,
somebody has to give them a permanent solution, somebody has to continue that program
in a different way if the court blocked it, and that could be the push that we're waiting for
right now for some sort of reform. So if nothing happens with DACA in the next week or so, I feel
strongly that something's going to happen in that budget reconciliation deal and we may see a little
bit of movement, possibly getting the DREAM Act to pass possibly seeing the promise act for TPS. So
you know, there must be a reason behind it. So we'll see but right now if you're watching this
and you know somebody who is impacted by DACA they are not able to file new applications, but
existing cases can continue to be filed. Now with respect to the travel bands.
Biden met with consulate Merkel just a few days ago and he specifically said they are
working they're reviewing with the CDC and their COVID team. With respect to the travel bans, all
the Schengen countries and all the other countries that are currently banned from entering the United
States, and they have to quarantine for two weeks, those bans could be lifted as earlier this week.
As soon as that happens, I will probably update you with the video or on our other platforms. So
it is definitely happening. And the reason it's important is because a lot of people are trying
to enter the United States, whether it's essential travel, notice enter travel. It just put a lot of
restrictions on people being able to enter the United States. To start doing business as
everything is reopening, and those travel bans are the last thing that needs to be lifted. So
from our understanding, this may happen in the next week or so, once again, guys, I'm gonna get
to some questions a little bit later. If you hear, give us the hearts, give us the likes,
share this video with somebody that may be interested to learn about what I'm going
to be saying. So let's jump into the backlog. I've done quite a few videos about the backlog.
So as I mentioned right now, they've got over 566,000 cases that are documentarily
qualified at NVC, but only 34,000 cases were scheduled for interviews, like I said, and I
mentioned it in the previous video. Currently, more than 531,000 cases are still sitting there
waiting to be sent to those embassies. And the reason why they're not able to be sent to those
embassies is because the embassies are not opening appointments. And you'll see in a second why
some of these embassies are working in a limited capacity. And therefore, we need to have
further information as to when they're going to be able to take those cases.
So let's take a look at what we see here. I put a list of embassies and consulates that are
open, and others are working on limited capacity. And I'm going to update you.
On each one, I'm going to go through a list of all of these embassies. If it's of interest to you,
stick around until the end, maybe I'm going to reach your embassy,
and if I'm not going to get there to your embassy today. I'm going to do another follow-up on this.
So let's start with the Philippines, They remain suspended, routine Visa Services remain suspended.
They essentially work on the fourth tiers. The fourth tiers that I mentioned in previous videos
when they do reopen and establish regular flow, they're going to follow the tier
that the immigrant visa State Department issued which is basically immediate relatives
inter-country adoption visas, age out cases is Tier one, Tier two immediate relatives visas,
fiance visas, and returning resident visas, Tier 3 family preference immigrants and
special immigrants and Tier four all other immigrant visas including employment-based
cases. But again, right now Manila is working on a limited capacity. And they only process
emergency appointments based on expedite. Non-immigrant visas, they’re not working in
a regular capacity, but they are continuing to prioritize urgent matters based on NIE,
and students and exchange visitors are also able to obtain appointments. But again,
this embassy is not working at full capacity. And that's why a lot of our K1 visas, a lot of our
CR1 cases are stuck in Manila. And the only thing that we can do right now is to try
to expedite or do something like that. Moving to Kenya, Nairobi, this US Embassy
has resumed limited processing of immigrant visas. So they are processing immigrant visas, again,
in a limited capacity, but they're still doing it. And the immigrant visas are being prioritized
based on the four-tier system that I just mentioned to you with Manila. Also diversity
visits with Nairobi. I know we have a lot of people that are checking on that have a very
limited number of DV cases and they're not able to accept diversity visa cases from other consular
districts. I mentioned in previous videos that you are able to shop around and move your case between
different embassies and consulates. Nairobi is not accepting that kind of post-shopping.
Non Immigrant Visas in Nairobi, Kenya are also working on limited capacity only. Nigeria,
Lagos, this embassy is also processing a very limited number of non-immigrant and Immigrant
Visas again, those this embassy is not working on Regular capacity. The reason I showed you
the NVC backlog statistics at the beginning of this video is just because I wanted to let
you know as to why these cases are stuck at NVC. And because of embassies, like Lagos and Manila,
that are not accepting cases on a regular basis. And those cases are sitting right now on NVC as
a result, so Nigerian, Lagos is not working in a regular capacity, you have to request emergency
appointments if you need to try to push your case forward. Non-Immigrant Visas this embassy
continues to prioritize travelers with urgent travel needs only at the moment. This information
is all coming from the State Department, we just got to put it together in one source. But this is
something that's available out there. Colombia, Bogota, we have a lot of applicants that are
sending us text messages. I tried to collect all the most common embassies that you guys are asking
in the video. So make sure you stick to the end and may get to your embassy. If you do have
a need to get our services, I will post our text phone number in a few minutes so you can be able
to get it. Colombia Bogotá, This embassy is processing a limited number of non-immigrant
visas. And non-immigrant visas are essentially very, very difficult to get appointments.
Our two K1 visas that we were able to get from Colombia a couple of weeks ago were done through
the expert process that we helped a lot of clients through the national interest exceptions. They
were very accommodating. NVC was able to expedite their case, and Bogota was able to give us a very
fast appointment at that point. Let's move to Ukraine. Immigrant Visas starting April 1st,
this embassy started processing Immigrant Visas category, including K visas and diversity visas.
This embassy is working not bad right now. In fact, we were able to move some cases from Moscow
to Ukraine, because of the issues that we have with the embassy that is now processing the cases.
So Ukraine is working pretty good for immigrant visas. With respect to non-immigrant visas,
they are working in low capacity, which means that they are not prioritizing normal visas,
even if they're open, it's definitely more difficult to get those appointments processed.
Moscow, as I mentioned before, this embassy is not taking regular appointments right now. What
we tried to do with this particular post is to move to a third post like Kazakhstan or Warsaw.
And it's been effective to see that they've been really receptive. What's happening in Canada.
Again, this embassy has resumed US visa services, and also some non-immigrant and Immigrant Visa
Services. With respect to Montreal, I wasn't able to put it in the notes, but I do have it here.
They are working on Immigrant Visas in an essentially regular capacity. They still
don't have the volume of cases that we need, but they are processing cases. So if your cases are
in Canada, you should be good to go. The same thing for normal visas, Vietnam, this embassy
is working on low capacity because of safety
concerns, I guess at the embassy because of COVID-19. So it's still very difficult to get
visas immigrant or non-immigrant from Vietnam. We had actually two cases, one is a CR1 that came out
in a regular process and the other one was a K1. That we were able to get out of
Ho Chi Minh through an expedited. Pakistan has resumed limited immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
So they're trying to work in a regular capacity. It's still very slow. They're really,
really down on staff. But the good news is that we are starting to get some cases processed,
some appointments. And also this is a good embassy to try to expedite your case. There's been some
good reception from NVC to move cases for expedite process, specifically with Islamabad as well. With
Mumbai, and let's move to India student visas remain the top priority for this US Embassy.
They're still able to get F1s, M1s. If you're starting within 30 days of your semester.
Right now for actual visas, immigrant visas. It is also working quite slow right now and we
definitely recommend people, if you have a good reason to try to expedite through
national interest exceptions you might as well want to do that. Cases in China, Guangzhou are
operating normally right now. They actually have a pretty good speed up of cases for immigrant visas,
K1 visas, and other family petitions. They also have been very proactive with F visas,
M visas, and other non-immigrant visas. So they Definitely, you know, have more consular officers
in this embassy. And we see a lot of cooperation between the consular posts and the customers. UK,
London, it's been obviously stuck with the travel bans. They do issue visas, but they're still
working on emergency capacity only.There's no regular processing of these visas yet.
So with respect, we've got a couple of more, we've got the Dominican Republic,
limited routine visa services available right now they're expected to resume regular operations
in about two weeks. And right now, they will accept expedited cases, if you qualify. Thailand,
they resumed immigrant and non-immigrant visas, they're working in a pretty good capacity.
And also Thailand is accepting cases from other countries, in case your embassy is not able to
process your applications correctly. So this has been pretty good to see. Jakarta is open
on regular visa processing, they are working also in a more than a limited capacity both
for immigrant and non-immigrant visas. And we had a couple of cases there. They came
a couple of weeks ago as well. Mexico is working on limited capacity really depends
on the city where your cases are. Ciudad Juarez is starting to take a bit more appointments,
but it's still very, very slow right now. And we've been having some success with filing
expedited cases specifically with that embassy. So Brazil is the last in the list of suspended
immigrant visa cases only. Only emergency appointments are available for immigrant visas,
including K1s. However, we've seen success with F visas and M visas at their consulate as well.
And so I think that it's going to continue to go as well. But we hope that as the pandemic will,
they're going to catch on that, they're going to be able to process more cases over there. So
this is our round-up for today. Hopefully, this is helpful, I'm going to try to do that
once a month and update on different embassies, which one is open, which one is
working in less capacity. Once again, as I mentioned at the beginning of this video,
if you want help with your case, expedite getting your case, unstuck.
And the other thing now is an opportunity to send us a text, 619-483-4549, we're going to
do our best to help you with your case. I know there are people who are anxious right now. And
things are really moving slowly. But we are very proactive on this, we are on it. We are working
with almost every single embassy in the world and want to get you results as well. Once again, new
DACA applications are not possible anymore with a court order from the judge. And now it's the
beginning of the stream from Friday. travel bans may be canceled next week. Let's see what happens.
And once again, guys, if you're here for the first time, do not forget to subscribe to our channel
so you'll be notified of new videos coming out every single week and live videos like this.
And also, at the bottom right here, you have information about new membership. We have a
membership that is available for people if you go through the immigration process on your own.
Even if you have an attorney if you need a second opinion, if you need a community to engage with,
ask your questions every Thursday, we've got a zoom call in there,
ask your questions in private, in confidence, join ImmigrationU.com, our private community. I hope to
see you there as well. Thanks for watching, guys. It's been a pleasure. And hopefully,
I can deliver some good news later this week. I love you all, have a beautiful week ahead.