Hello, everybody. In this video, we're going to talk about a few important topics. First
of all, we're going to cover the status of US embassies and consulates right now. Specifically,
I'll tell you what's happened in Russia, India, Pakistan, Jamaica, Nigeria, and a few others.
I will give you the most up-to-date information as to what's happening in these posts and
a few others. Also, we'll talk about NVC wait times, why is it taking so long for NVC to
process your case? How do you check your NVC wait times, and how to continue to expedite
your case with NVC right now. We're going to talk about this and much more so make sure
you stick to the end of this video. So, what are you waiting for? I'll see you on the other
side. Welcome back to our Immigration channel. This is the place where you get the most up-to-date
immigration, US immigration updates, and everything else that you need to make your immigration
journey less stressful. My name is Jacob Sapochnick, and I’m an immigration attorney located
in San Diego, California. And I practice immigration in all 50 states. And I enjoy making those
videos for you because I think it empowers you, gives you the information that you need.
And especially now, we're talking about US embassies. Every week, things change and we
try to stay up to date, we try to be on top of this information so I'll be able to bring
it back to you every single week. So, quick reminder, if you’re here for the first time,
make sure to subscribe to our channel, click the notification bell so you don't miss any
of our videos or any of our live streams. And also, give us a big like so YouTube will
be able to show this video to more people just like you. So, let's talk about US embassies
and consulates. What's happening this week? Well, we've gathered some information from
our large Facebook group, from a lot of our clients, and also from other data that we
get through our association to be able to pass that information to you. Like I said,
it's nothing official, but it's from data that we’re getting on a weekly basis. So,
let's talk about different consulates and what's happening in these posts. First of
all, let’s talk about is Mumbai, India. So, Mumbai, India is slowly reopening. Interviews
are being conducted. Right now, they're scheduling interviews for people that are documented
qualified through NVC, from May and June of 2020, and they’re starting also to push
towards July of 2020, as well. So, if you have a case document, you qualify for NVC
around the timeframe, you should be getting a notice for an interview very soon. Also,
they give priority to immigrant visas for children under 21. And also, for those that
are going to be aging out, those are still getting priorities at the US Embassy in Mumbai.
It is important to know that if you had an interview scheduled before, it was canceled
because of COVID-19 issues, you need to be proactive and contact this embassy right now.
Also, we're still getting quite a few approvals, right now, for national interest exceptions
through hardship for family members. The embassy in India is entertaining those requests. So,
if your case is still stuck waiting, and you need that to be approved faster, it is worth
it to try to do a national interest exception, request for expedite, make sure you do it
correctly, or text me at 619-483-4549. Text numbers are right here as well if you need
help to expedite your case. Moving on to Islamabad in Pakistan. The US Embassy in Islamabad is
also slowly opening. They are now processing cases that are being sent from NVC, they were
documented qualified in May and June of 2020. So, if you have such a case, make sure that
you email them and check and see why your interview has not been scheduled. Again, similar
to what's happening in Mumbai, they're also giving priority to immigrant visas, children
under 21. And also, age out cases, and also some adoption cases as well. Again, it's very
important to be in touch with that embassy. Now, while this is happening, we still hear
from some clients, and also from members of our Facebook group as well that there have
been some delays at their posts. They still entertain national interest exceptions expedited,
although they're a little bit slow and more difficult to process. But they will take your
case if you have a good reason. And so, we definitely encourage you to try that if your
case is slow and stuck. Let's talk about my favorite embassy, Moscow in Russia. Moscow,
right now, is still not processing routine visa applications. Unfortunately, there's
a lot of delays right now. We're not sure yet what is the priority that they will be
requesting cases to be sent from NVC. What we do know is that it's a very slow post.
They still do process natural interest exceptions for expedited, although those are a little
bit slow. But I can tell you some strategies that I use in Moscow right now are that we
try to request alternative posts. And look at this example. So, what you see on the screen
right now is our request to move a case. It was a K1 that we moved from Moscow to Kazakhstan,
right? So, it's an alternative post. And you can see on the screen right now, they accepted
it, Kazakhstan accepted it. And now, this case will continue for an interview. And it's
going to be a very fast process for this particular family to be able to get their visas and come
to the United States. We've seen similar success with a CR1 case, also from Moscow, that we
moved to Poland, right. So, remember, that's another strategy. If your case is stuck at
your embassy, and they're not processing, you can request your case to be transferred,
there's a special way to do so. But if they accepted, then the second post, the alternative
pose will be able to take your case faster, and you're not going to have to wait. So,
remember, if you're in Moscow, please consider doing that strategy. Kazakhstan will do so,
Poland will do so. And I think Ukraine as well. We have some cases as well. So, again,
it's important to discuss with your attorney if you have an attorney, different strategies,
and be proactive because you can be waiting so long, you can be separated from your families.
And I hear you, guys, that's why we're looking for creative ways to help our clients to get
things done. Moving on to Manila, the Philippines. Once again, Manila, just like Moscow, they're
not processing routine visa services yet, although they started giving priority to K1
petitions and immigrant visas specifically based on marriage. Once again, right now,
the best strategy in Manila is to try to expedite your case, if you can, using the national
interest exception. And in some pretty severe cases, there's no choice, but to file a lawsuit
against this embassy because they’ve really been dragging their feet and delaying a lot
of our cases. But remember, it is still possible to get expedited. And hopefully, in my next
update, I'll be able to report that this embassy is finally open for routine visa processing.
Let's talk about Jamaica. A lot of you have been asking me about Jamaica, and Jamaica
is finally starting to open their embassy for routine visa services. It's definitely
been very slow. But they're giving priority, also, for national interest exceptions. So,
if you need to expedite your case, it could be a good opportunity to do so. And of course,
they are allowing the students and H1B workers and J1 visa holders to schedule their appointments
if they need to do so because they're not processing those non-immigrant visas as well.
What we understand from Jamaica is that they're processing cases that were documented qualified
in NVC from June of 2020, as well as some cases from May of 2020. Again, this information
can change on a weekly basis, but it's a good sign that they are doing so right now. Let's
talk about Nigeria. Nigeria has been a big pain point for a lot of our clients, a lot
of our YouTube channel viewers. Nigeria is starting to reopen slowly. What they do right
now, they're processing cases priority for K1s and immigrant visas that were not able
to come because of the Proclamation. As you remember, the travel ban, the Muslim ban,
kids that were rejected from March 2020 through July 2020 are getting priority right now to
be scheduled for interviews. Remember, if you have a case in Nigeria, you need to email
the Embassy in Lagos and figure out what's happening with your case. They have also given
priority to immigrant visas for spouse cases for K1 visas for children under 21, and age
out cases, as well as adoptions. So, again, it's going to be a lot of chaos in this post,
we know that. So, it's important for you to be diligent, follow up with them on a regular
basis. They are working. They are starting to reopen. And again, a few cases that are
really stuck, they do give priority to national interest exceptions if you qualify and you
meet that exception. So, some good news in Nigeria. And I'll continue to update you as
well, once we know more information. The last few posts I'm going to talk about are Frankfurt
in Germany, and Madrid in Spain. So, both of these embassies are now partially opened
again. There are definitely some issues with lockdowns in Europe. And they're really careful
about processing people in those posts. But we do hear some reports from clients and people
that are in our groups that say that they were able to get interviews, immigrant visa
interviews. Right now, I don't have yet full confirmation that these posts are fully reopened.
But we do know that in Europe, Frankfurt, and Madrid are definitely leading the way.
And so if you do have cases in those posts, I highly encourage you to contact them directly
and see where your cases are at. So, I'll do more of these updates once we collect that
data for you, guys, and we'll release them on future videos. So, to summarize, we gave
you some good information about different posts and embassies around the world. If your
embassy wasn't covered, let me know in the comments below. And I'll try to see if we
can get some more information. If you need help with your specific embassy case. Make
sure you text us at 619-483-4549 to set up individual consultation so I can look into
your case and tell you exactly what we can do right now to get you out of your stuck
situation. And if you know anybody that needs to know about this information Make sure to
share this video. I promise you, they'll thank you later. Alright, so, now, let's talk about
NVC wait times. It’s a painful topic. People are confused why our NVC processing time is
so important? It's important to know because everybody wants to know, even roughly, when
are they going to start working on your case, when are they going to complete working on
your case, when are the cases going to be sent from USCIS to NVC. It's important to
know because it's taking forever. And so, there is a way to check on NVC processing
times, and I'm going to show you how, in a minute. The first thing you want to do is
go to the NVC processing times website. So, the link to the NVC processing times is in
the description of this video. And also, you should see it on the screen right now. So,
you'll be able to go there as well and check on the status of your NVC case. So, the way
it works is that it's broken down into few sections on their website. So, if you can
see there, there is a section there that says current case file creation time. This is the
current case creation timeframe. So, as of the recording of this video, April 12, 2021,
NVC is working on cases that were received from USCIS on March 30, 2021. What that means
is that if your case was approved before March 30, 2021, it has a good chance to be ready
to be sent to the NVC right now. And it gives us a good indication as to what kind of cases
they are working on right now. And also, for you who are waiting, and pending in USCIS
you will know. So, the moment your case is approved over there, if it's before March
30 of 2021, there's a good chance that that case could already be sent to the National
Visa Center. The next section we'll look at is the current case review time. So, if you
look at the screen right now, you can see the current case review time, as of April
12, 2021, when we are recording this video, they're reviewing documents submitted to them
on February 7, 2021. So, basically, these are the cases that they're working on right
now. And again, before they will review your case, you have to remember that you have to
pay all the fees, you have to submit the affidavit of support, supporting financial documents,
the DS-260, and all the applicants’ civil documents. Only once all that is completed,
they are actually going to be working on your case. And right now, they're working on completed
cases that were submitted to them on February 7, 2021. So, that gives you an indication
as to where they are at the moment with NVC. So, if you feel that your case was submitted
on, say, before February 7, and still, you haven't heard anything from them, that'll
be a good indication that you need to contact NVC to start making an inquiry. We'll talk
about that in a second about how to do so. But just be mindful that you can check on
your case status, you can be aware. You shouldn't be in the dark because all that information
is available in the public. And this is the way for you to check on your case, specifically
right now. Let's look at our next section. The next section is the current public inquiry
form. So, if you are stuck, your case is stuck, you want to check with NVC, as of April 12,
recording the video, they're responding to inquiries received on March 30, 2021. So,
if your case is stuck, if you have confusion, your documents are not there, you don’t
know what's going on with your case, you can email them. There's a public inquiry form.
And they will respond to your inquiries. Again, right now, they are working on inquiries that
were submitted on March 30, 2021. If we go up to the top of this form, we're going to
click on the public inquiry form link. And that's actually a link where you can put your
case number, the principal applicant’s full name, the petitioner’s full name, and your
question below. And like I said, right now, they're working on questions that were sent
to them on the 13th of March. And if you have a problem with your case, you can also inquire
using that public inquiry form as well. So, as you can see, there is a way for you to
check and see if your case is within normal processing times. If it's outside, you can
use the public inquiry form and, or contact NVC by phone. The phone numbers are also listed
on their website as well, that I shared with you. Now, remember, it is very important to
understand that they are backlogged. If you remember my previous videos, I mentioned to
you that NVC is now being used almost as a warehousing facility for all these cases that
embassies are not able to accept right now because they're not processing cases on a
regular basis, at least most of them not. But as they start to reopen as they start
to request those files for NVC, you're going to see processing times are going to go much
faster. And hopefully, by the end of the summer, we're going to see a much better improvement
of those cases. So, hopefully, this information was helpful. I know a lot of you have been
asking me about NVC processing time, why it's taking so long. Hopefully, that information
was helpful. And also, the information about the US embassies, the individual ones, what's
happening with them, I'll continue to make more of these videos because I know it's important
for you, and you like that. And I'll continue to provide information as soon as it becomes
available. And we'll continue to make our research and aggregate that specifically for
you. Once again, if you're here for the first time, do not forget to subscribe to our channel,
click the notification bell so you don't miss any of our videos. Give us a big like so YouTube
will be able to share this channel with more people just like you. And also, I know many
of you have questions. I know many of you need help, specific help from me, please text
the phone number 619-483-4549. It's a text number created specifically for you, for our
YouTube channel viewers so you can get the help you need. Set the consultation so we
can start working together to get you unstuck from your current visa situation. Thank you
for watching. Thank you for supporting this channel and I'll see you in our next video.