So, in this video, I'll give you a little snapshot as to what's happening with NVC right
now, what is the current backlog for cases that are documentarily qualified to proceed
for their visa interviews? Next, we have some new information also, for non-immigrant visas,
specifically for the E visa, the investor visa. We have a lot of people that are watching
these videos and they need the most up-to-date information about their visas, those people
that apply for investor visas all over the world. So, I'm going to provide you a little
bit of an update on what's happening with E visas, and where's the current backlog.
We'll talk about this and what to expect in the next year when it comes to applying for
E visas in consulates and embassies worldwide. Next, we'll talk about when can we actually
get back to normal visa processing for immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas and provide
the timeline as to when embassies are going to start getting back to routine processing
visas worldwide? And finally, we'll talk about what can you do now, under this current climate,
to either speed up your case to get an interview earlier, or to try to enter the United States
without a visa under special procedures. So, make sure you watch this video until the end
because I've got some good information that you may benefit from or be able to share with
somebody that needs this information right now. So, what are you waiting for? I'll see
you on the other side. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to our Immigration channel. This
is a place where you get the most up-to-date immigration, US immigration information, and
everything else that you need to make your immigration journey less stressful. My name
is Jacob Sapochnik, and I'm an immigration attorney located in San Diego, California.
And I help clients in all 50 states. If you're here for the first time, don't forget to subscribe
to our channel, click the notification bell so you don't miss any of our videos. And also,
give us a big like so YouTube will be able to share this video with more people just
like you. So, let's talk about the visa backlog. The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the
worst visa backlogs in immigration history, both on the immigrant visa side and the non-immigrant
visa side. The backlog is so severe that the State Department estimates that they're not
going to be able to clear this backlog, even by the end of 2022. Since March of 2020, embassies
and consulates worldwide have been essentially working on a very limited capacity for more
than a year. And so, as a result, visa interviews are continued to be canceled, continued to
be rescheduled, and many posts are actually not available at all. But from the comments
that I get on this channel, from you, many of you are stressed, many of you are concerned,
many of you are worried when are you going to get your immigrant visa interviews. And
also, those of you that are inside the United States are worried to go back home to apply
for the visas because you're worried that you're going to be stuck at the US embassy
and not be able to come back to the United States. These are all valid concerns. Unless
the Biden administration will come up with an immediate solution. Now, many families
are going to be stuck in this backlog for over a year. And who knows if that's even
going to be resolved by the end of 2022. Therefore, a solution is needed right now. So, let's
talk about the most up-to-date information from the National Visa Center about the current
visa backlog. As has been reported in early May, the National Visa Center recently reported
an increase of more than 800% in pending applications sitting at NVC waiting for interviews. Can
you imagine what it's going to take to overcome that backlog of 800% increase in applications
just sitting and waiting to be released for interviews? As of early April, 494,000 applications
are sitting pending at the National Visa Center. 494,000 applications are sitting and waiting
at NVC. This is compared to 60,000 applications that were pending at the same time in 2019.
This is insane. They don't have the staffing or the capacity to handle such a backlog.
And we can see it increasing every single day. And you want to know how many of these
applications were scheduled for an interview in April. Out of all these 494,000 pending,
only 80,000 applications were moved from the NVC to different embassies to be scheduled
for interviews, 18,000 out of 490 4000. This is not even a drop in the bucket. And out
of these 80,000 applications that were sent for interviews, quite a few of them are actually
expedite requests. They were taken outside of the normal wait lines because they qualify
for national interests exceptions, therefore, were able to be sent to the different embassies
for interviews. So, as you can see, the situation is still quite difficult when it comes to
immigrant visa interviews. Processing cases are still stuck in NVC, and that much is leaving
to be able to go to the embassy to be scheduled. As I mentioned in previous videos, the NVC
is now used as a warehousing facility in a way they're not able to send cases to the
embassies unless the embassies actually open slots for them to be able to take them. And
therefore, so little cases are being released because many of these embassies don't have
the capacity to take on those cases. Again, I'll mention later on in this video, what
you can actually do. While we're waiting for the State Department to take action, and open
more slots, and open more embassies, there are some things you can do. And I’ll mention
that in a few minutes. But the moment is important for you to be aware as to where we stand,
a huge backlog of almost half a million cases are sitting pending in NVC, and less than
20,000 of those have been scheduled interviews in the past month. Let's see what happens
in May. Moving forward to June, I'll be able to get those numbers for you next month, and
provide an even more detailed update. So, let's move on to non-immigrant visas, specifically
the visa category that has been significantly impacted by this backlog. And the embassies’
inability to provide interviews on a consistent basis. E1 visas are visas that are issued
for treaty traders, people that come here to engage in trade. Whether you sell something
if you have at least 50% or more trade with the United States you qualify for the E1 visa.
The E2 visa is a visa that is issued for investors. If you come to the United States and you invest
a substantial amount to start your business, you're qualified for the E2 visa. Both E1
and E2 visas have been significantly impacted by the recent backlogs at all embassies around
the world. According to the State Department, 48,000 E visas were issued in the fiscal year
2019, the year before COVID hit in 2020. Only 22,000 E2 visas were issued worldwide, less
than 50% from the previous year, which is really, really significant for people that
are coming to the United States to start businesses and employ US citizens. These are jobs that
we are losing here because the State Department is not able to issue visas for immigrants
that are coming here to create jobs. This is crazy. While many US embassies and consulates
are backlogged and not able to issue visas properly. There are few embassies around the
world that are leading by example and are able to clear some of their backlogs and process
non-immigrant visas, specifically E visas, almost like before the pandemic. Those two
posts are the US consulate in Osaka, Japan, and the US Embassy in Seoul, Korea. Those
two posts were still able to function despite the restrictions of the pandemic and were
able to issue almost as many visas as before the pandemic. And this is because they were
able to increase their staffing and find more facilities within their embassies to make
space for these interviews to be able to issue those visas because they know how important
they are. On the other hand, the US Embassy in London issued less than 14% of E visas
compared to what they've done the year before the pandemic. This embassy was definitely
shut down most of the year. And even when they reopened slowly, it happened in a very
limited capacity. They were not able to issue those interviews to as many applicants that
they should have, we definitely clearly see that Europe is very impacted because of the
lockdowns over there. Let’s take a look at some of the statistics on these embassies.
The embassies in Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, Rome, and London issued less than half of
these E visas compared to the same period in 2019. Once again, it's because of their
limited capacities. The worst embassies to consider when issuing those visas during a
pandemic are San Paolo in Brazil, less than 2% compared to the previous year before the
pandemic. Bogota, Colombia, less than 2% compared to the previous year before the pandemic.
Istanbul, Buenos Aires, and Dublin, less than 6% compared to the previous year before the
pandemic. And finally, Calgary, Canada, less than 26% as before the pandemic, and Monterrey,
Mexico, less than 30% as compared to before the pandemic. So once again, as I mentioned
before, every embassy has their own procedures for reopening, and therefore, these numbers
vary from post to post. As I mentioned in one of my previous videos, under the most
recent prioritization of visas, under the new system of prioritization of visa appointments,
embassies will give priority to non-immigrant visas depending on urgent needs and other
factors. As I mentioned before, there is a whole four-tier system of immigrant visa prioritization,
and after that, they will decide which non-immigrant visas will be able to get priority based on
urgent needs only. So, when can we expect things to get back to normal? Based on what
I mentioned to you earlier in this video, it may take more than a year for embassies
and consulates around the world to clear this backlog. Probably even closer to two years.
If you think about it. The resumption of routine visa services is currently happening on a
post-by-post basis. And again, this is because of the different country conditions and the
different COVID rules in the different countries. For example, countries like the UK and Israel
that are leading the way with their vaccination efforts are most likely going to see their
posts reopened much faster, as opposed to other countries, like India, for example,
with a global pandemic is getting out of control. So, bear in mind that this is going to be
a factor as well in your country as to when they're going to reopen and how they're going
to reopen. So, what can you do now to face this crisis and try to get your visa interview
scheduled sooner? There are a few tools we can follow. First of all, there is a way to
request an interview waiver in certain cases, specifically for non-immigrant visas. March
11, the State Department expanded its policy to allow interview waivers for certain non-immigrant
visas, specifically for people that apply for non-immigrant visas in the same category,
if their visa is going to expire within the next 48 months. And this is good until December
31, 2021. So again, in some cases, you can request an interview visa waiver for a non-immigrant
visa. And this way, you can bypass the wait time to get your visa reissued. The second
thing you can do, and this is one of the things that we do a lot in our law firm is trying
to request an expedited based on a national interest exception. Now, the national interest
exception can apply to a lot of people. It's important to understand the facts of your
case and discuss this with an attorney that understands how to do those cases. But we've
been very successful to get those expedited requests in many, many consulates and embassies
worldwide. And until this backlog is going to be cleared, meaning for the next year,
the expedite option is still a good option. And if you do need help with your case, don't
forget to text me right here, 619-483-4549. I'm here to help you with your case. It is
important to understand that every case is different, every embassy is different, but
it is important to take action and that just to wait. Another option, which is another
very common option but it is possible, first, is the visa waiver from Customs and Border
Protection. Under Section 212 B4 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a person can ask for
a visa waiver from a CBP port of entry due to an unforeseen emergency. Again, it's a
very limited exception but it is possible. This request can be filed in advance with
a port of entry using Form I-943. Again, a very limited exception but it is possible.
The third option, if you're inside the United States, continue to extend your status if
it's a non-immigrant visa that you're on, if it's a work visa, if you're applying for
Adjustment of Status if you have that option, do it inside the United States. As many things
as you can do from inside the United States within the law, do it. Don't travel abroad
right now because you don't know when and how you're going to be able to come back.
And if you tried everything, you try to expedite, they refuse, you try the congressman's office
assistance to push your case. You can always sue the government using a writ of mandamus
to force them to act. Again, these are extreme situations but it is possible to sue them.
And right now, quite a few of these embassies like Moscow, and Manila are being sued right
now. And the State Department is being sued. So, litigation is an option. It is important
to understand if you qualify, but there is hope. So, hopefully, the information in this
video was helpful. I really try my best to gather all this information from all the different
sources and put it in one concise video for your benefit. If you have questions. If you
enjoyed this video, make sure you drop a comment below. It really makes me happy to hear from
you and a lot of these consultations that I do with you, guys. You give me some kind
of feedback and I appreciate all of you. And again, if you need help in your case, text
me, 619-483-4549. I'm here for you. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to subscribe to
our channel. Don't forget to give us a big like
and I'll see you in our next video.