Hello, everybody. In this video, among other things, we're going to discuss the National
Visa Center (NVC) monthly visa backlog report for the month of June. We're also going to share some
new information that we just learned from a senior official at the State Department as to the plan of
reopening embassies and consulates worldwide and more specific information as to how they're
going to be prioritizing visas in the next few months. We also have some very bad news
for people applying for tourist visas in the next few months. And finally, we're going to discuss
NVC processing times for this month, so you know exactly which case they are
working on and what to expect next. 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 we get
the most up-to-date immigration news, immigration information, 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 help clients in all 50 states and all over the
world. Let's start with discussing the National Visa Center, most recent visa backlog report.
As you know, since that pandemic started last year, embassies and consulates were significantly
impacted worldwide with visa processing and how they're able to help applicants
secure their visas. On February 2, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order restoring faith
in our immigration system. And all the activities that happen is then are geared towards that effort
to try to streamline our visa process and make things even better. But despite the executive
order, embassies and consulates are still not able to resume regular visa processing. They
still are refusing to issue visas in cases where they are able to do so. And therefore so many
losses have been filed and are currently pending, trying to force the government to do what they're
supposed to do and start issuing visas. At the same time, the National Visa Center,
which essentially is a buffer agency, between the USCIS and immigration service that is in
charge of approving the immigrant petitions, the I-130s for family petitions. The I-140 is for
immigrant petitions. This agency is in charge of processing the applications as they are moving
towards the US Embassy for final adjudication. Their job is to collect the information
to get the DS 260 forms uploaded to collect your financial information. If you need to provide
financial support for your immigrants, they do all that, and eventually, they declare your case as
documentary qualified. Well, let's look at this chart and see what's happening right now at
the National Visa Center. So according to this report, the number of immigrant visa applicants
whose cases are now documentary qualified at the National Visa Center, and are ready for an
interview as of May 31st, stands at 536,541 cases. In more than half a million cases, the number of
documentary complete immigrant visa applicants scheduled for June 2021 interview appointments
is at 30,320. Out of those half a million, only 30,000 are now being scheduled for interviews.
And finally, the number of eligible immigrant visa applicants still pending,
scheduled an interview after June 2021 appointment scheduling was complete is set at 506,221.
In the way of comparison, in the fiscal year 2019, only 60,000 applicants were still pending
for the whole year at NVC to be scheduled for appointments. Now, it tells you that this backlog
is so severe that it's going to take a long time for the National Visa Center to be able to clear
that backlog. Now remember, and I've mentioned that in previous videos, the reason we have
this backlog is because right now the National Visa Center is essentially like a warehouse.
They're holding those documentary qualified cases. And they're waiting for embassies and consulates
to open interview slots. So they're going to be able to send them those cases.
It's not like the NVC does not want to do so if they're not able to do it because embassies
are not able to open enough interview slots for them to send those cases. And that's why
litigation is starting to push those consulates and embassies to say you can do it right now,
your consular officers are all fully vaccinated, facilities are big enough to host applicants
in their respective countries. You need to step up the game and start conducting those interviews
and you need to do so now. So this is the most recent up-to-date information with respect to
what's happening in NVC. And if you stick to the end of this video, I'm going to be covering the
actual processing times at NVC as to what cases they are working on right now. So make sure you
stick to the end so you don't miss this segment. Now let's move on to what's actually happening
at the State Department and some predictions for the next few months. And this is based on
a conversation that Donald Heflin, a senior consular officer at the US Embassy Mumbai
had to share at a recent town hall meeting. And this is going to be applicable to what's going to
happen to many other embassies and consulates around the world. But what is most concerning
is some bad news for tourist visas. Based on what he said, it doesn't look like tourist visas are
going to get any priority all the way through the end of the year. It's going to be very,
very difficult for new, first-time tourist visa applicants to get appointments,
or get any visas issued before the end of 2021. Let's hear more from Donald Heflin have to say.
We intend to start an intensive 2 months of interviewing student visa applicants,
July the first. We are committed to interviewing as many students as we did in summer 2019,
the last normal year. On Monday, June the 14th, we will open tens
of thousands of student visa appointments around the country for July and August.
We hope to open more later. In addition to student visa appointments, we hope to begin
opening appointments that are visa application centers. For those applicants who are eligible
for an interview waiver or Dropbox processing. Another priority group of visa holders and
applicants is the H1Bs, H4s, and J1s. In addition to students, our priorities this
summer will be focused on applicants for those visa categories who are traveling to the US for
specific fields such as medicine. We recognize your important contributions and understand,
meaning, you have families and jobs in the US that you need to get back to as soon as
possible. Please know we are doing our best to accommodate your request for visa appointments
and national interest exceptions. Each NIE request is carefully considered by a consular
officer as quickly as possible and you'll be notified as soon as a decision has been made.
Unfortunately, the presidential proclamation is clear about applicants for B1, B2, tourist,
and business visitor visas; very, very few of these visas will be issued or receive
an approved national interest exception. So as Don said, it looks like immigrant visa
petitions are going to get priority based on the new priority schedule of the State Department then
they're going to give visas preference to students as well. They're going to be able to give them
appointments for students that are coming back to the United States to finish their education.
H1B and other work visas are going to be able to get appointments under the national interest
exceptions, they should be able to get national interest exceptions fairly easy. But the bad news
is for tourist visa applications specifically the ones that are applying for the first time,
they're not going to be a priority at all and it’s going to be very difficult for people
to get and qualify for tourist visas all the way through the end of this year, which is not
very promising for a lot of people don't want to join family members, join family events,
all that is not going to be possible in the fiscal year 2021. So you know the final
segment. Let's talk about NVC processing time. Now, remember, cases are arriving in the NVC
after they've done processing at the USCIS. And they have a certain process that they follow.
And I'm going to show it to you in a second on the screen when we pull it from the NVC website.
Remember, as I mentioned before, the NVC is kind of like a middleman. It facilitates the
process between what happens at USCIS after it's been approved before the US Embassy
can see the applicant and adjudicate their cases. And therefore right now because NVC
is not able to send all these cases to the embassies because they're not accepting them.
It is important to understand what cases they are working on right now and how this process
is actually taking place. So the first category that you see on the NVC processing times is
their current case, file creation time as of June 28, 2021. We record this video. They're working
on cases that were received from USCIS on June 22, 2021. So then what happens once your USCIS
approves your I-131 or any other petition, they're going to send you an approval form 797.
At the NVC, they're going to create your file and enter all your information into their system.
What's going to happen next is the following. After NVC will create your case,
they're going to send you further instructions for processing your case. They’re also going to
send you a welcome letter that includes your case number and an invoice ID. You're going to use this
information to log into the consular electronic application center. Make sure you keep the welcome
notice safe and available at all times. Because without this, you're not going to be able to log
in and update your case. The second category that you see on the NVC processing website
is the current case review time. What does that mean? So these are the actual cases. That NVC is
able to review right now. Now before NVC can review your case, you have to finish all the
requirements. That means the following: pay all the required fees as indicated on the NVC website,
submit all the required documents, including supporting documents for the affidavit of support,
the financial documents, the petitioner documents for the affidavits of support,
the complete form DS 260 submitted by the applicant and all the civil documents
that the applicant needs to provide to the NVC to complete processing of the case.
Unless you have all this completed. NVC is not going to be able to review your case,
and you're not going to be considered at this stage. The current case review time is as follows
as of June 28, 2021. NVC is reviewing cases that have their supporting documents correct, submitted
on May 27, 2021. This is the current case review time, May 27, 2021. And the final category and the
processing time of NVC is the current public inquiry response time. As of June 28, 2021,
NVC is responding to inquiries submitted on June 7, 2021. Remember, make sure that when
you do inquire with NVC [word tampered by music] correctly, we use the electronic inquiry form
because the NVC is already overwhelmed with applications and cases, you want to make sure
you inquire only when it's necessary. Remember, my recommendation is to only inquire with NVC
if your case is outside of the normal processing time. So if it's outside the processing time
that I just mentioned in this video, then it's recommended to call them or to submit an online
form so you can check on the status of your case, only if it's outside of normal processing. Don't
do that unless it's really necessary. So hopefully the information in this video was helpful.
As always, 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. And also give us a big like so
YouTube can share this video with more people just like you. If you need direct help with your case,
if your case is stuck, you need to expedite your case. If you need help to navigate the NVC State
Department backlog system, text me right here, 619-483-4549, let's set up a consultation and help
you with your individual case. As always, thanks for watching, and I'll see you in our next video.