What's happening with embassies and consulates worldwide? In this video,
I'm going to give you an update as of what's happening right now with embassies and consulates,
which visa interviews are scheduled, which countries are now accepting immigrant visa
interviews. So, what are you waiting for? I'll see you on the other side.
So in this video, we're going to talk about what's happening with consulates and embassies worldwide,
specifically, as it pertains to immigrant visas. And I know that a lot of you have been
asking questions, different embassies, different consulates, we're going to try to provide some
information in these videos, as much as I know, from our cases, from information that we get
at our Facebook group. We have almost 8000 members there, we have a lot of information,
and of course, information that we get from other sources. So, that's kind of what I'm going to be
able to do in this video. If you’re here for the first time, make sure you subscribe to our channel
so you won't miss any of our videos. Click that bell to be notified. And also, give us a big like
so YouTube is going to recommend this video to more people just like you. I am Jacob
Sapochnick and I'm an immigration attorney here in San Diego, California. And I do these videos every
week just for you, guys. So let's talk about what's happening in embassies and consulates
worldwide. Remember, we're now in September, it's almost… we’re past half of the month,
and the fiscal year for visas is going to start again in October.
The prediction for the State Department is going to be an overflow of visas, specifically on the
employment-based. More than 100,000 of them are going to be available in the new fiscal year,
and more on the family side. There's going to be close to 300,000 extra visas available overflow
to start the year. And again, this is a combination of a lot of things. It can be
because of what happened during COVID. The continents were closed, no visas being issued,
things that are happening on the US side, many, many factors. But that's just the reality of
what's going to happen. So, while the State Department issued the notice that consulates and
embassies can reopen after July 15, in reality, most of them didn't really open, we see now, more
and more of them are getting their calendars open. And what we tell our clients, and we check that
for them as well, is that every embassy that has a calendar available, immediately try to schedule
your immigrant visa appointments so you're not going to be left behind. And once again,
I'm not going to be surprised that even if some of these embassies are going to open their calendars,
there could be a possibility for them to cancel and reschedule those appointments
because you just don't know. Things are really fluid right now and everything's up in the air.
But the good news is that quite a few of these embassies are reopening right now. And
I'm going to go through a list of a few of them right now. And specifically for immigrant visa
interviews, CR1 categories, family petitions that are being a priority, right now, to be scheduled.
Also remember, like I mentioned in previous videos as well, even for the embassies that are closed,
they are accepting emergency appointments. And I give you an example. We have a case
where we scheduled an emergency appointment at the US Embassy in Kenya before the embassy reopened.
So, we were able to send a request specifically to that post. We presented the situation, there was a
US citizen spouse in the US who was going through a lot of emotional issues and a lot of emotional
problems. It really was hardship in that situation. The separation, that they haven't
seen each other for more than 11 months. And so, while the embassy was still closed, it was
a CR1 case, we were able to schedule the immigrant visa appointment, and the spouse was able to come
to the United States. So again, we didn't have to wait for the actual post to open. We exercise
the request for an emergency appointment and they granted it. So, as I mentioned in previous videos,
for the posts that are closed, continue to request the emergency appointments because you never know,
they may be able to give it to you. So, let's talk about some of the US embassies and consulates in
some of the different countries where they are actually processing immigrant visa interviews.
So, let's start with the most recent one, which is Kenya. And like I mentioned, I gave an
example before, we were able to get an emergency appointment in Kenya before they reopened, but now
they seem to be reopened for immigrant visa interviews as of the beginning of this month.
So, if you have interviews in Nairobi, you should be able to see their calendar open. Again,
you should email the embassy and see and check on the website. Because again, everything I'm telling
you in this video can change from one day to the next. So, things are very fluid. We try our best
to report what we know. The next embassy that I'm getting questions a lot, and we have quite a few
cases there, is Mumbai in India. So, Mumbai in India is currently open for
fingerprints. They do biometrics for immigrant visas. And also, we had two interviews for
immigrant visas, CR1 cases, they came from there. But the last time, I checked it before recording
this video, it looks like they are now suspended again for interviews. So, I guess we have to see
but there were some movements in Mumbai. They were giving immigrant visa interviews. At least we had
some people in our office, and I heard from other attorneys as well. But the last time I checked,
they are suspended right now. So, that's Mumbai. The next embassy we can talk about is
in Germany. We’re talking about Frankfurt, and Frankfurt right now is suspended. Again,
they only do emergency interviews. The reason I mentioned Frankfurt is because we had
a couple of interviews there that was scheduled. The calendar was open. And once again,
it's closed right now. So, I'm not sure what's going on over there. But we had two cases
from Frankfurt without emergency appointments. [inaudible] their visas but now they're suspended.
So again, that's only for emergency appointments, that particular embassy. Let's talk about Japan,
Tokyo. So, Tokyo, as of mid-August, is scheduling CR1 visas, marriage interview,
marriage-based interviews at that embassy. And as of now, their calendar is open. So, hopefully,
if you have cases in Tokyo, please go ahead and try to schedule them as soon as you can.
Another one to report is Korea, Seoul. So, the embassy over there is also scheduling interviews,
immigrant visa interviews. So, if you have cases there, make sure to check with that post to make
sure that you're not missing anything in there. In China, we know that only Guangzhou is scheduling
immigrant visa interviews right now. And none of the other posts are open to immigrant visa
interviews. So, if you have a case there, make sure to contact the specific embassy. And like
I said, it is really important for you, whatever your case is, to communicate with your particular
post. And again, the information in this video may not be relevant anymore in the next week
or so. But for the moment, it's what we see. The embassy in Vietnam is accepting cases on
a limited basis. We know that the immigrant visa is open, and they're scheduling cases
but not all cases. We know K1s are open in Vietnam, and they're working perfectly well. And
there are no delays. As far as we know over there. I get a lot of questions about the US Embassy in
Pakistan. Their embassy is closed right now for immigrant visa processing. But they do accept
emergency appointments. And we assisted a client last month to get their emergency appointment in
Pakistan. So, they are accepting and they are working pretty efficiently over there.
So, you can’t get your routine immigrant visa appointment, but you can do an emergency if
you qualify. And once again, we highly encourage people to try to get those emergency appointments.
The Embassy in Paris has resumed processing immigrant visas, they’re issuing CR1 visas, and
other immigrant visas at that post. So again, if you have a case over there, make sure you contact
their post and try to see if you can schedule that appointment. So, Paris is on. We also have a case
right now in the US Embassy in Bulgaria. And they are also scheduling appointments
as of this month. So, that's good news as well, they were closed for a while, obviously,
they were closed since the pandemic started. So, immigrant visa interviews in Bulgaria,
are scheduling… is open right now. The US Embassy in Belgium is also open as of mid-August. They're
scheduling immigrant visa interviews, as well as non-immigrant visa interviews
but for immigrant visa interviews, you please contact the post as well to make sure you can.
If you have a case that is supposed to be scheduled over there, check with them as well to
see if their calendar is open right now. So, these are the embassies that we know that are currently
processing. There may be others, obviously, based on reports we get from our group, and other
sources, from our actual cases. The ones that I was able to get expedited, the ones that are
closed. And like I mentioned, in Pakistan, we’re also able to get a few cases in, and Singapore,
and also in Italy, we’re able to get emergency appointments for immigrant visas only. So again,
it is possible. It's happening. This is the recent update. I have quite a few of you who are asking
me about F2A visas, who are also stuck overseas, those who are subject to the Proclamation, spouses
of green card holders. And again, those are not able to come even if their embassies are open.
But you can still if you meet an exception, you're able to use that exception to come even if you are
within the limits of the Proclamation. So, once again, not all hope is lost. And I feel that in
the next few weeks, we're going to see more and more of these posts reopening. And I'll
make another video to follow up, to update you on which embassies are open and what's happening over
there. So, once again, if you have any questions, if you want to know about your particular posts,
post them in the comments, and I'll try to do some more investigation and see if we can get more
information for our next video. So, once again, thanks for watching. Don't forget to subscribe to
our channel. Click the bell to be notified. And join our private membership, ImmigrationU.com,
the link is right here. If you're going through the process of waiting for your immigrant visa
interview, you don't know what to do, you’re stuck, you want to be in a community to be able to
talk to other members, get information, zoom calls, this is what we do. And this is why I
created this platform for you, guys. So, check it out. The link is right here. And questions,
post them in the comments. And I'll see you in the next video. Thanks for watching.