Delay in Delivery of Approved Visas

[hanniel 41]

By the way, My newborn's passport was caught up this mess. I have spent 2 weeks with him since he was born because of this process. He is 9 weeks old. Today is Father's day and of course we are apart. I would love to be optimistic and get tickets for him and my fiance to come here for the fourth of July but I won't because god knows I could be waiting an additional month. I understand the anxiety and pain of eaiting but getting a ticket to time the government is not woth doing.

[JMartinez101 2]

We all were banking on something similar. We all are losing something because of this glitch but...

it's good to remember that we all waited soooo long already. When the day comes, the reward will be so worth all the heartache. ?

[E K 4]

Patience is a virtue.

[Aria637 0]

I agree, we have waited this long, a few more weeks won't kill us even though it's very hard to wait but the reward will be well worth it. Well my parents interview was on June 9 and it still says administrative processing, please keep updating and good luck to everyone!

[chantuff9 21]

Buying a non-refundable ticket before a visa is issued is never a good idea... Don't book nonrefundable events without physical confirmation of your visa or greencard. Any money saved if things go well is not worth the stress of not knowing if it'll come in before your due date. Trust me, I am not being rude, just trying to prevent y' all from making similar mistakes in the future and lose money.

Again.... it's a calculated risk. Everyone makes calculated risks everyday in many different ways. There's nothing wrong with being upset if it doesn't work out. That's a pretty normal reaction. I think we are all well aware of the chance of it not working out. And so when it doesn't, we may be upset, but obviously we are accepting of our fate.... Which we can do without having someone rub it in basically saying "I told you so." I'm not saying you in particular did anything like that, but I see it often on this website and it's starting to bother me, that's all.

Not that making a post about it will stop anything. Just wanted to express my thoughts.

Also, sorry to hear you've been separated from your newborn for so long. That must be tough.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Penguin_ie

[BraveAmnay 56]

By Gabriel Mozes and Jason E. Burritt On June 15, 2015, the Department of State (DOS) announced that the Bureau of Consular Affairs was experiencing technical problems with its visa systems, which resulted in delays in printing visas and the possible rescheduling of visa interviews. The affected visa systems performed national security checks which were required prior to visa issuance. In particular, DOS stated that a hardware failure on June 9, 2015 stopped the flow of biometric clearance requests from U.S. consular posts to the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD), which supports worldwide visa and passport verification and processing. UPDATE: As of June 19, 2015, the Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to experience technical problems with its visa systems

.

According to DOS, more than 100 computer experts from both the public and private sectors across the U.S. are working on the problem around the clock. However, many visa applicants who were scheduled for visa appointments between June 15, 2015 and June 26, 2015 have received appointment cancellation emails from DOS with instructions to reschedule their appointments on the first available date. In light of these sudden cancellations and the demand for rescheduling, many applicants have been unable to schedule new visa appointments until the end of July or later. In addition, those individuals who have already submitted their passports for visa stamping and are awaiting the return of their passports and visa stamps will continue to face delays until the visa systems are up and running. Importantly, we have learned that some U.S. consular posts are treating requests for passport returns as visa denials, which may cause complications with future visa applications and registration for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

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According to recent information provided by DOS during the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Annual Conference in Washington D.C., the agency expects that the visa systems will be operational in some capacity over the next week, but no definitive date has been given. In the meantime, DOS will prioritize visa issuance for agricultural workers and humanitarian cases. Based on additional information obtained during the AILA Conference, applicants who wish to apply for their visas in Canada, but do not hold Canadian passports nor reside in Canada, will be unable to secure visa appointments until October 2015.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Until the DOS visa systems are restored and functional, foreign nationals may face significant visa issuance delays and should plan their travel carefully. Any questions or issues affecting visa status should be directed to Seyfarth Shaw as soon as possible.

Edited June 22, 2015 by BraveAmnay

[tayurshu 37]

I have just checked my status on CEAC. My whole visa number is now invalid. Anyone else has the same?

[JMartinez101 2]

I just checked mine. It is the same status: "ready".

[tayurshu 37]

Gah...This makes me worry :/

[PhuongNRon 5]

My case ID still works and has the status "ready" as well.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

***** One post removed and one quoting edited. Be civil. *****

[canadagirl89 8]

Mine is still showing as "ready."

[debbiericardo 2]

Mine still shows admin processing ... No changes since june 9th ???

[rmg-fg 32]

Our status gave us cause to worry as well; it does not even show my husband was at his interview. We sent a mail to the Italian Consulate late Fri and recieved a response by my 3 am (around 9 am their time):

Good Morning,

Yes, your case has been impacted by the worldwide technical issues. Unfortunately, we cannot give you an exact timeline as to when it will be resolved at this point in time. You will receive an email with the tracking number once we have printed the visa and returned the passport to DHL.

Regards,

IV Unit
Naples, Italy

It doesn't give much info but I took it as a very good sign. They state when you send a mail that due to the difficulties it could take a week for a response but we got it almost immediately. Also verified that the status not being changed in no way reflected the actual status after approval.

I did much more research and took heart from some facts. Last year, if we believe the facts released, had a different problem and more complex. The problem stemming from the software meant that it was not an issue that could be fixed technically but had to get the creators of the actual program involved. It also affected links that are not affected at this time; causing even more backlog problems that we are facing.

What I noticed was that they released information stating that the system was running only after July 30 but also stated that, after several weeks being unable to process they actually had the system up and running by July 26. The backlog took a matter of days to a week to release. By the time the statements were released that the visas had been almost completely caught up, it was confirmed that the system was not only up and running, visas already having had been released but also testing for stability of the system was completed as well.

I actually believe we can keep up hope that the 2-3 weeks from interview time is fairly accurate based on the facts from last year and the process they used not only for completing all work but also releasing positive information (something that had not been released until days after they actually were already processing and testing).

Hang in there (smile). I do believe this is getting somewhere; remember this is a computer system. Once it's running I don't think it will be so long to wait after for the right buttons to be released. Your consulate is working hard individually as well to do their part; absolutely sure of that. Hope the info of the lack of status changes helped. I think there is not as much to worry about in that aspect; each consulate dealt with it the way they felt best but it seems they are all aware of the problems.

[Aria637 0]

your info gave me some ease. Also mine still says AP. still has not changed as well but I did notice it was updated on June 18 from June 9