On March 31, 2021, Presidential Proclamation 10052 (PP 10052), which suspended entry of certain nonimmigrants, is expected to end. While this is welcome news and an important step towards creating a welcoming America, this will not result in immediate processing of nonimmigrant visa applications. In addition, it will not speed up the processing of immigrant visa cases, as the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to impact post operations. With many health-related bans still in place, the posts will likely continue to be unable to process cases at pre-COVID levels.
In addition, we have been advised that the National Visa Center (NVC), which processes visa applications before sending them to the post, currently has approximately 500,000 documentarily qualified IV cases that are ready to be sent to post on a first-in-first-out-basis. This backlog appears to be one of the main factors for focusing posts’ currently limited resources on IV issuance.
If you or a family member is interested in processing a case for a relative abroad, contact us.
