Another summer, another visa system crash. Similarly to what happened last year, U.S. consulates all over the world lost the ability to process visa applications for thousands of foreign nationals, right in the middle of the busy summer season.
What caused the crash?
It all started on June 15, 2015 when the U.S. Department of State alerted the public that they were experiencing “technical issues” with the consular visa system, resulting in consulates suddenly losing the ability to issue passports to U.S. citizens and visas to foreign nationals. According to the government, a major hardware failure in a Department of State facility that occurred on June 9, 2015 has been preventing the processing and transmission of biometric data checks, which must be completed before consulates are allowed to issue visas.
When is the government expecting to restore the system?
Passport issuance functionality was apparently restored in a couple of days but visa issuance has remained mostly at a standstill up until yesterday, when the Bureau of Consular Affairs announced that 50 consular posts were already reconnected to the system and were restarting visa issuing operations. The Department of State estimates that full system capability should be restored by the end of this week.
What have consulates done to alleviate the situation?
Until early this week, most U.S. consulates were processing only urgent humanitarian travel applications. Some posts in Mexico have continued to process a limited number of seasonal worker visa renewal applications where biometrics data was previously captured. Faced with the prospect of being unable to return to the U.S. for prolonged periods of time, many applicants have resorted to applying for I-193 waivers at the border, which permit entry without requisite visas at the discretion of the government and usually only under exceptional circumstances. Apparently the visa system crash was not enough to warrant favorable government discretion and applicants were additionally required to establish urgent travel needs. The Department of State has been instructing applicants to contact consulates and explain the nature of their urgent travel. If the consulate agreed that travel was urgent and the applicant was otherwise eligible for a visa, the consulate would issue a special travel letter and the applicant would submit this letter at the border along with an I-193 waiver application. The good news is that such drastic and complex measures would no longer be required as more and more consulates are brought back online.
What should visa applicants do now?
Considering that the U.S. government processes approximately 50,000 visa applications per day, there is already a sizable backlog of visa applications that will very likely result in visa issuance delays even after the system is completely restored. Anyone who is currently abroad and has already been interviewed should contact their consulate for additional instructions. Those who are considering traveling abroad to apply for a visa within the next few weeks are strongly urged to postpone their trip and wait until the smoke clears and visa issuing operations get back to normal. While consular processing times are never guaranteed, following certain best practices could help hedge against visa processing delays.