For those outside the United States, and those with visas coming to an end, there is a concern about the fact that we've seen all US Consulates and Embassies closed for visa appointments since early March. So what are their statuses right now?
Last Update: 21 May 2019. This article will update when changes and updates are received.
21 May 2019: I'm seeing appoints canceled through June 15.
18 May 2019: I'm seeing reports this morning that June 1 appointments have been canceled.
What we're seeing right now is that yes, appointment bookings are being accepted at different locations around the world. However, when the appointment gets closer, we're seeing the appointments be canceled in advance.
During the last Regular Checkup with Zjantelle Cammissa Markel from Cammisa Markel PLLC Immigration Law Firm we discussed what was going on with appointments to date:
From Zjantelle:
June appointments have not been canceled.
The first appointment we have in June is June 4th. So, you know, it’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks if those appointments remain, if those appointments in Australia in June, we have people in London by, by, Bahamas, Paris and Australia with appointments in June and July right now.
In March it was “yeah, look, let’s book your appointment in June, July. You know, they, those should be fine.” We have clients that do have appointments still that have not yet… all the appointments have been canceled for May, for clients that have had appointments in May.
This means that we're seeing updates regularly and it's important to keep checking back for the most important information.
Around April 15, two weeks in May got canceled while the end of May was still available, and then as of last week, all of May got canceled.
Because of this, we're expecting to see updates in the coming days as to whether appointments in June will be going ahead.
Official notice from USCIS/State Department
A great place for information is always the official source of updates, which is either on USCIS or the State Departments' website.
An especially important page is the State Departments' U.S. Visa News update feed which contains up-to-date media releases which affect all of these consulates, visas, and more.
On March 20, we saw the “official notice of Suspension of Routine Visa Services”:
In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State is temporarily suspending routine visa services at all U.S. Embassies and Consulates.
And therefore it's safe to say that when we see official notice of locations being restored worldwide, there will be updates on this page.
Consulates and Embassies do operate somewhat individually as well due to the fact that each country they are in is at a dramatically different stage right now, so it can sometimes help to check each of their pages that are relevant to you. A complete list of embassies and consulates can be found here.
Reviews and status/wait-times of visa locations
I have left America Josh's Visa Location Reviews all in red and “closed” until we see appointments actually be fulfiled as otherwise I felt it was showing misleading information.
You can keep checking that page for updates or this page to see what new information we have come across our desk.
