The Division of State says that U.S. embassies and consulates are working to renew routine visa providers on a location-by-location foundation as rapidly as potential. As of December 2022, they report that 96 p.c of their embassies and consulates are interviewing visa candidates, and they’re processing immigrant visa purposes at 130 p.c of pre-pandemic month-to-month ranges. Nonetheless, the pandemic continues to severely impression the variety of visas embassies and consulates overseas are in a position to course of. Constraints differ primarily based on native circumstances and restrictions, however embody native and nationwide lockdowns; journey restrictions; host nation quarantine rules; and measures taken by embassies and consulates to comprise the unfold of COVID-19.
Whereas the NVC backlog decreased over the past 12 months, it isn’t prone to fall way more rapidly. U.S. immigration regulation usually requires in-person interviews for immigrant visas. Eradicating this requirement, even on a short lived foundation, is a major impediment. Waivers for immigrant visa backlog shouldn’t be doubtless. Additional, the COVID-19 virus continues to hamper operations in some nations. Lastly, there don’t look like any efforts to extend the workers of consular officers. For now, current workers will proceed to chip away on the backlog.