WASHINGTON, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – A US State Department official said Tuesday the Bureau of Consular Affairs has issued most of visas following a delay in data processing across the globe caused by a technical glitch.
“We have made significant progress and issued most of the worldwide backlog of nonimmigrant visa cases. We are working to bring the Consular Consolidated Database back to full operational capacity,” the official said.
The official further said: “We continue to prioritize immigrant visas, adoption cases, and emergency nonimmigrant visa cases. We are printing visas for these cases with very few delays.”
He said the US authorities are aware that “a small number of visa cases still in process because of system performance issues.”
“We are working diligently to clear those cases. Visa applicants are advised they might still experience delays of up to one week in addition to normal processing times. Applicants should take this into consideration when making travel plans,” he added.
The official also said applicants are advised that they might still experience delays of up to one week in addition to normal processing times, and should consider this when making travel plans.
In the past few months, the US State Department has been struggling to overcome a systems outage which caused a backlog of visa and passport applications. Since July 20, a range of consulates across the globe, including in Russia, have been issuing visas with delays.
