J1 graduate Visa- Delay in visa processing‏

pkh14

Hey,

I had my embassy interview there last week and they told me it was granted, then i got an email yesterday saying:

Dear Applicant,



If you have already received your visa, or have been informed that your passport is ready for collection at a DPD depot, please disregard this notice.



The Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our visa system which are affecting operations globally. We recognize that this may cause inconvenience to travelers, and apologize for the delay.



Although we have completed adjudication of your visa application, we are unable to take final action on the visa at this time. We hope to have our system fully operational again soon, but currently we do not have a timeline for when this may happen. If you have travel planned in the near future, we would suggest adjusting your travel arrangements accordingly.



Again, we recognize and regret the inconvenience this may cause. If you would like your passport returned to you (without the visa) please let us know and we will return it for later issuance, or alternatively, you may collect your passport any afternoon between 1.00 p.m. and 3.00 p.m. Please be assured that as soon as our visa system is fully operational, we will continue processing your visa and contact you immediately, either by telephone or e-mail.



We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter.



Consular Section

Embassy of the United States of America





Has anyone else gotten this or know what the story is? or is in the same boat? I'm flying off soon and am a bit worried about it. or even roughly how long it would take?

Thanks!

iusedtoknow

It means what it says, they are having issues and it will take as long as it takes.

A teammate of mine got a similar issue, it delayed the visa 2 weeks, however my company does have the policy of not organizing flights or anything until the passport was in possession of the applicant, so it didn't delay things too much

do you have flights already booked?

lil_lisa

I received the same email from my lawyers over here in the US. Its an issue which has affected visa processing around the world. I guess you just have to wait and hope you get it on time:

The Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with their passport/visa system. Per the Department:

This issue is worldwide and is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. We apologize to applicants who are experiencing delays or are unable to obtain a passport, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or visa at this time. We are working urgently to correct the problem and expect our system to be fully operational again soon.

We are hopeful this will be a very temporary issue. However, even a short shutdown is likely to increase backlogs for visa issuance during the busy summer travel season. Note the problem is with the issuance of the visa stamp, not with scheduling interviews or availability of interviews. However, if you are planning to obtain a new visa stamp at a U.S. Consulate abroad in the near future, you may wish to double-check the situation at the post at which you will be applying.

pkh14

I booked my flights, as the embassy had told me my visa was granted after the interview last week. The flights aren't for 2.5 weeks so I'm hoping it will come on time. I see a lot of news articles about the 'glitch' or delay, really nerve wracking They give no time frame unfortunately...