Bad News: Green Card Backlog Increased in April!!

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In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick provides a new update regarding the recent increase in the Immigrant Visa backlogs, which grew to more than 25,000 additional cases in the month of April alone.

To find out why this is this happening and what can you expect, please keep on watching.

Did you Know? Every month the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) publishes an Immigrant Visa Backlog report, which provides data and statistics relating to the current status of worldwide visa operations, including the number of documentarily complete immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, the number of cases that were scheduled for interviews at the end of each month, and the number of immigrant visa cases still waiting to be scheduled for a visa interview after interview appointment scheduling was completed at the end of the month.

Overview

According to the Department of State’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of April 2024, there has been a substantial increase in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog rising from 326,415 pending cases in March to 351,624 cases in April —  nearly a 10% increase amounting to a jump of 25,209 additional cases added to the backlog in just a one-month period. 

When comparing the March and April Immigrant Visa backlog reports, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for an interview at Consulates and Embassies rose from 374,532 (as of February 29, 2024) to 404,459 (as of March 31, 2024). Of these cases, only 52,835 applicants whose cases became documentarily complete were actually scheduled for interviews in April 2024. By comparison, only 48,117 applicants were scheduled for interviews in March.

The data shows that at the end of April there was still a backlog of 351,624 applicants waiting for interview scheduling.

  • A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.

March 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of February 29, 2024 374,532
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for March 2024 interview appointments 48,117
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after March 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 326,415

April 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of March 31, 2024 404,459
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for April 2024 interview appointments 52,835
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after April 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 351,624

Note: In Calendar Year 2019 on average, 60,866 applicants were pending the scheduling of an interview each month.

This data is a snapshot in time provided for informational purposes in order to be as transparent as possible.  Given that these numbers change on a regular basis through our ongoing effort to reduce the backlog, they will be outdated soon after they are published each month.  

Why is there such an increase in the backlogs?

The capacity for visa interview scheduling at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide depends upon several factors including levels of staffing, resources, and the amount of demand for visa interviews which varies greatly from Consulate to Consulate.

Busier consulates with a “higher” demand for interviews are less able to accommodate interview appointments due to the long queue.

Cases that are unable to be scheduled are “warehoused” at the National Visa Center (NVC) until the Consulate or Embassy has available interview slots.

As a result, many applicants seek to transfer their cases outside of their home country to neighboring Consulates that are better able to accommodate interviews. To know if a neighboring Consulate will process your immigrant visa application, you must first contact the Consulate for instructions.

Conclusion

Despite the increasing backlog, we remind our readers not to panic. This is just one snapshot in time. These numbers will continue to fluctuate as time goes on. We expect these backlogs to decrease by the end of the summer or the start of the new fiscal year in October.

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Contact Us. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please text 619-569-1768 or call 619-819-9204.

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