State Department clears most of backlog from database outage

Most of the backlog of visa applications that piled up during periodic database outages since July 20 has been cleared, according to the U.S. State Department. 

“We have made significant progress and issued most of the worldwide backlog of nonimmigrant visa cases,” the State Department said yesterday.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs is prioritizing immigrant visas, adoption cases and emergency nonimmigrant visa cases. Most of those cases are being processed and printed without delay. However, the database is still not working at full capacity as the result of a computer glitch that started July 20 and a “small number” of visa cases are pending resolution of system performance issues.

The State Department is warning visa applicants that they might still experience delays of up to one week in addition to normal processing times.

BAL Analysis: The clearing of the visa backlog is good news, but visa applicants should keep in mind that some delays are occurring. Travelers should check with individual U.S. embassies and consular posts for more information and should not purchase tickets until they have a printed visa in hand.

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