DOS Practice Alert: Technical Problems with Passport/Visa System (Updated 9/8/14)

Update from September 8, 2014, on the U.S. Department of State website:

The Consular Consolidated Database is supporting visa and passport issuances within expected processing times and service expectations. We have eliminated the queue of pending nonimmigrant visa cases caused by the system issues. Most of the queue was cleared by July 26, with very few delays thereafter.

Update from August 13, 2014, on the U.S. Department of State website:

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. We continue to prioritize immigrant visas, adoption cases, and emergency nonimmigrant visa cases. We are printing visas for these cases and all cases with very few delays. Please check with the embassy or consulate where you will apply for additional information. Please see our FAQs for more information.

Update from August 4, 2014, on the U.S. Department of State website:

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. We continue to prioritize immigrant visas, adoption cases, and emergency nonimmigrant visa cases. We are printing visas for these cases with very few delays. We are aware of 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. Please check with the embassy or consulate where you will apply for additional information. Please see our FAQs for more information.

Update from July 31, 2014, at 4pm ET on the U.S. Department of State website:

The CCD is still performing below its normal operational capacity. However, to give you an idea of the progress we have made, from the start of the operational issues on July 20 through July 28, we issued more than 220,000 nonimmigrant visas globally. Based on our average production figures, we would have anticipated issuing closer to 425,000 nonimmigrant visas in that time period, indicating we have been able to print nonimmigrant visas for about half of all approved travelers. It will take some weeks before we are back to normal turnaround times on issued visas. We continue to prioritize immigrant visas, adoption cases, and emergency nonimmigrant visa cases. We are printing visas for these cases with very few delays. Please see our FAQs for further information.

Update from July 31, 2014, notice on the U.S. Department of State website:

The Department of State continues to work to restore our visa system to full functionality. We anticipate it will take weeks to resume full visa processing capacity. We continue to prioritize immigrant visas, including adoption cases. So far, we have been able to issue most cases with few delays. Please see our FAQs for further information.

Update from July 30, 2014, notice on the U.S. Department of State website:

The Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to make progress restoring our nonimmigrant visa system to full functionality. Over the weekend, the Department of State implemented system changes aimed at optimizing performance and addressing the challenges we have faced. We are now testing our system capacity to ensure stability. Processing of immigrant visas cases, including adoptions, remains a high priority. Some Embassies and Consulates may temporarily limit or reschedule nonimmigrant visa interview appointments until more system resources become available to process these new applications. We sincerely regret the inconvenience to travelers, and are committed to resolving the problem as soon as possible. Additional updates will be posted to travel.state.gov as more information becomes available.

Update from July 28, 2014, notice on the U.S. Department of State website:

As of July 27, the Department of State has made continued progress on restoring our system to full functionality. As we restore our ability to print visas, we are prioritizing immigrant cases, including adoptions visas. System engineers are performing maintenance to address the problems we encountered. As system performance improves, we will continue to process visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide. We are committed to resolving the problem as soon as possible. Additional updates will be posted to travel.state.gov as more information becomes available.

DOS Liaison Update (5:45pm)

Notice on the U.S. Department of State website:

Important Notice: The Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our passport and visa system. We are operational, but currently issuing documents at a reduced capacity. 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, 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. Routine passport services are not affected at this time. We will be posting updates to Travel.State.Gov as more information becomes available.

DOS Liaison is in communication with DOS regarding this issue. In the meantime, DOS Liaison has found the following information on websites from various U.S. Embassy and Consulates abroad:

The Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our passport/visa system. 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.