COVID-19 Consulate Re-openings - Listed by Country - What Phase is the Country In?

[NoName70 22]

5 minutes ago, Trutta said:

The whole thing is strange,  to say the least. We have less than 200 cases here, zero deaths, and no new cases for months. Everything is open as normal except some tourist businesses that have no customers. The consulate should be open.

What province?

[Just Paul 4,594]

1 hour ago, jacketconfident said:

1) Is it really the case that, for even limited visa processing to resume, the consular post must be in Phase III of Diplomacy Strong? 

We have seen that even with Diplomacy Strong some consulates are clearing the CR1/2, IR1/2/4, IH4 and other very limited immigrant visa backlog by doing interviews.  This is the case in Jamaica.  A friend of ours wife just got her interview re-scheduled there. I got a text form her husband as he was changing flights in Dallas to get to Miami! Other people that have had emergency interviews had their medicals in hand.  Getting medicals is an issue in many countries.  Jamaica as a country and embassy has not fully re-opened.   Tourists are limited to certain area.   I read this as the consulates being able to work with the conditions they have in country and feel are worth the risk.   The CR1/2, IR1/2/4, IH4 have been listed now as mission critical and I think that has allowed the flexibility.  Lastly is does not appear or sound like NVC is shipping new cases to the consulate.

 

Hopefully this works out and other consulates can follow and open, even if it just starts as clearing the backlog.

[jacketconfident 12]

That is helpful, thanks.

[OrihimeandIchigo 216]

13 hours ago, jacketconfident said:

Thanks for this link, Paul.

 

Many of the statements collected on that site appear to refer to local government phase schemes. Others may be referring to the DoS's own reopening plan, which goes by the cringe-worthy name "Diplomacy Strong": https://www.axios.com/pompeo-coronavirus-state-department-reopening-ec5dc86d-6393-4614-b05f-68d3b5f6ec10.html. Certainly, for embassies and consulates, one would expect that both local and State Department plans are relevant: consular operations can resume only to the extent that they are permitted by both. 

 

Note that Diplomacy Strong envisages 14-day compliance check periods before moving up a Phase, where the principal metric seems to be continued decrease in coronavirus cases. That would entail that, even if a country has completely wiped out the virus and has no local restrictions, it would be at least a month from the date of entering Diplomacy Strong Phase I until the start of Phase III.

 

My questions:

 

1) Is it really the case that, for even limited visa processing to resume, the consular post must be in Phase III of Diplomacy Strong? 

2) In order to start a Phase under Diplomacy Strong, do all the Xs in the relevant column need to be checked? (See the inset document in the link above and the page on overseas facilities.) 

 

My concern is about consular posts in Canada (Montreal) and Mexico if the answers to both questions are yes. That would be bad news for visa applicants in those countries, given that (a) "Land Borders" would need to be checked to enter Phase III and (b) the Canadian (and for all I know, Mexican) border is not likely to reopen this summer: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/rebuild/article243666227.html. That would mean months of wait before the consulates even open their doors.

 

Caveats: It's not clear what it would take to check off "Land Borders". (The borders are still there, last I checked!) How open do they have to be? Also, there is some reason to think that not all Phase III requirements need be met for limited visa services to resume: the embassy in Jamaica and a handful of other consular posts have started rescheduling interviews even though the Department of State's global Level 4 travel advisory remains in place. This is true even though "Department of State Travel Advisory" is also one of the Phase III requirements. 

This is a very informative post, I appreciate the you posting it. Can someone explain all of this to me in very simple terms for me to understand completely? I follow some of it but not all. Thanks (also no bashing me please)

[jacketconfident 12]

1 hour ago, OrihimeandIchigo said:

This is a very informative post, I appreciate the you posting it. Can someone explain all of this to me in very simple terms for me to understand completely? I follow some of it but not all. Thanks (also no bashing me please)

• There's lots of talk of phases of reopening floating around. But who defines what the phases are? There are two possible answers to that question that are relevant to US consulates and embassies:
  • What the US State Department says. It has its own reopening plan with phases.
  • What the local, host country government(s) say(s). They often have their own reopening plan.

[jacketconfident 12]

Ah, didn't finish typing.
 

Saying "Embassy X is in Phase 3" doesn't distinguish between those two. Phase 3 of the local government plan, or Phase 3 of Diplomacy Strong?

 

I was pointing out that, if consular posts are expected to rigorously adhere to both local regulations and Diplomacy Strong before reopening, that would be bad news for a lot of consular posts. Diplomacy Strong, at least, has some pretty stringent conditions for its Phase 3.

 

But as Paul pointed out above, there seems to be some flexibility in practice for consular posts. They are allowed to work on "mission critical visas" right now, to they extent that they have enough staff and feel comfortable hosting visitors for interviews, and local conditions and regulations allow it. The problem is that not many consular posts seem to be moving quickly to take advantage of this flexibility and reschedule interviews.

[payxibka 10,045]

6 minutes ago, jacketconfident said:

• There's lots of talk of phases of reopening floating around. But who defines what the phases are? There are two possible answers to that question that are relevant to US consulates and embassies:
  • What the US State Department says. It has its own reopening plan with phases.
  • What the local, host country government(s) say(s). They often have their own reopening plan.

Correct,  and part of the DOS phase determination is based on the assessment of the local plan or situation 

[sl1pstream 551]

We don't even know if they're going to process them if they get to phase 3. They could keep routine visa processing suspended indefinitely.

Edited June 26, 2020 by sl1pstream

[Helpme0009 21]

On 6/25/2020 at 3:14 PM, Paul & Mary said:

Here is a good site to check to see what the status of each country is in with regards to the STAGES the US Department of State has for the Consulates:

 

https://www.immigrationlaw.com/u-s-consulate-closures-due-to-covid-19/

 

It is updated as changes occur!

 

Word of Warning - I have talked to the site and they are only showing updates that are via the Consulate's and Foreign countries website.   Example: the announcement of Jamaica processing immigrant visas was placed on the consulate's facebook site and not updated on the consulate's website and is not reflected on this link.

 

Best wishes ~ Paul

Its all about flights ?