Who is getting K1 interviews at this time?

[Beegirl 21]

I’m so confused because I’m still seeing some people being called for interviews from all over the world and yet at the same time I read that there are only 2-3 US consulates in the whole world right now that are issuing K1 visas. 
 

So right now which embassies are issuing K1 visas now? And which embassies are scheduling people for K1 visas? 
 

I’m so over how broken and inconsistent this process is right now. 

[jan22 3,056]

It doesnt really matter to anyone's specific case what US Embassies in other countries are doing -- it only matters what the Embassy processing your case is doing.  The process is inconsistent right now because COVID-19 and the local responses put in place to deal with it are inconsistent from country to country.  There will not be a sudden return to a worldwide processing of any type of visas in the near future, IMO.  The process, and what visas are being interviewed/issued, will remain country-specific until the world returns to something a lot closer to normal than we see now. 

 

Best to stay focused on what is happening at the Embassy in your fiancee's country to set your expectations.  I don't say these things to appear unfeeling; I know it makes an already difficult, anxious process even worse, but it's the reality of things right now, unfortunately.

[Beegirl 21]

4 minutes ago, jan22 said:

It doesnt really matter to anyone's specific case what US Embassies in other countries are doing -- it only matters what the Embassy processing your case is doing.  The process is inconsistent right now because COVID-19 and the local responses put in place to deal with it are inconsistent from country to country.  There will not be a sudden return to a worldwide processing of any type of visas in the near future, IMO.  The process, and what visas are being interviewed/issued, will remain country-specific until the world returns to something a lot closer to normal than we see now. 

 

Best to stay focused on what is happening at the Embassy in your fiancee's country to set your expectations.  I don't say these things to appear unfeeling; I know it makes an already difficult, anxious process even worse, but it's the reality of things right now, unfortunately.

You’re absolutely right. However the reason I’m so annoyed with how broken and inconsistent the process is is because the country I’m petitioning for my fiancé for has one of the lowest COVID rates in the world. Yet I’m seeing people from countries with much higher rates scheduling interviews for K1. Makes me think it’s more than COVID.

[jan22 3,056]

Just now, Beegirl said:

You’re absolutely right. However the reason I’m so annoyed with how broken and inconsistent the process is is because the country I’m petitioning for my fiancé for has one of the lowest COVID rates in the world. Yet I’m seeing people from countries with much higher rates scheduling interviews for K1. Makes me think it’s more than COVID.

I certainly appreciate how much more difficult all things involved in this process have become, with a lot of moving parts that aren't normally seen by or dealt with by the petitioner/beneficiary, now having to be considered -- that can only increase levels of frustration. 

 

I don't know what country you're dealing with, but there are other pieces of the puzzle that affect what each Embassy must consider, such as travel restrictions (internal local ones and those dealing with US entry), current Embassy staffing versus staffing required for more normal visa processing, the level of "mission critical" visas that are at the Embassy and how that relates to current staffing, the backlog of cases at the Embassy -- including re-issuing visas that couldn't be used in time because of travel bans, the normal immigrant visa workload at the Embassy (for example, Embassies with larger IV workload will have more staff assigned to the post, so even if a smaller percentage of them have returned to post after a COVID drawdown, there will be more officers back at post to process cases), etc, etc.  It's a worldwide balancing act -- it a completely unbalanced world. 

 

Hang in there!

[TODD AND ELVIA 4]

I don't know of any country that is currently performing interviews for K1 visa applicants. My fiance's country is Bolivia and they are only processing family non-immigrant visa's for children and for folks over 75. Even though countries have open up for tourism the State Department/Consular Affairs division have to give the green light to open an Embassy. It has nothing to do with the current country's situation as far as COVID is concerned. The shutdown was because of COVID, but remaining to be shut down is a Consular Affairs decision and they get their marching order from the state department

[payxibka 10,045]

2 hours ago, Beegirl said:

You’re absolutely right. However the reason I’m so annoyed with how broken and inconsistent the process is is because the country I’m petitioning for my fiancé for has one of the lowest COVID rates in the world. Yet I’m seeing people from countries with much higher rates scheduling interviews for K1. Makes me think it’s more than COVID.

What country would that be?

[A&C NJ, USA 15]

4 hours ago, TODD AND ELVIA said:

I don't know of any country that is currently performing interviews for K1 visa applicants. My fiance's country is Bolivia and they are only processing family non-immigrant visa's for children and for folks over 75. Even though countries have open up for tourism the State Department/Consular Affairs division have to give the green light to open an Embassy. It has nothing to do with the current country's situation as far as COVID is concerned. The shutdown was because of COVID, but remaining to be shut down is a Consular Affairs decision and they get their marching order from the state department

I spoke with the US embassy in Sydney, Australia yesterday (Monday 16/11) they informed me that they are processing K1's. Not sure how true this is, as my case is like many others, still sitting on a desk in a pile at NVC.

[Schildkrote5 27]

You can see here what Visas have been processed. I would guess some of these are special case scenarios.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/nonimmigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-nonimmigrant-visa-issuances.html

 

My fiancé told me that she has previously seen K-1s issued in Rwanda and South Korea from posts on a different forum.

[HRQX 4,145]

5 hours ago, TODD AND ELVIA said:

I don't know of any country that is currently performing interviews for K1 visa applicants.

I recall that Montreal is doing interviews:

Sarajevo and other posts too:

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by HRQX

[Loren Y 2,755]

Thailand has resumed K1 interviews. Though not very rapidly, but they are processing.

[AlaMike 231]

I cannot speak for responses from Embassy's in other countries but the US Embassy in the Philippines is only doing approved expedited K1 applications.

Routine interviews are still not available. 

[PatLuvO 284]

You can also search the K1 timelines by interview date to see which countries are conducting interviews.

[BOKURAGAITA 101]

I don't have an interview appointment yet , my fiancé called and they told him to call again after Christmas because they will going to make a case number (not sure or is it a form) for my interview appointment (expiring medical). We've been waiting for this kind of response from them and hope it goes well. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by BOKURAGAITA

[Empressdivine 113]

Jamaica has started processing almost two months now but we (K1s) book our own appointments. I saw appointments two weeks or so before the embassy made an official announcement. Click on the approval profiles and u can see the countries that have started. Jamaica stated that they will try and process visas now throughout Covid as it's not going away anytime soon. They only release a few appointments a week to allow social distance. Not sure why so many countries have not restarted

 

[OlgaA 67]

Hello in Poland they aren't processing Ks visas at the moment until 31 December ban will be lifted. We were told to start getting ready for the interview but they can't say when exactly scheduling will be available, but there is hope after Christmas it will work as usual. Be patient! All will be ok!🌸🙏