Latest Family US Visa Processing Trends from UK, Canada, China, Vietnam, India, Philippines, Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic... Yikes!

[Captain Ewok 1,890]

**Update as of July 9th 2021**

 

The May US Consulate Processing Stats were just released!  We've updated our tracking and analysis below.  You can always find the latest here:  US Visa Approval Trends at Busiest US Consulates (bottom section).

 

MEXICO:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is WAY down.  In fact it's down by more than 2x from pre-Covid levels (~200 a month pre-Covid to ~100 a month now).  There is likely to be a significant backlog.
• IR1 Visa processing is slowly ramping up.  There is likely a significant backlog that will take 8-12 months to clear given the slow down last year.  It appears IR1 processing is taking priority over K1s at the moment.
• CR1 Visa processing (couples married less than 2 years) is following the same trend as IR-1 Visas.

 

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in Ciudad Juarez is artificially slowing don K1 Visa processing to prioritize other work or for other reasons?

 

 

 

PHILIPPINES:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is WAY down.  In fact it's down by more than 10x from pre-Covid levels (~500 a month pre-Covid to ~50 a month now).  There is likely to be a significant backlog.  Even one month of cases (pre-Covid) would take 10 months to clear at this pace, assuming no new petitions!
• IR1 Visa processing is back to pre-Covid rates.  There is likely a backlog that will take months to clear given the slow down last year.
• CR1 Visa processing (couples married less than 2 years) is roughly 2x higher than pre-Covid (~100 a month pre-Covid to more than ~200 a month now).  Could folks be preferring the CR-1 route over a K1 visa?  This seems possible given the major backlog on K1 Visas.  For some couples, this could be a legitimate route to living together in the US sooner.

 

 

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in Manila is artificially slowing don K1 Visa processing to prioritize other work or for other reasons?

 

 

 

CHINA:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is WAY down.  In fact it was at near zero for 12 months.  In April we saw a bump back up at about 50% pre-Covid levels.
• IR1 Visa processing is back to pre-Covid rates.  There was a huge surge in processing late last year to likely clear the backlog.  Is this why no K1s were worked (all hands on IR1s)?
• CR1 Visa processing (couples married less than 2 years) has the same story as IR1s.

 

 

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in Guangzhou is artificially slowing don K1 Visa processing to prioritize other work or for other reasons?

 

 

 

UNITED KINGDOM:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is WAY down.  In fact it's down by more than 3x from pre-Covid levels (~40 a month pre-Covid to ~120 a month now).  There is likely to be a significant backlog after not approving cases for 9 months!  Clearing the backlog could take 18 months at this rate.
• IR1 Visa processing is back to pre-Covid rates.  Maybe slightly ahead.  There is likely a backlog that will take several months to clear given the slow down last year.
• CR1 Visa processing (couples married less than 2 years) is mirroring IR1 Visa trends.

 

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in London is artificially slowing don K1 Visa processing for other reasons?  It certainly makes no sense that IR-1's can be back to (roughy) normal but not K1s.  Both are family based... Perhaps resources are being applied elsewhere despite US policy to prioritize reunification of families.  VisaJourney supports shining a bright light on this.  How can we help?

 

 

 

INDIA:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa stopped for 9 months.  It started again in January but there doesn't appear to be any effort to clear the backlog.
• IR1 Visa and CR1 Visa processing stopped for 5 months but started again last September.  There was a huge push to clear the backlog (seen by the processing spike below)

 

What are your thoughts?  It looks like K1s are not getting any priority which means longer wait times from petition receipts to interviews -- keeping family apart.

 

 

 

VIETNAM:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is recovering.  It's still below average after a 3 month pause in processing last summer, indicating a backlog.
• IR1 Visa and CR1 Visa processing times are back to pre-Covid rates.  There was a processing surge that seems to have made a dent in the backlog due to the 3 month pause last summer.
• IR5 Visa processing had a HUGE surge in April-May showing an all hands on deck effort to process the backlog after 11 months of being stopped.  This is very promising!

 

The full data is below.  What are your thoughts?

 

 

 

CANADA:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is down.  In fact it's down by more than 2x from pre-Covid levels (~100 a month pre-Covid to ~40 month now).  There is likely to be a significant backlog after the Consulate stopped processing K1s for 6 months.
• IR1 Visa processing is WAY up.  In fact it's up by 4x pre-Covid levels. It appears the Consulate is trying to clear the IR1 backlog, at the expense of not processing K1s.
• CR1 Visa processing (couples married less than 2 years) is roughly 2x higher than pre-Covid (~50 a month pre-Covid to more than ~100 a month now).  Could folks be preferring the CR-1 route over a K1 visa?  Could this simply be similar to the IR1 surge to clear the backlog (again, at the expense of K1 Visas).

 

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in Montreal is artificially slowing don K1 Visa processing to prioritize other work or for other reasons?

 

 

 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is down by 33% or more from pre-Covid levels, with an 8-10 month backlog of cases.
• IR1 Visa processing is back to pre-Covid rates.= (maybe even higher).  It appears the consulate focused here to reduce backlogs.
• CR1 Visa processing (couples married less than 2 years) is down by 70% from pre-Covid levels, with a 3-4 month backlog of cases.  the priority appears to either be IR-1 Visas or simply the fact that the huge processing delay is moving more couples past the 2 years mark from the time they were married to the approved visa.  Not good, either way.

 

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in Santo Domingo is artificially slowing don K1 Visa processing to prioritize other work or for other reasons?

 

 

 

JAMAICA:

 

 

Each month, VisaJourney dives into the official US State Department data and captures the latest Family & US visa approval trends for K1, CR1, IR1 and IR5 visas. This page is updated monthly.

 

• K1 Visa processing is down by 50% from pre-Covid levels, with an 6 month backlog of cases.
• IR1 Visa processing is back to pre-Covid rates.  It appears the consulate focused here to reduce backlogs.
• CR1 Visa processing (couples married less than 2 years) is similar to IR1 Visas.
• IR-5 Visa processing is WAY DOWN with a small uptick in April.  This is after a full 12 months of virtually no cases processed.  This year long backlog will take 8-12 months to clear unless the consulate prioritizes things.  It appears they slowed down on IR-5s to focus on IR/CR-1 visas.

 

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in Kinston is artificially slowing down IR-5 processing to prioritize other work or for other reasons?

 

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, Captain Ewok said:

What do you think of the data (below)?  Do you think the US consulate in Ciudad Juarez is artificially slowing don K1 Visa processing to prioritize other work or for other reasons?

Just a note that at some point in May NVC started sending K-1 and K-2 cases to Mexico City instead: https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/MAY-2021-NIV-Issuances-by-Post-and-Visa-Class.pdf Page 39

 

https://mx.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas-information/

Quote

K applicants with cases at NVC are being scheduled for appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, in the order the cases were documentarily completed. Those applicants should contact NVC, with any questions.  

[Captain Ewok 1,890]

20 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Just a note that at some point in May NVC started sending K-1 and K-2 cases to Mexico City instead: https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyNIVIssuances/MAY-2021-NIV-Issuances-by-Post-and-Visa-Class.pdf Page 39

 

https://mx.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas-information/

I'll see if we can add Mexico City for Next Month!

[Pryla 1]

Hi please can you track Ghana latest family US Consulate Visa Processing Stats

[Scandi 4,142]

Many of the CR-1 cases are likely to turn into IR-1 cases too, considering the massive backlog at some embassies.

 

At least those people will get something more out of the long wait (a 10 year greencard instead of a 2 year conditional one, and no Removal of Conditions down the line), unlike those who filed for the K-1 who will still be in the same crappy situation no matter how long they have to wait for their visas. Yet another reason to NOT choose the K-1 route.

Edited July 11, 2021 by Scandi

[Stefanie&Danny 5]

Our K-1 petition has been at NVC since May 2020.Is there any way of knowing what month they are processing for London Embassy?

o try to call and get answers and no one will ever give me anything other than the standard “wait until we reach out to you”. 

Is it too late to join the lawsuit?

 

 

 

[Nylmaris 1]

2 hours ago, Pryla said:

Hi please can you track Ghana latest family US Consulate Visa Processing Stats

 

Hi can you please track amman jordan thanks 😊

[Nylmaris 1]

Hi can you please track amman jordan thanks 😊

[Nat_Bogota 2]

It would be great to see the statistics for Colombia next Month

[Sariahls 0]

We are missing CDMX data for k1 visa. Most of K1 visas are being transfer to the US embassy in Mexico City. That’s the reason the stats show less processing in Ciudad Juárez! 
In fact, they are going fast to recover from the lost time. 

[khader 0]

I was documented qualified on September 2 2020 at the NVC ir1 case. I am waiting for an interview appointment at the US embassy in Amman Jordan.  I heard that they sent out interviews appointments for dqed dates from August 18 2020 to September 21 2020.  But I have not received one. What should I do and has this happened before? And when will I expect to receive a interview appointment?

Edited July 12, 2021 by khader

[CyberSamurai013 69]

Can you either track Russia or tell me how to do it so that I can, please?

[KM & ST 1]

8 hours ago, Captain Ewok said:

**Update as of July 9th 2021**

 

The May US Consulate Processing Stats were just released!  We've updated our tracking and analysis below.  You can always find the latest here:  US Visa Approval Trends at Busiest US Consulates (bottom section).

 

 

@Captain Ewok Any chance of you adding the Stockholm, Sweden embassy to the list?

[Kenna 0]

Ghana waiting period for cr1

[smoothoperaytor 40]

4 hours ago, CyberKnight13 said:

Can you either track Russia or tell me how to do it so that I can, please?

I'm also interested in Russia. I submitted the application about 45 days ago and we're now waiting for the letter for the interview. It would be great to get an idea of how long that will take.