State Department Experiencing Technical Difficulties, Visa-Processing Delays

Author: Melissa A. Silver, XpertHR Legal Editor

July 30, 2014

The US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs reported that it has been experiencing technical difficulties with its passport and visa system. Although operational, the Department is issuing documents at a reduced capacity. This technical issue has effects worldwide and is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document or visa category.

According to the Associated Press, Department spokesperson Marie Harf indicated that malfunctions in the Department's Consular Consolidated Database have resulted in "significant performance issues, including outages" in the processing of various applications. In particular, the database issues have resulted in an "extensive backlog" of applications for passports, visas and reports of Americans born abroad.

Nonetheless, the Department continues to work on restoring its nonimmigrant visa system to full functionality. It is implementing system changes to optimize performance and to address these technical issues. The processing of immigrant visas (i.e., green cards), including adoptions, remain a high priority for the Department. With respect to nonimmigrant visas (i.e., visas issued to a person residing or traveling outside the US who wishes to come to the US temporarily), the Department has indicated that some embassies and consulates may temporarily limit or reschedule nonimmigrant visa interviews. In the meantime, the Department is in the process of testing its system to ensure that it is stable.

While waiting for these technical difficulties to be resolved, employers that are sponsoring foreign employees for employment should monitor these delays until the Department's visa system is operating at full capacity.