Green Card Backlog is still huge in July: when will you get your interview?

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In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick provides a brand-new update regarding the current Immigrant Visa backlogs for those currently going through Consular processing (waiting for an interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate overseas), as well as those with cases at the National Visa Center.

What you need to know is that from the period of June to July 2023, there has been nearly no movement in the Immigrant Visa backlog. At the same time, there has been a decrease in the number of people who were actually scheduled for Immigrant Visa interviews at U.S. Consulates and Embassies overseas from June to July as indicated in the figures below.

Therefore, while the backlog remains the same, more and more people are being scheduled for visa interviews.

If you want to know what you can expect moving forward, please keep on watching.

Did you Know? Every month the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) publishes an Immigrant Visa Backlog report, which provides data and statistics relating to the current status of worldwide visa operations, including the number of documentarily complete immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, the number of cases that were scheduled for interviews at the end of each month, and the number of immigrant visa cases still waiting to be scheduled for a visa interview after interview appointment scheduling was completed at the end of each month

Overview

According to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of July 2023, there has been a very modest increase in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog rising from 351,337 pending cases in June to 351,821 pending cases in July.

Additionally, when comparing the June and July Immigrant Visa backlogs, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for an interview at Consulates and Embassies decreased by 845 cases, from 389,242 (in June) to 388,397 (in July).

  • A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.

June 2023 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of May 31 389,242
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for June 2023 interview appointments 37,905
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after June 2023 appointment scheduling was completed 351,337

July 2023 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of June 30 388,397
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for July 2023 interview appointments 36,576
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after July 2023 appointment scheduling was completed 351,821

Note: In Calendar Year 2019 on average, 60,866 applicants were pending the scheduling of an interview each month.

This data is a snapshot in time provided for informational purposes in order to be as transparent as possible.  Given that these numbers change on a regular basis through our ongoing effort to reduce the backlog, they will be outdated soon after they are published each month.  

From the data above, in July, the number of applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and who were scheduled for immigrant visa interviews was 36,576. While in June 37,905 applicants were scheduled for interviews. This represents a decrease of 1,329 applicants being scheduled for interviews in just a one-month period from June to July.

This is unfortunate news. However, we hope that as we enter the new fiscal year in October 2023, we will see greater improvement in visa interview scheduling as we have historically seen within the last 6 months. Our prediction is that by the end of 2023, the backlog will begin to decrease significantly.

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Contact us. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please text 619-483-4549 or call 619-819-9204.

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