How long does NVC take for processing March 2023? With Jacob Sapochnick

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In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick delivers some good news to immigrant visa applicants—as of March 2023 the National Visa Center has reported a decrease in the backlogs of about 6,000 cases.

If you would like to know more about this important update, 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

What is the National Visa Center?

The National Visa Center (NVC) is an agency that forms part of the U.S. Department of State, located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The main responsibility of the Nationality Visa Center (NVC) is to act as an intermediary between the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad. The NVC receives approved cases from USCIS and collects further documentation from applicants and petitioners to prepare cases for immigrant visa processing at U.S. Embassies and Consulates overseas. Part of this process includes making sure cases are documentarily complete to request immigrant visa interview scheduling from U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad.

Unfortunately, in the past 2 years, the National Visa Center has become a holding facility of sorts, because of the severe backlogs plaguing U.S. Embassies and Consulates preventing interview scheduling on a prompt basis. Due to this, the NVC has been warehousing cases until Consular sections open additional interview slots. This has led to cases piling on without resolution.

March 2023 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

The good news is that, according to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of March 2023, there has been a substantial decrease in the immigrant visa backlog.

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of February 28 439,131
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for March 2023 interview appointments 50,223
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after March 2023 appointment scheduling was completed 388,908

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.  

February 2023 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of January 31 444,828
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for February 2023 interview appointments 36,372
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after February 2023 appointment scheduling was completed 408,456

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

Comparative Analysis

When comparing the March and February 2023 Immigrant Visa backlog reports, we can see that the number of eligible immigrant visa applicants whose cases were still pending the scheduling of an interview decreased by 19,548 cases, from 408,456 (in February) to 388,908 (in March).

Additionally, the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for an interview at Consulates and Embassies also decreased by 5,697 cases, from 444,828 (in February) to 439,131 cases (in March). While this is not a substantial number, the decrease in the backlogs is a signal that the State Department is making progress in its commitment to scheduling more immigrant visa interviews.

Finally, the number of documentarily complete cases actually being scheduled for interviews in March 2023 is 50,223. When compared to the month of February, this represents an increase of 13,851 more cases being scheduled for interview in the month of March.

The Takeaway

While these numbers are not the major jump that we would like to see, it is still considerable movement that we hope will gradually increase in the months ahead. We can see that the number of people that are actually being scheduled for interviews is increasing, which has been the case month by month. We expect to see the most significant movement as we get closer to the summer months, with more and more immigrant visa applicants being scheduled for interviews.

Please note that if your case has not been documentarily complete, your case will not be eligible for interview scheduling. Therefore, you must be proactive and remain in contact with the NVC to ensure that all documentation needed for your case has been submitted. Additionally, if your priority date is not current on the Visa Bulletin, you will not be eligible for visa interview scheduling.

As always, we will continue monitoring the NVC Immigrant Visa Backlog reports monthly and provide updates right here on our blog.

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

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