In 2019, the monthly average of immigrant visa cases pending at the National Visa Center (NVC) waiting for an interview was 60,866. Two years later, those numbers have skyrocketed, with the NVC reporting 506,221 immigrant visa applications awaiting interviews in June 2021– an approximately 732 percent increase.
As the NVC confirmed in the February 2021 meeting with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the NVC continues to schedule cases only for posts that can conduct interviews.
DOS has thankfully expanded interview waiver eligibility for NIVs and consular posts are beginning to phase in more routine visa services as shown by the jump in both IV and NIV issuance in March and April 2021.
While things appear to be trending in the right direction, the restrictions brought on by the pandemic have created an enormous IV backlog that continues to rise.
