The Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to address technical problems with our visa systems. Some visa applicants will experience delays in receiving visas. Others will be contacted directly to reschedule their appointments. Passports are still being processed.
This issue is not specific to any particular country or visa category; this is a global issue. We do not believe these problems stem from any cyber-security hacking issues.
Our border security responsibilities are critical to the visa process. We cannot bypass the legal requirements to screen visa applicants before we issue visas for travel. We are assisting visa applicants with urgent humanitarian travel, and adoption cases are being processed. Individuals with humanitarian travel needs should contact their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
- What caused this outage? Was it a malicious action or hack? There is no evidence the problem is cyber security related.
- How long before you restore full system functionality? Overseas passports are being issued. Public and private sectors experts are working around the clock to correct the problem, but we do not expect the system will be online before next week.
- How many travelers are affected by this outage? This is a global issue and is having impact on our consular operations. We are in daily communication with consular operations worldwide to assess the evolving impact and provide guidance, including information for the traveling public.
- Once operational, how will cases be prioritized? Once the systems are fully operational, we will work as quickly as possible to clear the backlog of pending visa cases. We apologize to applicants and recognize that this may cause hardship to applicants waiting for visas.
