Since June 9th a computer glitch has stalled visa processing at U.S. embassies all over the world. The hardware malfunction has kept crucial biometrics information (including fingerprints) from reaching foreign U.S. consulates. With border security being of highest priority, no visa processing procedure can be neglected. The technical issues are being worked on, and the Department of State (DOS) is hopeful that the system will be restored within the next week.

The good news is that the glitch is not believed to be due to a cyber-security hack.  However, no further details about the cause of the issue have been released.  As a result of this glitch, several U.S. consulates have canceled visa interviews scheduled between June 22nd and June 26th and are not rescheduling them until after July 6, 2015.

On June 22, 2015, the DOS updated their alert with the following:

The Bureau of Consular Affairs is in the process of resolving technical problems with our visa systems. Though some progress has been made, biometric data processing has not been fully restored. Our team continues to work on this 24/7 to restore the systems to full functionality. As of noon today, 22 posts have been reconnected, representing about half of the global nonimmigrant visa volume.  We will continue to bring additional posts online until connectivity with all posts is restored.  Last week, nearly 1,250 temporary or seasonal workers who had been issued visas in the past were issued new visas in Mexico, and we have issued more than 3,000 visas globally for urgent and humanitarian travel.  We deeply regret the inconvenience to travelers and recognize the hardship to those waiting for visas, and in some cases, their family members or employers in the United States.   We continue to post updates to our website, travel.state.gov.

If you have any questions about obtaining your travel visa, please contact Rebecca Munscher at (717) 852-4991 or rmunscher@barley.com.