The Bureau of Consular Affairs in Washington, D.C. reported earlier this week that it was experiencing a number of computer and communication problems. These problems have collectively created a processing backlog of one day's worth of immigrant and nonimmigrant cases - a backlog that totals approximately 40,000 cases. The Bureau is taking steps to fix the problem and expects processing to return to a normal timeline by this weekend (April 14th-15th). Emergency cases will be expedited, but the Bureau also indicates that many other individual cases are delayed two or three days.

As background, the Bureau of Consular Affairs facilitates the issuance of all nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, overseeing consular officers overseas. The Bureau, a division of the U.S. Department of State, works with overseas embassies and consulates in addition to domestic Passport Agencies and regional visa processing centers.

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