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Recently, the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) released the August 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog report, which provides data and statistics of the number of documentarily complete immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, documentarily complete cases that have been scheduled for visa interviews, and those that are still awaiting visa interviews.
In this post, we compare the increase in the backlog from July to August.
According to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of August 2024, there has been a substantial increase in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog rising from 394,835 pending cases in July to 408,937 cases in August — nearly a 3.5% increase amounting to 14,102 additional cases added to the backlog in just a one-month period.
Additionally, when comparing the July and August Immigrant Visa backlogs, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for interviews decreased by 23,519 cases, from 488,285 (in July) to 464,766 (in August).
- A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.
August 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report
| Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of July 31 | 464,766 |
| Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for August 2024 interview appointments | 55,829 |
| Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after August 2024 appointment scheduling was completed | 408,937 |
July 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report
| Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of June 30 | 488,285 |
| Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for July 2023 interview appointments | 53,450 |
| Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after July 2023 appointment scheduling was completed | 394,825 |
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. These
Additionally, 55,829 applicants whose cases were documentarily complete were scheduled for interviews in the month of August (in comparison to just 53,450 in July).
Why was there such an increase in the backlogs?
As we approach the end of the 2024 fiscal year, in August and September there has been no significant advancement in the Visa Bulletin for both the family-based and employment sponsored preference categories.
This means that those who are waiting for their priority date to become current have not been able to proceed with immigrant visa scheduling despite their cases being documentarily complete.
For Embassies and Consulates that have a high number of immigrant visa applicants, but an insufficient number of visa interview appointments available, immigrant visa cases have been “warehoused” at the National Visa Center until further indication that a post has an available appointment.
This means that the NVC has not been able to transfer cases to busy Consulates or Embassies for visa interview scheduling, because no interview slots are available to meet such high demand.
Despite these challenges, applicants should contact the National Visa Center regularly for case updates and ensure their applications are documentarily complete.
Those who are facing severe medical emergencies, have urgent humanitarian needs, are facing severe financial loss, or have other compelling circumstances, should consult with an attorney to determine whether filing an expedite request could provide relief. Depending on the Consulate and your individual circumstances, an expedite request may or may not be advised.
If your case has been pending for more than 2 years without interview scheduling, you may also wish to consult with an attorney to discuss the possibility of filing a mandamus lawsuit in federal court compelling the Consulate to take action on your application.
For more information, please see our helpful links below.
Contact Us. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please text 619-569-1768 or call 619-819-9204.
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