Visa Delays
Report Delays
Report visa application delays to the International Visitors Office (IVO) of The National Academies. If your application has been pending for more than 21 days after the visa interview, complete the Visa Questionnaire on the IVO website. The questionnaire is used to gather information for both statistical purposes and use in reporting to the U.S. Department of State cases in which a visa application has been pending for more than 21 days after the interview. This system ensures that the Department of State is aware of stalled cases and that these applications do not fall through the cracks.
Avoid Problems
Plan ahead and apply early! The Bureau of Consular Affairs of the U.S. Department of State provides estimated Visa Wait Times for interviews and non-immigrant visa processing at every U.S. Consular office world-wide.
Applying for a Visa in a "Third Country"
A person who applies for a visa in a country other than their home country is referred to as a "Third Country National" (TCN). TCN applications are more time-consuming to process. Additional resources are necessary to confirm the applicant's ties to their home country because consular officers in the third country will not necessarily be knowledgeable of or familiar with conditions in the applicant's home country. This means that they may be unable to properly adjudicate the application. As a result, TCNs have a higher rate of visa denial. Thus, it is always recommended that you apply in your home country. If this is not possible, be extra diligent about the information that you provide in your application concerning your ties to your home country. You should assume that your application will take longer to process and should plan accordingly.
Some scientists and students will experience additional delays beyond the estimates posted on the Visa Wait Times website due to a security review process known as Visas Mantis. This is an additional processing step for visa applicants with a background in one of the sensitive technologies on the Technology Alert List (TAL)*. There is no reason to be alarmed if your application is subjected to this review. However, the review will delay the processing of your application.
Note: Many visa applicants who previously have been approved under the Visa Mantis process may not need to undergo another review as long as they are returning to the same program and position for which they were first approved. Certain conditions apply to this policy. For further details, see Extension of Validity for Science Related Interagency Visa Clearances (U.S. Department of State, February 11, 2005).
Apply early for your visa to avoid having a Visas Mantis review delay your travel to the United States .
* The TAL is used by Consular Officials to determine the “ineligibility [of] aliens who are coming to engage in an activity involving one of the scientific or technical fields on the TAL. Such activity includes graduate-level studies, teaching, conducting research, participating in exchange programs, receiving training or employment, or engaging in commercial transactions.”
