After more than a week of technical problems preventing issuance of visas, the Department of State (DOS) has announced that it is now mostly back online. The updated list of consulates that have been reconnected is available from the DOS website: http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/news/technological-systems-issue.html

Was it something like this that caused the outage? The problems did stem from a hardware failure, but one that I am guessing was more substantial than a severed keyboard cord. According to a recent DOS announcement, “More than 100 computer experts from both the private and public sectors across the United States are working on this problem 24/7.”

Nevertheless, the DOS anticipates being fully reconnected this week. If you have an urgent humanitarian need to travel, it may be possible to have the DOS prioritize your case. Contact our office if you need any help.