06212015Sun
Last updateFri, 19 Jun 2015 5pm

Glitch affects US passports, visas

The U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara is reporting that the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with visa systems and that passport applications accepted overseas between May 26 and June 14 are also affected by technical problems.

"We apologize for the inconvenience and are working urgently to correct the problem and restore full operability," a press release said this week. "If you applied for a U.S. passport overseas during (the above) time frame and have travel plans within the next ten business days, please consider requesting an emergency passport at the U.S. embassy or consulate at which you originally applied. Information about how to apply for an emergency passport is available at the following website http://ow.ly/OmrIA."

The press release continued: "These systems issues are also impacting processing of U.S. visas. We are currently unable to print most immigrant and nonimmigrant visas approved after June 8. In addition, U.S. embassies/consulates are currently unable to process new applications submitted on or after June 9. Applicants with interview appointments scheduled for this week, June 14-20, are asked to reschedule if they submitted a DS-160 online application after June 9. Appointments can be rescheduled by following the instructions located on https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-mx/niv. Nonimmigrants visa applications who submitted their DS-160 online application prior to June 9, should plan to attend their scheduled appointment."