NVC Expedite Request Process

Tanya Freedman, CEO of the nursing recruiting agency Connetics USA: How come some candidates when they apply for an expedite get it and some don't? Is there a reason for that? Or is it random?

Atty. Michael Hammond: I don't believe there's any reason whatsoever. We're doing most of the expedite requests ourselves, as opposed to asking candidates to do them. But I honestly don't think that makes any difference. But ultimately we, you know, simply ask again. So but to be honest, I'm not sure we're seeing much of a difference in getting an interview, whether you're expedited or not.

As I mentioned earlier, the effect of being expedited if everybody's expedited is there is no effect I think it makes us all feel better. But I'm not sure there's much of a practical advantage. I honestly believe that six months from now, no one's going to ask for expedited way.

Tanya: Why do you say that might?

Atty. Michael: Because I think that from the consulates perspective, they don't like expediting, you're being told that, hey, my case is more important than someone else's case, who may be in line in front of me. And we can all this all started as a result of COVID, and things like that. But that's not the way the consulates ultimately want to treat people.

And so I think that as they've gotten more fully staffed and back up to speed, and they are, from their perspective, doing a tremendously wonderful job, and I think some of us would probably agree with that, at getting things back up to speed with the huge backlogs that they've had, and the staffing issues that they and everybody else are having. And so to put that extra pressure on them, of saying, hey, we need to pick and choose this person is more important than this person who may have been in line longer, it's difficult from a philosophical perspective of what the Department of State is wanting to try to do.

So I perceive it's going to go away. And then we're gonna go back to what truly worthy expedite the kid who's aging out and wasn't going to be protected under child status, or someone who comes in needs an emergency B visa, because somebody's sick back home, those kinds of things that are true humanitarian expedite, as opposed to just I want to get there faster, and I'm more important than someone else.

Tanya: As I said, before, we know that this is frustrating, but I think we've said this many times on onwards and upwards, there really is no specific pattern. I know, when you're sitting at home in your home country, it's so frustrating, and then you hear somebody else got it, and you're like, why not me? Why did I not get it? And is there something I'm doing wrong? That, you know, as you can hear from the expert panel, that is not the case, it really is just a symptom of the pandemic, the backlog. And hopefully, as Mike said that that whole system is actually going to change in the coming weeks and months.