AFRICA 13,100 Except: Egypt  8,300
ASIA 3,800 Except: Iran    2,900
Nepal  2,150
EUROPE 8,800
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) 12
OCEANIA 350
SOUTH AMERICA,
and the CARIBBEAN
550

 

This is for January interviews and is the fourth VB for the DV2019 year out of twelve.

Again the numbers are low, but no need to panic – this is normal. They divide the work (the interviews) over the whole year – so there is a increase in these numbers each month. The new document process does not seem to have affected these numbers much – I imagine the VB numbers were already decided before the new procedure was implemented.

Those that are current, and have forms processed early enough, they can expect their 2NL in about 1 to 2  weeks from now. This is the same every month. VB from the 8th to the 15th of each month, and 2NLs in the second half of the month. For the last few months there have been 2NLs sent in two main batches, some early (around the 15th to 20th) and then some in the later part of the month. But given the low numbers that may not be necessary.

To those new to looking at VBs, let me explain what the “except” XXX country means – and you can also read this post on how to read the visa bulletin.

Processing is spread out over the full year. You can see the progress of the two previous years in this post about basic questions.  However, some countries have a high number of selectees and those selectees are concentrated in the lower case numbers. For various reasons, mainly to do with embassy capacity, KCC slow down certain countries as compared to the region. So – in Africa, any case with a case number shown as under the new number can be interviewed but for cases from Egypt, that number is lower. That isn’t a big problem, it just “slows down” those countries a little more than the rest of the region. Since selectees from those countries all have lower case numbers, this slowing down does not present any risk. It does not (at this point) mean they won’t allow all selectees an interview from those countries.

To understand why some countries get lower case numbers, read this article about the lottery draw process.