VB for April 2019 interviews released

This is for April 2019 interviews. 

It is clear that the new document procedure has created a backlog. This backlog is obviously a factor in the VB progression. Normal logic would say that if cases cannot be scheduled because of the new document process, that would mean the VB would be able to move faster. However, there is a backlog of cases from previous months that is absorbing a high number of the interview slots available each month, and that will cause an opposite effect on the VB (slowing). So – it remains to be seen how each region will be affected. The effects will probably not be the same in each region, because a region such as AF is slow to react to a new procedure whereas other regions will react faster.

As I have explained before however, I do expect pace of the VB to increase toward the later months. Why? Firstly because it always works that way in the regions where there are country limits. Density reduces in later number ranges, so more case numbers need to be made current to get the same number of cases to interview. Secondly the new document procedure will mean that some people will not be able to be scheduled to be interviewed, so again, KCC would then have to increase VB pace to fill the interview spaces. But as I mention above, the backlog will have an impact on that, so I would urge people to “wait and see”.

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. I would expect the 2NLs to have all been sent by the end of this month. 

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.