Over this past weekend there were a great many reports of IV interviews being cancelled with little or no notice. These cancellations came with no explanation and no new appointments. As time went on it became more clear that this was something affecting ALL embassies – meaning it was a centrally communicated order from the Department of State (DoS).

According to a NY Times article this sudden move was due to a training to be given to all COs on how to adjudicate cases on the new Public charge guidance which comes into effect on September 18th.

The article reports:

“Separately, the State Department also recently told embassies and consulates that they must reschedule all visa interviews until consular officers complete training sessions on a more restrictive policy. For most diplomatic posts, the sessions are expected to take place this week.

The training sessions focus on what the department calls a public charge rule, in which consular officers are supposed to deny immigrant visas to applicants who might rely on public assistance when they are in the United States.

When asked about the pause or postponement of visa interviews worldwide, the State Department issued a statement through an official that said “in early August, we launched a global training initiative at all of our embassies and consulates worldwide. To accommodate this in-depth training, appointments for visa services will be adjusted.”

The department did not say when the foreign citizens would be told of times for rescheduled appointments. The move by the department is expected to lead to uncertainty among immigrant visa applicants.”

I think the NYT reporting seems likely to be correct. As to whether it is connected to the 75 country pause order from Judge Vargas or not, we don’t know for sure. The embassies cancelling interviews included embassies unlikely to have any cases affected by the 75 country pause. However, it is possible that the training was going to be scheduled anyway and the Judge Vargas order either had nothing to do with it or possibly prompted the immediate scheduling.

If the reporting is correct, the training is supposed to be conducted this week, and this ties with other evidence I have seen that suggests the training at at least one embassy is expected to be conducted by Wednesday. So – we might see appointments NOT being cancelled from late this week or the week after.