The Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with its overseas passport and visa systems. The issue is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category.
On June 15, 2015, DOS issued an update alert stating that: “The Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our visa systems. These issues have resulted in delays in printing visas and may mean rescheduling some visa interviews.”
On June 16, 2015, DOS updated their alert with the following language:
The Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to address technical problems with our visa systems. Some visa applicants will experience delays in receiving visas. Others will be contacted directly to reschedule their appointments. Passports are still being processed. This issue is not specific to any particular country or visa category; this is a global issue. We do not believe these problems stem from any cyber-security hacking issues. Our border security responsibilities are critical to the visa process. We cannot bypass the legal requirements to screen visa applicants before we issue visas for travel. We are assisting visa applicants with urgent humanitarian travel, and adoption cases are being processed. Individuals with humanitarian travel needs should contact their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
On June 17, 2015, DOS updated their alert with the following language:
The Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to experience technical problems with our visa systems. This is a global issue, and we are working around the clock to fix it. More than 100 computer experts from both the private and public sectors across the United States are working on this problem 24/7. That said, we do not expect the system will be online before next week. The problems stem from a hardware failure in a State Department facility in the United States on June 9. That failure is preventing the Department from processing and transmitting biometric data checks at visa-issuing embassies and consulates. We cannot bypass the legal requirements to screen visa applicants before we issue visas for travel. Each visa decision is a national security decision, and we take our obligation to protect the United States seriously.
As an aside, payment of DOS online fees and preparing the immigrant visa application (DS-260) are also experiencing technical difficulties. https://ceac.state.gov/iv/