Visa Processing across multiple countries in the Middle East has ceased until further notice. This is largely due to the ongoing conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran. The suspension will create a backlog leaving some individuals waiting for appointments indefinitely.

Background

U.S. consulates and embassies have paused all their services across multiple countries until further notice. The suspension affects nine countries and thousands of already pending visa applications. Exact numbers are listed below.

• Pakistan.
  • With 6,318 cases.
• Jordan.
  • With 1,848 cases.
• Lebanon.
  • With 1,611 cases.
• Iraq.
  • With 865 cases.
• Kuwait.
  • With 862 cases.
• Saudi Arabia.
  • With 5,942 cases.
• Qatar.
  • With 243 cases.
• The United Arab Emirates.
  • With 1,022 cases.
• Bahrain.
  • With 286 cases.

Updates

If the suspension continues the backlog for embassies like those in Karachi or Baghdad could go well past one hundred and fifty thousand, per a report by Newsweek. Importantly, the government’s disclosed there’s no official number of affected cases. Until the suspensions end, Turkey is the only country without a processing disruption.

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