Anthrax Causes Delays in Visa Revalidations at DOS
Posted Dec 21, 2001

Previous issues of the MurthyBulletin have directed eligible individuals to utilize the U.S. Department of State's (DOS's) visa revalidation procedure to revalidate the visa stamp in the passport from within the U.S. for non-immigrant visas in lieu of consular processing outside the U.S. Although this procedure remains available, in this post-9/11 world nothing is simple anymore. An announcement made in the week of December 14, 2001 now informs us that a group of approximately 300 applications sent to St. Louis, MO, for visa revalidation were misplaced due to the decontamination procedure that followed the anthrax scares.

The cases at issue were most likely sent to St. Louis on or around October 17-19, 2001. They would then have been processed in St. Louis around October 22-23, 2001. On October 25, 2001, all the mail in the DOS’ Visa Office mailrooms was held for anthrax decontamination. The DOS Visa Office believed that they had received all deliveries after the mailrooms were reopened. However, this was not the case and these missing boxes remain inaccessible until they are decontaminated. 

The staff at the Visa Office is already working overtime on revalidation cases in an attempt to address the existing backlog. The Chief of the Revalidation Division, Bill Bent, is willing to write letters for visa applicants to take to their consulates for new passports in the event of an immediate need to travel. He will not issue visas unless applicants can document genuine emergency. Otherwise, visa applicants will need to obtain their visas at the consulates overseas. The U.S. Consulate in Cd. Juarez, Mexico is willing to help on a limited basis before December 25, 2001. They will waive MINACS appointments (nvars or 900 number) for a very limited number of cases if the need to travel is urgent. Such people would be required to have new passports with copies of their entire visa revalidation applications in the required Visa Office format.

Further announcements regarding this matter will be posted on the DOS WebSite. Applicants are being directed to the DOS Public Inquiry line at 202.663.1225 to check whether a particular case is within the group affected by this situation. General information regarding visa revalidation is available through the State Department. We will update MurthyDotCom as further information regarding this matter becomes available.