Temporary Freeze on NIVs in Canada & Mexico Lifted 12/4/2001
Posted Dec 11, 2001

We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. are pleased to share the good news with our MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom readers that the temporary freeze on the issuance of non-immigrant visas (NIVs) in Canada and Mexico was lifted as of around December 4, 2001. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently issued a notification that the consulates in Canada and Mexico would resume scheduling NIV appointments.

As some of you may be aware, NIV appointments are scheduled by a specific contractor, called MINACS, for Canada and certain Mexican posts. The system still utilizes the phone number 900-443-3131 or the WebSite to make appointments. This system covers the following posts: Calgary, Ciudad Juarez, Halifax, Matamoros, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Tijuana, Toronto, and Vancouver.

As of 1:00 p.m. MST, December 5, 2001, only Calgary, Ciudad Juarez, Halifax, and Vancouver have NIV appointment openings in December 2001.

Based on our prior MurthyBulletin NewsFlash, you may recall that the temporary freeze came about because Special Processing Requirements (SPR) were imposed on certain nationalities, post 9/11. To summarize the SPR, males between the ages of 16 and 45 who are nationals of certain countries are subject to a twenty (20)-day security check wait. The temporary freeze was instituted to avoid instances of individuals being stuck in Canada or Mexico and unable to reenter the U.S. The MINACS appointment system was shut down as well as the Teletech system due implementation of the SPR policy.

This SPR check wait allegedly applies to the following countries, though the DOS refuses to comment on the list of countries and we learn that the list is subject to change: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Dijbouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
 
NIV applicants who make appointments through MINACS are being advised that they should wait 5 business days after scheduling the interview before purchasing airline tickets or making other travel plans. This is in the event that they are contacted by telephone or eMail to cancel the NIV appointment. Note that a consular officer will review the list of applicants for appointments and determine if any applicant is a national of a country subject to the SPR requirement. If that is the case, the applicant’s appointment will be cancelled and s/he will not be permitted to process the visa through Canada or Mexico. Applicants who are subject to the SPR requirement still do however have the option of applying for visa revalidation through the DOS in St. Louis, MO. The wait time with DOS for visa revalidations has increased considerably due to the increased workload.