Immigrant Visa Pause Update, November 3, 2026: Guangzhou Issues an IR1 Two Days After Its Second Interview, Athens Holds Its First Re-Interview, and a London Refusal Shows Why Sponsor Documents Belong in CEAC

Day 74. A full re-interview-to-visa timeline from Guangzhou, a first second interview at Athens, and a London refusal with a practical lesson.

Guangzhou: Issued two days after the second interview

An IR1 spouse from a pause country, first interviewed at Guangzhou on 2 March and held under the pause, had a second interview on 20 October that lasted about an hour and a half. CEAC moved to Administrative Processing on 21 October and Issued on 22 October. The visa was in hand on 27 October, and the applicant has since joined their spouse in the US. It is the first complete timeline from first interview to visa we hold for this post.

Athens holds its first reported second interview

An F4 family first interviewed at Athens on 6 July and refused under 221(g) because of the pause was emailed a few weeks ago for financial and public-charge documents. They sent employment evidence, health insurance and a financial support plan. At the second interview on 3 November the officer asked whether anyone had ever received payments from any government, then about job and insurance plans, and said everything looked fine. Both passports were kept, with an answer promised in about a week. Their medicals expire soon, so they must enter the US by 16 December. Athens now has its own row on the pause status page.

London: upload a new sponsor to CEAC, don't only email it

A spouse case first interviewed at London in May was refused under the public-charge ground, 212(a)(4), at its second interview on 30 September. After the first interview the post said the joint sponsor's income was too low. The family emailed a replacement joint sponsor to the address the post gave, but did not upload it to CEAC, and at the second interview the officer was still working from the original sponsor. If you replace a sponsor, put the documents in CEAC as well. The re-interview guide has the full document list.

Islamabad, Tokyo, Dhaka and Yerevan

Islamabad sent a new batch of re-interview emails on 2 November after two quiet weeks, mainly for first interviews between 30 January and 2 February (relayed from messaging groups). Applicants interviewed on 18 and 27 February have nothing yet, and one has seen no CEAC change since February. Some refusals there ask for a different health plan with adequate minimum essential coverage; travel insurance is not accepted. Tokyo interviewed and approved a CR1 spouse on 3 November. At Dhaka, an F4 family was issued after a second interview, having uploaded property valuations, bank statements and the petitioner's insurance card beforehand (relayed). Yerevan's 17 March spouse case still has had no contact.

Which posts come next

A tracker going round applicant groups counts 11 Visa Waiver Program posts reopened since late August and projects the remaining ones by late December, based on an unverified claim that training goes to those countries first. Nothing official confirms an order. Commenters point out that resuming processing and scheduling new interviews are different steps.

Work and visitor visas

Delhi approved an L-2 spouse on 2 November. Chennai and Mumbai approved B1/B2 applicants on 3 November, and Stockholm approved a dual national visiting a partner. Chennai, Hyderabad and Paris refused visitor visas, two of them for business trips whose purpose the officer found too vague. A J-1 postdoc family got a white 221(g) on 29 October for social media screening. Wait times by post are on our 221(g) tracker.