On May 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that beginning on June 1, 2020, the “National Visa Center will no longer accept or respond to inquiries through mail” [PDF version].

The DOS explains that the National Visa Center (NVC) has modernized the way it pre-processes visa applications. As part of this effort, the NVC is eliminating paper correspondence. For this reason, any paper correspondence to the NVC that is postmarked June 1, 2020, or later, will not receive a response and will be destroyed. Paper correspondence that is postmarked before June 1, 2020, will still be responded to.

Beginning on June 1, 2020, applicants will need to submit all inquiries through the NVC’s Public Inquiry Forum at http://nvc.state.gov/inquiry. This online forum is already available for customers. Applicants should never submit repeat inquiries through the Public Inquiry Forum — doing so may delay the NVC’s ability to respond.

The NVC advises that after June 1, 2020, applicants should only send mail to the National Visa Center if they are explicitly instructed to do so through email, telephone call, or letter from the National Visa Center. The NVC will provide applicants with a mailing address in the event it solicits mail. The DOS cautions applicants to never send original documents to the NVC.