The number of E-1 and E-2 visas processed through the US Embassy, London, saw a significant decrease in May, 2025. After increasing E-1 and E-2 visa issuance across earlier months, these categories decreased by 59% and 30% between April and May 2025. During the same timeframe, L-1 visa issuance increased by 11%. It’s assumed the slowdown in visa issuance is due to Embassy Staff focusing on processing Student and Exchange visas, with F-1 visa issuance increasing by 114%.
Student and Exchange visas now require analysis of each applicants’ social media profiles, involving significant resources being diverted to meet the commencement of the new academic year. It’s hoped that normal visa processing will resume, once the bottleneck of applications is cleared.
