Receiving the National Visa Center notice that immigrant visa case is “documentarily qualified” is an important milestone. It also marks the beginning of another waiting period for the immigrant visa appointment.
This article tracks the wait from being documentarily qualified (DQ) to the IV immigrant visa (IV) appointment being scheduled at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, and the American Institute in Taiwan’s Taipei office. This article also looks at how those waits have changed over time to help you estimate what your own wait might be.
Data in this article is based on the State Department’s IV Scheduling Status Tool.
Current Wait Times
Date the following data was checked: October 1, 2026. The State Department updates its data monthly.
| Visa-Issuing Post | Immigrant Visa Category | Published DQ month | Wait from DQ to IV Appointment Scheduling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guangzhou | Immediate relative | Apr. 2026 | 5 months |
| Family preference | Mar. 2025 | 18 months | |
| Employment preference | Aug. 2023 | 37 months | |
| Hong Kong | Immediate relative | Jul. 2026 | 2 months |
| Family preference | Jul. 2026 | 2 months | |
| Employment preference | Jul. 2026 | 2 months | |
| Taipei | Immediate relative | Mar. 2026 | 6 months |
| Family preference | Aug. 2025 | 13 months | |
| Employment preference | Jun. 2025 | 15 months |
Historical Trends
Guangzhou
The above chart shows that the wait from DQ to IV appointment scheduling has been consistent for immediate relatives but has swung widely for family- and employment-preference categories.
| Reported DOS update | Immediate relative | Family preference | Employment preference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 28, 2025 | Jan. 2025 | Jun. 2022 | Dec. 2024 |
| May. 02, 2025 | Apr. 2025 | Jun. 2022 | Dec. 2024 |
| Jun. 03, 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Jun. 2022 | May. 2025 |
| Not stated | May. 2025 | Jun. 2025 | Jun. 2025 |
| Sep. 02, 2025 | Jun. 2025 | Aug. 2025 | Jul. 2025 |
| Oct. 09, 2025 | Jul. 2025 | Sep. 2025 | Aug. 2025 |
| Nov. 12, 2025 | Sep. 2025 | Oct. 2025 | Oct. 2025 |
| Dec. 08, 2025 | Nov. 2025 | Nov. 2025 | Oct. 2025 |
| Jan. 08, 2026 | Oct. 2025 | Nov. 2025 | Dec. 2024 |
| Feb. 03, 2026 | Nov. 2025 | Nov. 2025 | Jul. 2025 |
| Mar. 04, 2026 | Dec. 2025 | Jan. 2026 | Nov. 2025 |
| Apr. 02, 2026 | Jan. 2026 | Jul. 2023 | Nov. 2025 |
| Jun. 04, 2026 | Mar. 2026 | Jun. 2025 | Jan. 2026 |
| Jul. 08, 2026 | Mar. 2026 | Oct. 2025 | Oct. 2023 |
| Aug. 07, 2026 | Apr. 2026 | Aug. 2025 | Aug. 2023 |
| Sep. 09, 2026 | Apr. 2026 | Mar. 2025 | Aug. 2023 |
| Sept. 23, 2026 | Apr. 2026 | Mar. 2025 | Aug. 2023 |
Hong Kong
The above chart shows that this visa-issuing post has kept the wait from DQ to appointment scheduling consistently at or below two months.
| Reported DOS update | Immediate relative | Family preference | Employment preference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 28, 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Apr. 2025 | Apr. 2025 |
| May. 02, 2025 | Apr. 2025 | May. 2025 | Apr. 2025 |
| Jun. 03, 2025 | May. 2025 | Jun. 2025 | May. 2025 |
| Not stated | Jul. 2025 | Jul. 2025 | Jul. 2025 |
| Sep. 02, 2025 | Aug. 2025 | Sep. 2025 | Sep. 2025 |
| Oct. 09, 2025 | Oct. 2025 | Oct. 2025 | Oct. 2025 |
| Nov. 12, 2025 | Nov. 2025 | Nov. 2025 | Oct. 2025 |
| Dec. 08, 2025 | Dec. 2025 | Dec. 2025 | Dec. 2025 |
| Jan. 08, 2026 | Jan. 2026 | Jan. 2026 | Jan. 2026 |
| Feb. 03, 2026 | Jan. 2026 | Feb. 2026 | Feb. 2026 |
| Mar. 04, 2026 | Mar. 2026 | Mar. 2026 | Mar. 2026 |
| Apr. 02, 2026 | Apr. 2026 | Feb. 2026 | Apr. 2026 |
| Jun. 04, 2026 | Jun. 2026 | Jun. 2026 | Jun. 2026 |
| Jul. 08, 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Jul. 2026 |
| Aug. 07, 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Aug. 2026 |
| Sep. 09, 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Jul. 2026 |
| Sept. 23, 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Jul. 2026 | Jul. 2026 |
Taipei
The above chart shows that at this visa-issuing post wait times from DQ to appointment scheduling continue to creep up. Waits for immediate relatives remain shorter than for family- and employment-preference categories.
| Reported DOS update | Immediate relative | Family preference | Employment preference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 28, 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Apr. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| May. 02, 2025 | Apr. 2025 | May. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Jun. 03, 2025 | Apr. 2025 | Jun. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Not stated | May. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Sep. 02, 2025 | Jun. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Oct. 09, 2025 | Jul. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Nov. 12, 2025 | Jul. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Dec. 08, 2025 | Aug. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Jan. 08, 2026 | Aug. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Feb. 03, 2026 | Aug. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Feb. 2025 |
| Mar. 04, 2026 | Sep. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Mar. 2025 |
| Apr. 02, 2026 | Oct. 2025 | Mar. 2025 | Mar. 2025 |
| Jun. 04, 2026 | Dec. 2025 | Aug. 2025 | Apr. 2025 |
| Jul. 08, 2026 | Jan. 2026 | Aug. 2025 | Jun. 2025 |
| Aug. 07, 2026 | Mar. 2026 | Aug. 2025 | Jun. 2025 |
| Sep. 09, 2026 | Mar. 2026 | Aug. 2025 | Jun. 2025 |
| Sept. 23, 2026 | Mar. 2026 | Aug. 2025 | Jun. 2025 |
How to Interpret These Wait Times
The State Department’s IV Scheduling Status Tool has a brief introduction for to how to interpret these wait times. Here’s my take.
The first step towards becoming a lawful permanent resident is filing an immigrant petition (Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative; Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker; Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor; etc.). Next, with the exception of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, you need to wait for an immigrant visa to become immediately available as shown on the State Department’s Visa Bulletin.
If a visa is immediately available or expected to become available within several months, the NVC, based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, does administrative work to get the case cases ready for an interview by a consular officer at a visa-issuing post abroad. NVC does not adjudicate visa applications, but rather collects the required fees, forms, and supporting documents. When those steps are done, NVC sends you an email to notify you that the case is “documentarily qualified.”
The timing from DQ to scheduling an appointment depends mostly on the visa-issuing posts’ available number of consular officers to hold interviews and the number of cases designated to be interviewed there.
The NVC schedules appointments on a first-in, first-out manner within each visa category. The post tells the NVC what interview dates are available, and the NVC fills those slots in order of DQ dates.
Approximately 2-3 months in advance of an appointment, NVC sends the applicant, your petitioner, and your agent or attorney (if applicable) an email with an appointment date and time.
Help with Immigrant Visa Processing
Chodorow Law Offices represents immigrant visa applicants in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taipei, and worldwide. We can review where your case stands, assess issues that may affect scheduling or eligibility, and help prepare for the interview. In appropriate cases, we can help transfer a case to a different visa-issuing post or request an expedited appointment. Read about our representation at these three posts or schedule a consultation.
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