Skip to main content

American Visa Guide — IL Drop Tracker & Community Data

Last IL Drop
Days Since Drop
days ago
Latest DQ with IL
Standard cases only
Interview Dates

IL drop figures reflect Immediate Relative (IR) visas, based on the volume of data submitted. Family-Sponsored Preference cases follow the same London process but are currently tracking about a month behind IR. This tracker can only count people who submit their information — for the broader official picture, see the NVC immigrant visa scheduling status tool, or read more on the guide page.

Pipeline Status

Current status across all three processing stages.

USCIS — I-130 Petition

NVC — National Visa Centre

US Embassy London — Interview & Visa

IL Drop History

Interview Letter drops from the US Embassy London. Most recent first.

Interview Letter drop history: drop date, day of week, time of drop, DQ date range covered, interview date range scheduled, gap since previous drop, and number of ILs issued
Drop Date Day Time (London) DQ Dates Covered Interview Dates Gap Since Previous ILs Issued

DQ Backlog — Awaiting Interview Letters

Tracked members who are Documentarily Qualified but haven't received an Interview Letter yet, grouped by DQ month with the drop expected to reach them.

Members Awaiting IL
Oldest Waiting DQ
First in line for the next drop
Members Documentarily Qualified and awaiting an Interview Letter: DQ month, number waiting, DQ date range, and the estimated IL drop expected to cover them
DQ Month Members Waiting DQ Dates Expected Batch

IL to Interview Scheduling

The month your Interview Letter arrived and the month interviews have been scheduled. IL → interview is typically ~2 months. Observed pattern from London community members.

Typical recent wait
Observed pattern: the month an Interview Letter was received and the month the interview was scheduled
IL Received Interview Scheduled

DQ → IL Wait Time Trends

Median days from Documentarily Qualified to Interview Letter. A downward trend means the queue is moving faster.

Typical recent wait
All Time
Last 6 Months

What we're seeing: IL drops are still landing on their usual cadence, but the wait from DQ to Interview Letter has been gradually lengthening in recent months — the last six months are running longer than the all-time median. Based on our community data this is a slow drift rather than a stop: cases keep moving through the queue, they're just taking a little longer to reach an Interview Letter.

Interview Outcomes

Community-reported results at the US Embassy London.

Approved
221(g)
Denied

Passport Return Times

After visa approval at interview — median days to receive your passport with visa stamp.

Overall (all methods)
Mail Boxes Etc Pick-Up
median days
Royal Mail Delivery
median days

Median Stage-by-Stage Timings

Community-reported median times for each leg of the London immigrant visa process. Individual experiences vary.

Median processing time for each stage of the US immigrant visa application through the US Embassy London, based on community-reported data
Stage Median (days) Median (months)

Timeline Calculator

Based on community data from 200+ cases at London Embassy. Select a date and we'll predict the next milestone using median timelines from real cases.

Predictions — not guarantees! These are estimates based on historical community timelines. Individual cases may vary. Use these for ballpark planning only.

DQ → Interview

When will my interview be?

Interview → Passport

When will I get my passport?

Please don't sue Erin — this is about numbers, not magic balls, and I am too poor to be held liable for playing with data and having you take it as a promise 😭