The situation
Applications for Venezuelan visas including initial work visas, visa renewals or visa transfers will not be accepted this week even if appointments for this week were granted, as the visa section is closed until November 5 due to the replacement of the visa section director.
Impact
- Pending appointments. Foreign nationals or immigration providers who had an appointment scheduled this week to apply for visa renewal or visa transfer will need to request a new appointment on or after November 5.
- New applications. Foreign nationals seeking to obtain an appointment to submit an application for a visa renewal or visa transfer (which is the transfer of an existing valid visa to a new passport), must wait until after November 5 to schedule an appointment.
- Unaffected applications. Foreign nationals seeking to obtain tourist or business visas are not impacted as these visas are granted at Venezuelan consulates.
Background
SAIME processes all visa and passport applications for Venezuela. The visa section within SAIME processes all initial work visas, visa renewals and visa transfers.
The highest-level positions within SAIME, as in other Venezuelan government entities, are appointed by other government branches. Individuals holding these positions are usually removed and/or appointed without warning or explanation to the public. Delays usually result when new officials are appointed.
Looking ahead
Fragomen will monitor this situation and will report if any closures are extended or any conditions change.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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