Worldwide: Temporary Government Website Outages Result from Fixes for Internet Security Vulnerability Issue

The widely-reported website outages due to the fixing of the security vulnerability issues in the internet coding language called PHP are impacting government websites and online services in several countries. Some notable outages have been reported in, but are not limited to, Bulgaria, Denmark, France (partial), Latvia, North Macedonia and Poland (partial), including some immigration-related services.      

• Immigration process impacts. Where immigration portals are affected, applicants and employers may be unable to submit applications, upload supporting documents, pay fees, book appointments or check application status. These interruptions may delay filings and related immigration processes. The extent of disruption will depend on the authority and service concerned.    
• Foreign nationals encountering outages on government websites. Foreign nationals who may need to interact with the government websites directly who encounter an outage should retain dated screenshots and details of unsuccessful submission attempts and contact their immigration professional to discuss available options.    

For country-specific questions, reach out to your Fragomen immigration professional. We are monitoring the situation and will report on developments.  

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.