The Consulate General of Italy in New York – one of the busiest Italian visa posts worldwide – has issued an official notice confirming that its visa counters will shut from midday 12 February until 18:00 on 17 February 2026. The announcement aligns with the national VIS-IT maintenance window and makes clear that both the intake of new files and the issuance of approved visas will pause. Pre-booked appointments will be moved to the nearest available date before or after the outage, with humanitarian and medically urgent cases prioritised. (consnewyork.esteri.it)
For companies relocating staff to the United States on tight schedules, the closure removes a popular contingency option: many multinational firms process Italian national work visas in New York for executives already on short-term US assignments. HR teams must now consider waiting until the system comes back online or redirecting applications to Washington DC or Miami – posts that will be equally affected but may reopen with different slot availability.
![Italian Consulate in New York Confirms Visa Office Closure for VIS Upgrade]()
For travellers caught off-guard by the shutdown, VisaHQ can help bridge the gap. Its online portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) compares appointment calendars across Italian consulates, flags the fastest processing routes, and provides end-to-end document support and courier services—letting applicants reposition their cases quickly without losing momentum.
The consulate stresses that already-lodged files remain secure in the system and will resume normal processing automatically after the reboot. Nevertheless, immigration counsel predict a cascading effect on appointment calendars through early March, as the post re-allocates more than 1,000 cancelled slots.
Assignees who need to travel in late February should explore alternative travel dates or obtain letters from Italian sponsors requesting emergency processing status. They must also double-check that US stay authorisation covers the extended waiting period, as overstaying in the US while awaiting an Italian visa could trigger compliance issues.
For companies relocating staff to the United States on tight schedules, the closure removes a popular contingency option: many multinational firms process Italian national work visas in New York for executives already on short-term US assignments. HR teams must now consider waiting until the system comes back online or redirecting applications to Washington DC or Miami – posts that will be equally affected but may reopen with different slot availability.
For travellers caught off-guard by the shutdown, VisaHQ can help bridge the gap. Its online portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) compares appointment calendars across Italian consulates, flags the fastest processing routes, and provides end-to-end document support and courier services—letting applicants reposition their cases quickly without losing momentum.
The consulate stresses that already-lodged files remain secure in the system and will resume normal processing automatically after the reboot. Nevertheless, immigration counsel predict a cascading effect on appointment calendars through early March, as the post re-allocates more than 1,000 cancelled slots.
Assignees who need to travel in late February should explore alternative travel dates or obtain letters from Italian sponsors requesting emergency processing status. They must also double-check that US stay authorisation covers the extended waiting period, as overstaying in the US while awaiting an Italian visa could trigger compliance issues.
