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NVC & IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING
After USCIS approves your petition, they will transfer your case to the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) for pre-processing. The first step in this processing is the creation of your case in their system. Once this is complete, they will send you a Welcome Letter by e-mail or physical mail. With the information in this letter, you can log in to their Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) to check your status, receive messages, and manage your case. Once you submit your fees, forms, and supporting civil and financial documents to NVC, they will review your case to ensure you provided all the documentation required to schedule the immigrant visa interview. Interviews are based on the availability of appointments offered at the Embassy/Consulate.
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United States law limits the number of immigrant visa numbers available each year in certain visa categories. This means that even if USCIS approves an immigrant visa petition for you, you may not get an immigrant visa number immediately. In addition, U.S. law also limits the number of visas available in certain categories by country. For limited categories, the availability of immigrant visa numbers depends on the date your petition was filed and the number of others waiting for the same visa category. The date your petition was filed is called your priority date. Priority dates are posted monthly on the Visa Bulletin, which provides up-to-date priority dates for cases NVC is processing. Please note that while NVC attempts to contact all applicants when their visa number is available, you can also use the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin to check whether a visa is available for your petition. If a visa is available and NVC has not yet contacted you, please let them know by using their Public Inquiry Form.
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 203(g) provides that the “Secretary of State shall terminate the registration (petition) of any alien who fails to apply for an immigrant visa within one year” of notice of visa availability. The petition may be reinstated if, within two years of notice of visa availability, the alien establishes that the “failure to apply was for reasons beyond the alien’s control.” Therefore, if you do not respond to notices from NVC within one year you risk termination of your petition under this section of law and would lose the benefits of that petition, such as your priority date.
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The first thing you need to do after receiving your NVC Welcome Letter is pay your processing fees. There are two processing fees:
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Immigrant Visa Application Processing Fee
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Affidavit of Support Fee. A small number of cases do not require payment of this fee.
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You will need a bank routing number and a checking or savings account number from a U.S. based bank. To pay your fee, log into your case in CEAC and click the ‘PAY NOW’ button under Affidavit of Support Fee or IV Fee on your summary page.
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Please note you cannot pay these two fees simultaneously; the online system will ask you to pay them one at a time. After submitting your payments online, please allow up to 1 week for NVC to process your fees before continuing to the next step. You will not be able to access Form DS-260 until NVC has processed your payments.
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COMPLETING THE AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT
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An Affidavit of Support, also called the Form I-864, is a document an individual signs to accept financial responsibility for the applicant who is coming to live in the United States. The person who signs the Affidavit of Support is also called the “sponsor.” The petitioner must complete Form I-864; however if the petitioner’s income is insufficient, a joint-sponsor may agree to also complete an I-864 on the applicant’s behalf.
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An Affidavit of Support is legally enforceable. The sponsor's financial responsibility usually lasts until the applicant either becomes a U.S. citizen, or can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work (usually 10 years) under the Social Security Act.
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By signing Form I-864, the petitioner (including any joint sponsor(s)) is agreeing to use their resources, if necessary, to financially support the beneficiary and any dependent(s). If the beneficiary and dependent(s) receive any designated federal, state, or local means-tested public benefits, under U.S. law the agency providing the benefit “shall request reimbursement” from the signatory of the I-864. In most cases, the petitioner must:
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a) Complete an Affidavit of Support form and;
b) Gather evidence of their finances and other supporting documents.
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There are several types of Affidavit of Support forms (I-864, I-864EZ, and I-864A).
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COLLECTING FINANCIAL EVIDENCE AND OTHER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
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After the financial sponsor(s) completes the Affidavit of Support form, they should gather evidence of their finances and other supporting documents.
Please remember that each financial sponsor (petitioner, any joint sponsors, and any household members) must submit an Affidavit of Support as well as evidence of their finances and other supporting documents. Failure to do so will delay the processing of your case.
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COMPLETING THE ONLINE VISA APPLICATION (DS-260)
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After you pay your fees and the status in CEAC is updated to ‘PAID’, you and each qualified family member immigrating with you must complete the Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration (Form DS-260). To complete your Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, log into your case in CEAC and click the ‘START NOW’ under IV Application on your summary page.
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Submitting Form DS-260 does not formally execute a visa application. The visa application is not formally made until the visa applicant(s) is interviewed by a U.S. consular officer. After submitting Form DS-260 online, you must print the confirmation page and bring it to your interview. You can print this from CEAC any time after you complete your DS-260 application.
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SUBMITTING CIVIL AND FINANCIAL DOCUMENTATION
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After you complete your DS-260(s), you and each family member immigrating with you MUST collect the civil documents required to support your visa application. Your civil documents MUST be issued by the official issuing authority in your country. Please note that all documents not written in English, or in the official language of the country from which you are applying, must be accompanied by certified translations. The translation must include a statement signed by the translator stating that:
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The translation is accurate, and
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The translator is competent to translate.
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Important Notice on Missing Documents:
You must submit a detailed written explanation to NVC when you scan your other documents if a document is not available. During your visa interview, it will be left to the discretion of the consular officer to determine whether you must obtain the missing document before the visa can be issued.
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Once all civil documentation has been obtained, it should be scanned and uploaded to CEAC. Then, the NVC will review the document submissions for completion and accuracy and if they meet their specified submission guidelines, the case will be scheduled for interview (typically taking between 3-4 months).
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NVC FEES
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Affidavit of Support: $120. Visa application: $325. Per person on the case.
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If there are no further complications in your case, our filing fee will be $500 per person the case, but every case is unique.
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For more information, please contact us.
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