U.S. Department of State
National Visa Center
The National Visa Center
• Opened in 1994
• 700+ employees in public-private partnership
USCIS
NVC
Embassy
CBP/USCIS
• Accept and approve petition
• Case pre-processing
• Schedule interview
• Visa interview & issuance
• Port of entry
• Green card
Petition Types
I-130 – Family Based
I-140 – Employment Based
I-730 – Asylee/Refugee
I-129F – K1 Fiancé/K3 Life Act
I-600/A – Orphans
I-800 – Hague Adoptions
I-360 – Special Immigrant
I-526 – Investment
Petition Intake
• Data entry upon receipt
• Determine if “current” and can process
• Procedure depends upon type
– Expedited petitions
• K visas
• Orphans
• Refugees
– Welcome Letter with instructions
Applicant Instructions
• http://NVC.state.gov
• 6 Steps in IV processing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Choose an agent
Pay fees
Submit visa application
Collect financial documents
Collect post-specific civil
documents
6. Submit documents to NVC
• Interview preparation
• FAQs
I-864 Fee & Application Fee
• Two fees paid online
– I-864 Affidavit of Support fee (one per case)
– DS-260 Immigrant Visa Application (one for each
applicant)
• NVC issues fee bills
• Mail-in payment being phased out
Document Collection & Review
• NVC completes administrative review
• Requests missing/incomplete information
– I-864 Affidavit of Support and attached proof
– DS-260 Immigrant Visa Application form
– Civil documents and Police Certificates
Visa interviews
Embassy
NVC
NVC
NVC
Embassy
• 144 embassies/consulates give NVC appointment dates
• NVC schedules interview
• NVC sends appointment letter to all addresses on case
• NVC sends case paperwork & electronic file to embassy
• Embassy interviews applicants
Processing Times
• NVC receives 12,000 to 14,000 petitions
weekly
• Data entry/filing into NVC’s system in <10 days
• Review civil and financial documents in <30
days
• Recent procedural changes mean faster
movement of cases to interview stage
Always Improving
• Backlog reduction: procedural changes, equipment,
hiring
• No Original Civil Documents - Copies Only
• I-864 Assessment Letter
• Telephone Unit: 8000 calls/day
• Online public inquiry form
• All-electronic (MIV) processing is coming
– Piloting the Modernized IV program for applicants
– Faster, easier & greener
• Applicants e-mail documents
• Electronic forms DS-260 & DS-261
• Adoption cases sent to embassy electronically
Fiscal Year 2014 Volume
• Received 709,000+ petitions from USCIS
• Updated 99,000 newly current Family-Based
petitions
• 450,000 cases processed & sent to embassies
• 2.6 million cases at NVC
• Received 1.4 million pieces of incoming mail
• Sent 3 million pieces of outgoing mail
• Responded to 1,700,000 written inquiries
• Responded to 1,600,000 public calls
• Responded to 98,000 Congressional inquiries
Attorney Inquiries
• Contact us
– Email [email protected]
– Call 603-334-0700
– Must be listed on case as Agent of Record
• Research cases, communicate with overseas
embassies and USCIS
• Expedite or transfer requests: NVC is the
“middle man”
Thank You
• Questions?