Immigrant Visa Processing is being done at the National Visa Center (NVC) including scheduling interview at the Consulates
Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law, Dallas

Processing at NVC
Under the new procedures implemented the National Visa Center (NVC) collects immigrant visa fee, affidavit of support fee and application forms (DS 230 Part I and II), Affidavit of Support forms for US Embassies and US Consulates around the world. The NVC is the main office of all U. S Consulates around the world located at Portsmouth, NH in United States. This office processes all immigrant visa applications once the I-130 petitions are approved by the U. S Immigration (USCIS) and forwarded the approved file to NVC. The NVC comes under the Department of State while the USCIS comes under the Department of Homeland Security. Thus both the USCIS and NVC are different agencies under two different departments of the Federal government. Both follow the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to adjudicate the cases before them. Both agencies have their own rules mostly similar to adjudicate the cases under the INA. Both agencies are authorized to make their own decisions regarding each petitions like the USCIS has authority whether to approve or not to approve or revoke the petitions approved and NVC has the authority to decided whether a person is eligible for visa or not or to send an approved petition back to USCIS for revocation or for further review. This is done in cases where fraud is involved by the petitioner or the applicants for visas at the consulates based on the information collected through interview and other sources. Hence it is important that filing of I-130 petitions for spouses and other relatives must be accompanied by copies of genuine documents mandated by the rules issued by the government authority. If primary documents like birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates are not available, the USCIS may accept secondary documents. If you are not sure what kind of documents are needed with the I-130 petition, you should contact an immigration attorney who has experience of several years of filing similar petitions especially for the applicants of your country.

Submission of Visa Fee and AOS Fee
After receipt of the approved I-130 petitions and at the appropriate time, the NVC will send the Affidavit of Support fee invoice to the petitioner and the Immigrant Visa Processing fee invoice to the applicant or the applicant's designated agent. If an attorney is representing the applicant, the attorney will receive both invoices. Most of the attorneys have chosen to communicate with NVC by e-mail and in such cases the fee bills and all future communications will be e-mailed to the attorney with copy to the petitioner and the applicant. E-mail communications are faster than the mailing the same from NVC, which may take any amount of time from 3-4 weeks. E-mails take less than 24 hours to be sent from NVC to the attorney once it is processed for sending. There are two ways to remit the immigrant visa fee with the NVC. If you need to submit payment, you have two options:

· Online Payment – Most of the attorneys have chosen to remit the fee online directly from your bank account or law firm bank account. This method is faster than remitting the fee by check and mailing the same to NVC fee processing center, which may take about 2-3 weeks to process the same and send us the bar code sheet and information to submit the affidavit of support, DS forms and other supporting documents.
· Alternative Payment Method – This method allows when attorneys or petitioner did not chose e-mail options and the fee bills be received by mail. The fee must be paid by check and mailed to the NVC fee payment processing center. This will delay the processing since it may take about 2-3 weeks to process the fee and send the bar code sheet and information to submit the affidavit of support, DS forms and other supporting documents.
· If you will be applying for your immigrant visa in the United States by adjusting your status with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), you should contact the National Visa Center before taking further action or making payments. Once you make the request with the NVC, it will hold the approved I-130 until the USCIS requests for the same after you file the adjustment of status application. Hence it is important to contact an immigration attorney to make your choice of consular processing or adjustment of status.
· After you have paid your fees if by online, after 3 days, your attorney or the petitioner may print out the bar code sheet and information sheet. You should carefully follow the detailed instructions in the “Document Collection” instructions.

Submission of Affidavit of Support, DS 230 Part I
If the NVC has requested applicant documents or Affidavit of Support documents, your attorney or the petitioner must submit the affidavit of support by the petitioner, with all supporting documents and DS 230 Part I signed by the applicant for visa. If the petitioner does not have enough income to meet the poverty guidelines, you may need a joint sponsor or a co-sponsor. You may use your household members living in the same house and filed tax returns for previous three years in the same address as yours. If you do not have household members, you may want to use joint sponsors, who may be residing anywhere in the United States. You may not need to use your own family members, but it is always preferred that your use your own close family members, since affidavit of support is a contract between the petitioner/joint sponsor and the alien applicant and the government. Anyone files an affidavit of support must read all the instructions that come with the form to make sure you understand the obligations one is undertaking by signing the affidavit of support. Once you sign the affidavit of support, it is not revocable or terminated. The obligation under the affidavit of support will last until one of the following things happens whichever comes first.
1) The applicant becomes a U. S citizen;
2) The applicant works for 40 qualifying quarter hours (10 years normally);
3) The applicant dies;
4) The applicant departs United States and surrenders permanent resident status.

A divorce between the petitioner or the applicant will not relieve the petitioner or joint sponsor from the affidavit of support obligations. The applicant spouse may claim alimony based on the affidavit of support obligations both from the petitioner and joint sponsor in a divorce proceedings. Hence it is important the petitioner or the joint sponsor or family members who ever sign an affidavit of support seek legal advice before signing the affidavit of support. Also the petitioner must have enough income for the past three years and present income to meet the poverty guidelines evidence by past three years tax returns and a verifiable income like a job. The same applies to a joint sponsor also, since joint sponsor comes in when the petitioner does not have enough income to meet the poverty guidelines.

Submission of Original Documents
Once you submit the affidavit of support, DS 230 Part I with all supporting documents and evidence, NVC will review the same for correctness of the documents and information submitted. If the NVC needs more information or documents, it will send you information asking more information or documents. This will delay the processing at NVC since your case will be put on hold until you submit the correct documents. If the documents submitted meet the requirements, NVC will send by e-mail or regular mail the bar code sheet and list of documents to submit the original documents. It should be remembered that you should not submit original documents unless they were requested by the NVC.

Interview Notice and Preparation
Once the NVC reviews the original documents submitted it will send an e-mail or by regular mail the interview letter. If you have an attorney and he/she has opted for e-mail communications, the interview letter will be send by e-mail to your attorney with copy to the petitioner and the applicant. No interview letter will be sent by mail to the petitioner or applicant from NVC if e-mail communications are opted for. When the NVC notifies the applicant that an interview has been scheduled, the applicant must begin preparing for the interview at the consulate by appearing for the medical and vaccination examination at an approved medical facility and to obtain the report in a sealed envelope. The applicant must take this sealed envelope along with all passports used in the past including the most recent one. The applicant also must take with him/her any additional documents to prove the relationship claimed in the I-130 petition. In most attorney cases, the interview will last only less than 10 minutes and the ten finger prints of the applicant/s will be taken and the most recent passport will be retained by the consulate. The applicant must remit the courier fee with the appropriate VFS office before appearing for the interview. Once the security clearance is obtained the passport will be affixed with the immigrant visa and it will be returned to the applicants in the address provided in the DS 230 Part I form along with the visa packet in a sealed envelope. This sealed envelope must not be opened by the applicant and should be surrendered at the port of entry, which is the first airport where the applicant is landed to the immigration officers along with the passport. In most cases the applicant will receive the green card and also social security (if that option is requested) in the mail within couple of weeks of arrival. The consulates will not send any information or packet under these procedures and all papers works are being handed by the NVC in United States. If your case is very old and already pending at the consulate, you should contact the consulate for further processing of the case, since NVC has already sent the file to the consulate.

Disclaimer: Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law does not claim authorship for above referenced information. Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law or the publisher is not responsible or liable for anything stated above, since it is generalized information about the subject matters collected from various sources including Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, State Department, Federal Register, and American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA) Advocacy Center, and other legal sources. For individual cases and specific questions you are advised to consult an attorney of your choice or contact the agencies mentioned above. You may visit our website at: www.indiaimmigrationusa.com or www.indiaimmigrationusa.blogspot.com for more information about other related immigration matters.