How does the National Visa Center Process Approved
Petitions?
The National
Visa Center (NVC) is a Department of State processing facility
that handles all approved immigrant visa petitions before they
are forwarded to the Embassy in Manila for final processing.
Once the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) approves a petition, it notifies the petitioner and sends
the approved petition to the NVC where it will be kept until an
immigrant visa number is available. Approved petitions may remain
at the NVC for several months or for many years depending on the
visa category of the beneficiary.
The NVC will notify the beneficiary when the
priority date of his/her petition becomes current (or when a visa
number becomes available) and will provide all the necessary information
and application forms to start the immigrant visa application
process. In almost all cases, the Affidavit of Support and the
visa application fees are processed at the NVC.
When an applicant's priority date is about to
become current and NVC has completed its processing of the case,
the approved petition and case file are sent to the Embassy in
Manila for the applicant to complete his/her application. If the beneficiary
is already in the United States and wishes to adjust status in
the U.S., the NVC may forward the approved petition to a USCIS
office upon the request of that office.
