Approved immigrant visa petitions are forwarded to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, by USCIS. The petition undergoes additional processing at NVC, including payment of the fees, completion of the affidavit of support, and collection of most documents.

Once NVC has received all of the required documents and fees from the petitioner and the priority date has become current, the file is forwarded to the U.S. Embassy. The applicant or petitioner can check the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin to determine if the petition is current.

If the petition is current (the priority date is earlier than the cutoff date in the bulletin), the applicant should begin gathering the documents listed below, which are required for the consular interview.

Applicants that are not documentarily ready will not be issued an immigrant visa. All documents presented must be original.

The National Visa Center schedules most immigrant visa interview appointments for the U.S. Embassy in Havana. The petitioner will receive a letter with the date of the beneficiary’s interview appointment. In K1 fiancé and limited other cases, applicants will receive instructions regarding scheduling their appointments by email from the U.S. Embassy directly.

Each applicant must bring the documents listed on their appointment letter to their interview.