NVC Case Checklist

NVC-01Step 1 Case creation and Welcome Letter

NVC opens the case after USCIS approval and issues your case number.

Where everything starts The Welcome Letter carries the NVC case number and Invoice ID. Nothing in CEAC opens without both. If it never arrived, submit the NVC Public Inquiry Form rather than waiting.

• Receive NVC Welcome LetterArrives by email if an address was on the petition, otherwise by post. Record the case number and Invoice ID.
• Create the CEAC immigrant visa accountceac.state.gov: log in with the case number and Invoice ID from the Welcome Letter.
• Submit DS-261 Choice of Agent, if the post requests itNames who receives NVC correspondence. Skip if an attorney G-28 is already on file.
• Confirm the interview postThis case is set to interview at {POST}. Applicants residing outside {COUNTRY} may be assigned elsewhere. Confirm before ordering documents.
• Confirm this applicant is listed on the caseDerivative spouse and children must appear in CEAC. If someone is missing, notify NVC before paying fees.

NVC-02Step 2 Pay the processing fees

Two separate payments in CEAC. Neither can be paid at the embassy.

Payment mechanics You need a U.S. bank routing and account number. The two fees cannot be paid at the same time. The system takes them one after the other, and each takes two to three business days to post.

• Pay the Affidavit of Support review fee: $120One payment per case, not per applicant. Family-based cases only.
• Pay the immigrant visa application fee: $325Charged per person, including infants.
• Save the payment confirmationPrint or screenshot. You will want it if a payment fails to post.

NVC-03Step 3 File Form DS-260

One application per applicant. No edits after submission.

Before anyone hits submit Names must match the passport exactly, and the address history must line up with the police certificates you are about to order. A DS-260 cannot be corrected online. Fixing it means asking NVC to unlock it, which costs weeks.

• Complete and submit the DS-260Every applicant files their own, regardless of age.
• Parent or guardian completes and signs on the child's behalfRecord the relationship in the signature block.
• Address history matches the police certificates being orderedAny country lived in 12 months or more since age 16 will need its own certificate.
• Every prior name, spelling variant, and nickname is listedLate or informal birth registration often leaves different spellings across the civil registry, the passport and school records. Disclose every version.
• Full employment and education history entered
• Print the DS-260 confirmation pageRequired at the interview.

NVC-04Step 4 Affidavit of Support and sponsor evidence

Filed by the petitioner. Covers everyone on the case at once.

Household size counts every applicant Each derivative on the case raises the income threshold. Check the sponsor against the current 125% poverty guideline for the full household before uploading, not after NVC rejects it. If the petitioner falls short, add a joint sponsor to the roster and work their card in parallel. Asking NVC to attach one takes several business days before the upload slot even appears.

• Run the income test before uploading anythingHousehold size = the petitioner, their dependents, anyone already sponsored on a prior I-864, plus every applicant on this case. Compare against the current 125% poverty guideline. Active-duty military sponsoring a spouse or child use 100%.
• Decide whether a joint sponsor is neededIf the petitioner's income clears the threshold, skip the joint sponsor entirely. If it does not, add a joint sponsor to the roster on the left and complete their card.
• Petitioner signs Form I-864Required even when a joint sponsor is used. The petitioner is never released from the obligation.
• Most recent federal tax returnAn IRS tax transcript is cleaner than a 1040 copy. If filing the 1040, attach every W-2, 1099 and schedule.
• Six months of pay stubs and an employment verification letter
• Proof of U.S. domicileNeeded when the petitioner has been living abroad: lease, mortgage, state ID, voter registration, U.S. tax filings.
• Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residencePassport biodata page, naturalization certificate, or green card.
• Asset evidence, if income falls shortBank statements, property appraisals, titles. Assets are generally counted at one third of value for a spouse or child of a U.S. citizen, one fifth otherwise.
• I-864A from any household member whose income is being combinedA relative living in the petitioner's household who signs on to have their income counted. Different form from the joint sponsor's I-864.
• Ask NVC to add the joint sponsor to the case, if one is neededRequest it through CEAC. Allow several business days before the joint sponsor's upload slot appears. Start this early, not after everything else is ready.
• Confirm the joint sponsor is eligibleMust be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or lawful permanent resident, at least 18, and domiciled in the United States. No family relationship to anyone on the case is required.
• Confirm the joint sponsor can cover the case alone BLOCKINGA joint sponsor's income is not added to the petitioner's. It must independently reach 125% of the poverty guideline for their own household plus every applicant on this case.
• Count the joint sponsor's household correctlyThemselves, their spouse, their dependents, anyone they have sponsored on a prior I-864 still in force, plus all applicants on this case.
• Joint sponsor signs their own Form I-864A separate form from the petitioner's, not an I-864A. Signed by the joint sponsor personally.
• Proof of U.S. citizenship, national or LPR statusPassport biodata page, birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or green card copy (front and back).
• Most recent federal tax returnIRS tax transcript preferred. If submitting the 1040, include every W-2, 1099 and schedule.
• Six months of pay stubs and an employment verification letterSelf-employed joint sponsors: include the business return and Schedule C.
• Proof of U.S. domicileOnly an issue if the joint sponsor lives abroad, but if they do, this must be resolved before they can sponsor at all.
• Asset evidence, if the joint sponsor's income alone falls shortIf they cannot cover the case on income plus assets, they are not a viable joint sponsor. Find another rather than layering a third sponsor.
• I-864A from the joint sponsor's household member, if their income is being countedSigned by the household member, with their own tax return and income evidence attached.
• Joint sponsor understands the obligation is enforceableThe contract runs until the immigrant naturalizes, is credited with 40 qualifying quarters, permanently leaves the U.S., or dies. Divorce does not end it. Walk them through this before they sign.

NVC-05Step 5 Civil documents

The stage that decides your timeline. Order the slow ones first.

Order of operations

NVC-06Step 6 Upload, submit, and clear the checklist letters

Getting to documentarily qualified.

Do not mail anything NVC processes electronically. Send paper only if NVC explicitly asks for it. If a document is rejected, NVC posts the reason as a message in CEAC. The email notice alone will not tell you what is wrong.

• Upload all Affidavit of Support documents and press SubmitThe Submit button stays inactive until every required item is uploaded.
• Upload this applicant's civil documents and press SubmitScan rather than photograph. Blurry or partial pages get returned.
• Every page of every document is includedFront and back, all pages, no cropped seals.
• Read every CEAC message after each reviewRejection reasons appear only inside the account.
• Resubmit only the corrected itemRe-uploading the whole package as duplicates slows the review.
• Joint sponsor's I-864 and evidence uploaded under Affidavit of Support DocumentsUploaded within the same case in CEAC, alongside the petitioner's I-864, not as a separate submission.
• Joint sponsor's package reviewed and acceptedA rejected joint sponsor is a common cause of a second checklist letter. Check CEAC messages for the specific reason.
• Case shows Documentarily QualifiedThe case now waits for an interview slot at {POST}.

NVC-07Step 7 Interview at {POST}

Medical exam, packet assembly, and the appointment itself.

Medical exam timing Book the panel physician as soon as the interview date is issued, not before. Results go to the embassy directly. Children need age-appropriate vaccinations, so bring the child health card.

• Interview appointment letter receivedConfirm every applicant on the case is listed on it.
• Medical exam with an embassy-authorized panel physicianUse only a panel physician approved by {POST}. An exam done anywhere else will not be accepted.
• Vaccination record taken to the medical examMissing vaccines are administered at the exam at extra cost.
• Child immunization cardBring the original national child health card. Age-appropriate vaccines are required for children as well as adults.
• Two passport photographs to embassy specification
• Originals of every uploaded civil documentUploading was not submitting. The originals go to the interview.
• Valid passport in hand
• Original I-864 package and sponsor tax documents
• Joint sponsor's signed I-864 and tax documents travel with the applicantThe joint sponsor does not attend the interview. Send the applicant the originals in time for the appointment.
• Evidence of an ongoing bona fide relationship, for spousal casesPhotographs across time, communications, remittance receipts, joint financial records, travel evidence.
• Accompanying parent or guardian attends with the childA child cannot attend alone.
• Attend the interview

NVC-08Step 8 After the visa is issued

Fees, travel window, and the green card.

Do not commit to anything early Eligibility is decided by the consular officer on interview day. No one should resign a job, sell property or book final travel until the passport and visa packet are physically in hand.

• Collect the passport with the visa and the sealed packetDo not open the sealed packet under any circumstances.
• Pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee: $235Paid at my.uscis.gov. The green card will not be produced until it is paid.
• Enter the U.S. before the visa expiration dateUsually six months from issuance, or the medical exam expiry, whichever comes first.
• Child travels with the accompanying parent or guardianOr with documented consent if travelling with someone else.
• Green card arrives at the U.S. addressUpdate the address with USCIS if it changes before delivery.
• Apply for a Social Security numberCan be requested during the visa process or at an SSA office after arrival.
• Diary the I-751 date, if a conditional two-year card was issuedFiled in the 90 days before the second anniversary of admission.
• Joint sponsor keeps a signed copy of the I-864Their obligation is now live. They should retain the form and evidence with their tax records.
• Joint sponsor notifies USCIS of address changesForm I-865, within 30 days of moving, for as long as the obligation runs.