Green Card through Consular Processing

Step 1: File a Petition

The United States Citizens and lawful permanent resident petitioners living in the U.S. must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with the USCIS (The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). Our Firm file the petitions electronically or through the traditional paper process (through the mail) on the behalf of our clients and corporates. We have an experienced and result oriented team for filling all types of family-based petitions and employee-based petitions.

To learn more about how to access forms and eligibility test, please click here.

Filing Petitions from Inside the United States

U.S. Citizens and LPR sponsors living in the U.S must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, U.S. employers must file Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox facility. Our Attorneys are best in the world for filling all types of petitions.

Filing Petitions from Outside the United States

Most immigrant visa petitions are filed inside the U.S, filling certain types of petitions outside the U.S is possible. Petitioners those who are residing outside of the United States can file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, online or by mail to the USCIS Dallas Lockbox. Our F4 India Team has filed thousand petitions successfully.

Approval

Your immigrant petition must be approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before your case can proceed to the National Visa Center (NVC).

Step 2: National Visa Center Processing

USCIS will transfer your case to the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) for pre-processing after USCIS approves your petition. In the first step, NVC creates your case and enter the data from your petition into the system. NVC will send you a Welcome Letter by e-mail or mail.

Once you submit your fees, forms, and supporting documents to NVC, NVC will review your case to make sure that you provided all the correct documentation to schedule the visa interview. Interviews are totally based on the availability of appointments offered at the Embassy/Consulate.

To find which cases NVC is currently reviewing, please contact our specialist team, our online team help our clients 24x7 in most of the countries.

Visa Number for Each Year is Limited in Few Categories

In certain visa categories, U.S law has a limited number of immigrant visas available each year. So, if USCIS approves your immigrant visa petition, you will not get a visa number immediately. Visa available in certain categories by country also has a limit. In a few visa categories the availability of immigrant visa numbers depends on the date and year your petition was filed and the number of others waiting for in the same visa category. The filling date of your petition is called your priority date (PD).

Visa Bulletin provides the latest priority dates for your immigration cases every month. You can also check the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin to check whether your visa is available. If your visa is available and NVC has not yet contacted you, please let us know, we will help you. Our F4 Team will find out the reason.

Notice : Termination of Registration:

Immigration and Nationality Act can terminate the petition of any intended immigrant who fails to file DS-260 for an immigrant visa within 1 year. The petition will be reinstated if, within 2 years of notice of visa availability, the intended immigrant establishes that the “failure to apply was for reasons beyond his/her control.” i.e., if you do not act to notices from NVC within 1 year you risk termination of your petition under this section 203(g) of law and would lose the benefits of that petition, such as your priority date.

Step 3: Pay Fees

You must pay your processing fees after receiving a Welcome Letter from NVC. Immigrant Visa Application Processing Fee is $325 for all the intended immigrant. Affidavit of Support Fee is $120.

Our Law firm can pay the fee on your behalf. If you or your relative want to pay then you will need a bank routing number and a checking or savings account number from a U.S. based bank.

Note: Both these fees cannot pay simultaneously.

After submitting your fee online, NVC takes 4-5 working days to process your fees before going to the next step. Form DS-260 will not be accessible until NVC get the confirmation from the U.S. Bank.

Step 4: File Affidavit of Support

An Affidavit of Support (Form I-864), is a document individual signs to accept financial responsibility for the applicant who is coming to live and work in the U.S. The person who signs the Affidavit of Support is called the Sponsor. The Sponsor has to file correctly Form I-864 if the Sponsor's income is insufficient, a joint-sponsor may be added to file an I-864 on the applicant’s behalf.

Under the Social Security Act, the sponsor's financial responsibility usually lasts until the applicant becomes a U.S. citizen or principal applicant get credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work, it usually 10 years.

NOTE: Please read the information very carefully. Failure to complete and submit the incorrect form(s) will delay in processing of your case, thus our firm never give suggestions to file DS260 yourself. F4 Team has a special department for this work. We have Tax lawyers those who check each and every detail very carefully.

In general, what we Check:

• Complete Scan an Affidavit of Support form with Tax Professionals and;

• Our Team Gather evidence of their finances and other supporting documents from clients and keep it secret.

• Complete Affidavit of Support form

• There are many types of Affidavit of Support forms (I-864, I-864EZ, and I-864A).

Please be advised: NVC Customer Service Representatives cannot advise you as to which Affidavit of Support from you should complete. Our F4 Team has an experience of many years and we are updated with new law changing and USCIS policies.

Step 5: Financial Documents

Financial documents are required to submit to NVC with the I-864 i.e. Affidavit of Support. These are the documents provided by the Sponsor and or Household member, Joint sponsor if they are added in the petition to support financially. Each financial sponsor has to submit an Affidavit of Support and evidence of their finances and other supporting documents. If in case the sponsor fails to do so then the processing of the case will get delay.

Financial documents are required to submit to NVC with the I-864 i.e. Affidavit of Support. These are the documents provided by the Sponsor and or Household member, Joint sponsor if they are added in the petition to support financially. Each financial sponsor has to submit an Affidavit of Support and evidence of their finances and other supporting documents. If in case the sponsor fails to do so then the processing of the case will get delay.

Step 6: Complete Online Visa Application (DS-260)

Those who are in the process of applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad have to fill an electronic Form called DS 260, it is one of the important steps. The purpose of DS 260 is to convey information about you to the National Visa Centre (NVC). NVC is responsible for collecting some information from you and then the file is transferred to a U.S. consulate near where you live.

To fill and submit DS 260 online you need to submit fees first only after that applicant, attorney or Petitioner will be able to access it. DS-260 Asks For number of information which consists your personal details, Family details, Petitioners Details, Employment Details, Educational Details, Security Check Details, any criminal record, any refusal, any grounds of inadmissibility to US etc. Answering each and every question correctly is very important, any wrong information can take your petition to rejection. But What if you did some mistake and form has already been submitted. That’s the reason it is highly recommended that you should hire an attorney to do the task for you.

Step 7: Collect Civil Documents

There are many more crucial steps to follow after submitting DS 260. Immediately after submitting DS 260, NVC ask for Civil Documents. Each case has different requirement for Civil Documents evidence or other supporting Documents, but in general documents which has to be submitted as Civil Documents are, Biographic Page of Passport, Marriage Certificate, Birth Certificate, Police Clearance Certificate, Photographs, AOS I-864, I-864 A if required in your case, Tax transcripts, Federal Tax returns, US Domicile, Proof of Assets etc. These Civil documents are required to submit to NVC in order to support your visa application. It is important that all your civil documents must be valid and issued from the right government authority. Many times, the applicant submits documents that are issued from the wrong department and thus they are not considered valid correct documents and as a consequence, your case gets delayed, and you need to submit the correct documents again.

Please note that if you fail to submit the correct document your case will not proceed ahead for the Interview and it will get stuck in the NVC. Hiring an attorney for these tasks is important as it prevents unnecessary delays. Many times, people just don’t have the supporting document asked to submit by NVC and at that time attorney is the best person who is able to guide you and help you to arrange for the documents which will be accepted by the NVC. Team of F4 India Consultants have filled and submitted more than thousands of Immigration forms and their supporting evidence and Civil Documents we are glad that none of our cases got delayed because of any wrong document submission.

Step 8: Scan Collected Documents

After collection of all the civil and supporting documents, you have to scan and save them. It’s quite obvious that to scan all the necessary documents as mentioned above you will require a computer, a scanner or smart phone with good internet connection. All these documents are confidential and thus if you don’t have access to computer , internet or scanner with you at home then it is advised that be careful while scanning such documents in public computers, internet cafes, libraries and copy shops and always delete the scanned documents once you have copied them to your personal data or if you have uploaded them.

National Visa Centre (NVC) always advise people not to mail any documents to NVC, unless specifically directed to do so, because if you mail without asking for it, you will delay the processing of your case and risk losing any documents you send.

Sending incorrectly scanned documents is also one of the reasons your case gets delay. Now if you have hired an attorney then you need not to worry about the scanning and uploading of documents, as it is the task of the paralegals who work under the immigration attorneys and they know very well how to scan, what size of the file is acceptable by the NVC , what file type is accepted and how to upload.

Step 9: Upload and Submit Scanned Documents

Uploading and submitting scanned documents is one of the requirements under electronic processing. Your country of origin and / or the U.S. Embassy or Consulate you are visiting may require that you upload additional documents for review. Every country has different document specification, and an attorney is expert enough to guide which document will be considered valid. Some times additional documents are required to submit. Uploading correct documents in correct format save your time and prevent your case processing from getting delay

Step 10: Interview Preparation

Once your documents are successfully reviewed and accepted by NVC, you will receive an email noting the appointment date and time. After receiving the interview appointment letter, you need to take the following steps:

• You have to schedule and complete a medical examination with an authorized physician.

• Collect all documents required for the interview. Every civil document you submitted to NVC is necessary to carry at the interview, in case you miss to bring something which was asked in the interview letter, then consular officer will not be able to complete your processing. This will delay your case and you may have to appear for additional interview with all missing documents. Thus, it is better to be prepared. Our immigration attorneys guide and help you prepare for the Interview. This enhances your confidence and prevent your case from any unnecessary delay.

• At the time of your interview you will be asked to present a complete public charge questioner. This is a new requirement under New Public Charge rule. It is better to get it prepared in advance with the help of an expert immigration attorney, as any false statement on it can put you into trouble or you may see rejection.

Step: 11 Applicant Interviews

You have to visit U.S. Embassy or Consulate with your printed visa application (DS-260) confirmation page on the scheduled date and time of your interview appointment. You and your accompanying family member beneficiaries’ interview will be taken by a consular officer. After the interview US Consulate officer will determine whether or not you are eligible to receive an immigrant visa.

Note, from USCIS, NVC and US Consulate: Applicant should not make permanent financial commitments, such as selling house, car or property, resigning from job, or making other travel arrangements, until an immigrant visa has been issued.

Failure to Appear for Interview - If you fail to appear at the scheduled interview, you have to contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate as soon as possible.  Your case will be terminated and immigrant visa petition will be cancelled if you do not contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate within one year of receiving your interview appointment letter

Step 12: After The Interview

After the Interview either you will be issued an immigrant visa or your visa will be denied.

If your Visa is approved: On approval of the visa, you will be informed how and when your passport and visa will be returned to you. You must arrive to the United States no later than the visa expiration date printed on your visa. An immigrant visa is usually valid for up to six months from the date of issuance.

If your visa is denied:If your visa is denied:  Under U.S. law, many factors could make an applicant ineligible to receive a visa. Applicant will be informed by the consular officer why he or she is ineligible to receive a visa. In some cases, you may be allowed to apply for a waiver of the ineligibility. If such thing happens in you case as well then, this is the time to see an expert immigration lawyer, who can help you save your petition by putting up the right waiver successfully.  Under U.S. law, many factors could make an applicant ineligible to receive a visa. Applicant will be informed by the consular officer why he or she is ineligible to receive a visa. In some cases, you may be allowed to apply for a waiver of the ineligibility. If such thing happens in you case as well then, this is the time to see an expert immigration lawyer, who can help you save your petition by putting up the right waiver successfully.

Administrative Processing

After the interview some visa applications got refusal under 221G. Such applications fall under administrative processing. The duration of the administrative processing varies from case to case and on the individual circumstances of each case. In order to have positive result at the conclusion of the administrative processing it is important that you submit all asked documents and follow all the instructions provided by the US consulate at the 221 G refusal letter.