What Does National Visa Center (NVC) Timeframe Tell You?
While "Time is money" is a well-known conventional wisdom, it especially hits home to most U.S. immigrants because lots of matters are at stake such as marriage, family reunion and jobs. Your visa processing is said to be done usually, give or take, within 6 months, but soon you often find it to be extended by another 6 months or even more. Various factors can come into play from the service center to the global pandemic to immigration policies this year. Despite the unpredictable nature of U.S. immigration, USCIS as well as National Visa Center (NVC) are putting their efforts into bringing you up to date for your application. National Visa Center (NVC) provides three different timeframes every week on its website regarding its current processing time. Note that those timeframes don't inform you of the processing time of your application itself.
Current case file creation time
This timeframe indicates that National Visa Center (NVC) created cases received on a specific date. If you are an applicant for an employment-based green card outside the U.S., Form I-140 should have been submitted to USCIS first before USCIS approves the petition by sending you I-797, Notice of Approval. Once USCIS transfers your case to National Visa Center (NVC) for the rest of the process, National Visa Center (NVC) will create your case on its own system. As the National Visa Center (NVC) website explains, after creating your case, National Visa Center (NVC) will send you a Welcome Letter including your Case Number and Invoice ID. You will use these numbers to log into Consular Electronic Application Center.
Current case review time
This information shows that National Visa Center (NVC) is reviewing cases that were completed and submitted online (CEAC) by applicants on a specific date. When I said you completed a case, it assumes you have paid all the required fees and submitted all the required documents. To pay your fee, log into your case in CEAC and click the ‘PAY NOW’ button under Affidavit of Support Fee or Immigration Visa (IV) Fee on your summary page. When you submit documents, prepare, for example, petitioner’s affidavit of support, supporting financial documents, applicant’s DS-260, and applicant’s civil documents.
Current public inquiry form response time
National Visa Center (NVC) opens an inquiry window to receive questions from visa applicants. The last timeframe gives you updates on the inquiries submitted on a specific date being reviewed by National Visa Center (NVC).
Where to Check your NVC Case Status
No other case trackers other than Lawfully has dared to launch National Visa Center (NVC) case tracking service. Those who applied for Immigration Visa (IV), especially a family-based or employment-based green card, outside the U.S. were able to check their Form I-130/I-140 case status either on the USCIS website or on other third-party platforms. However, they couldn't stay updated beyond that using those platforms, where National Visa Center takes over the rest of their case process.
Now, with only a few steps, Lawfully bridges the two separate processes and help you seamlessly track your case from start to finish.
All you need to do is 1) turn on the Lawfully app 2) go to "Add NVC case" 3) select your visa application type and 4) for IV case, just enter your IV case number; for Non Immigration Visa (NIV) case, select your location and enter your application ID or assigned case number. The completion of those steps generates your NVC case on the app. Not only can you overview the history of your NVC case application, but you will also get real-time updates on your NVC case status. Just make sure you turn on push notifications!
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