In this video, I'm going to talk about NVC's role
in your immigrant visa journey. We'll talk about what does NVC do, how they process applications,
what's the current status with cases at NVC, and also towards the end of the video,
I'm going to focus on a few embassies, a few specific embassies, I'll tell you which cases
they are processing, and which embassies are giving Immigrant Visas at this moment. So,
make sure you watch this video till the end, we'll cover NVC and which embassies are processing
Immigrant Visas at this time. So what are you waiting for? I'll see you on the other side.
Welcome back to our Immigration channel. This is a place where you get the most up to date,
immigration news, immigration information, and everything else that you need to know
to make your immigration journey less stressful. My name is Jacob Sapochnick,
and I'm an immigration attorney located in San Diego, California. And we have clients
all over the world with their immigration cases, people who are stuck overseas, this is the time
to be informed and understand how things work. And that's why we're here. So in this video, I'm going
to break down the role of NVC in your immigration journey. A lot of people understand that their
cases are at NVC. They don't understand why their cases are there and what exactly NVC does.
And so, we'll talk about the current backlog, and give you a quick update.
And finally, towards the end of the video, I'm going to cover a few embassies. And I'll tell you
which embassies are processing Immigrant Visas at the moment, and which documentary qualified dates
they are working on right now. And I say we do this in different formats.
In this format, I will include that at the end of this video, because we continue to research more
and more of these embassies and we'll do another video that will cover even more embassies. So,
what are you waiting for? Let's jump right in. So, what is the National Visa Center,
also known as the NVC? The NVC is part of the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs.
NVC serves as a clerical function to process all immigrant visas. Essentially, NVC is in charge of
preparing immigrant visa applications for consular officers to be able to review and adjudicate.
After the NVC receives an approved visa petition from the US Immigration Service. They're going to
work with you to complete even more documents to be able to send to the US Embassy for your
final interview. Their role is to make sure that all the paperwork that is received ultimately by
the consular officer is properly completed, and with all the supporting documents they need,
so they don't waste their time in the end. When they eventually adjudicate your interview. The
idea is that once your visa application is actually sent to the US Embassy, it's all
full and complete. And all they have to do is conduct the final interview and make a decision
on your immigrant visa. So how does NVC actually work with embassies and consulates worldwide?
Consular officers who interview applicants are required to review certain documents. A large
part of NVC’s job is to actually make sure that applicants gather all these documents,
make sure they're completed correctly, and applicants provide all the supporting documents
necessary to qualify them for their immigrant visa. All these documents and all these forms
must be completed before the interview. But why is it so important that you need to have this
before the visa interview? Because if the consular officer at the time of the interview is missing
a certain document, realizes that the forms are not complete, realizes that there's no supporting
document for some of these things. It's going to result in the continuation of your interview.
And if your interview is going to be continued, it's going to prolong the time when you're going
to get your extra immigrant visa and when you're actually going to be able to see your family in
the United States. Therefore NVC's role is to do the following: They collect the immigrant
visa fees, they review all the forms and all the documents submitted electronically to the NVC,
schedule and send cases to the US embassies. Once applicants become documentary qualified,
make sure that all the forms and all the documents are submitted correctly. They provide applicants
with interview instructions and what they have to prepare before they go to the interview. And
finally, once embassies and consulates are opening interview slots, NVC will send complete files to
the respective embassy to conduct interviews. Now, if you remember, in previous videos, I told you
that the reason we have such a big backlog in NVC over 530,000 cases are sitting in NVC right now,
is because embassies and consulates are not opening slots to be able to receive
those cases from their receipt. So what NVC is doing is all the steps that I just described
to you right now, then they are not able to release those files and move on to other cases,
because these embassies are blocking them from receiving appointments. Currently,
these embassies are not in the capacity to take on interviews and therefore these cases are
sitting in and being warehoused at the National Visa Center. So while they are still working,
the National Visa Center has never stopped working. And it continues to work to this day,
they are definitely at full capacity to the point where it is a crisis. So I mentioned in previous
videos, that there may be a move on the part of the State Department to slow down the rate
of people that are getting documentary qualified so they have enough time to catch up on the
current applicants that are ready to go, get them processed, get them interviewed as embassies are
considered to be reopening. And later on, as we get to the end of the year, or even next year,
start getting more people documentary qualified. This way, they're going to slow down
and ease the pressure on the NVC to be able to release more cases to continue to send them to
the embassies to start interviewing them. What is the benefit of the embassy’s work? The embassy's
role is to make sure that applicants are fully prepared for their interview for the
first time and pass on the first time. The idea is that as long as the documents are complete,
and in order, there's no reason for them not to pass their interview, unless the consular officer
will determine that there's another reason for them now to pass. So as long as all the documents
are being sent from NVC are complete to the US Embassy, the likelihood of cases being rejected,
or rescheduled is really, really, reduced. Therefore, they're all super important to be
that buffer agency between USCIS immigration in the United States and the US embassies overseas.
Another component of NVCs work is that it helps standardize immigrant visa applications worldwide.
As long as they all go through the NVC and are being distributed to all the different embassies.
We know that the petitions, the immigrant visa petitions are going to look the same
throughout all the embassies in the world, no matter where you are being processed. The only
thing that will be different is the processing times and when interviews will be scheduled
because that still depends on country conditions. But in terms of forms, in terms of processing,
in terms of how cases are being submitted to these embassies and consulates. It's all standardized
because it's coming from one place. It's coming from the NVC. So what happens after you submit
your forms and documents to the NVC? After NVC receives your paperwork electronically, they
will start reviewing these documents for accuracy and for any missing information. Remember, that
NVC's work is clerical in nature. They deal with forms, they deal with documents, they deal with
supporting documents, and their role is to make sure that every case that leaves their facility
is properly done, and ready for an interview. Remember, it's very important to upload all
documents to NVC at one time because they review documents all at one time.
And so if you're missing something it's going to delay the review process on the NVC side
and it's going to result in your case being stuck and documentary qualified. Once you've
submitted everything, and NVC is happy with all the documents and all the supporting documents,
you will receive an email from NVC stating that your case is now documentary qualified. That means
that you're in line for your case to be sent to an embassy for an interview. Now remember, because of
the pandemic crisis, we have so many cases that are stuck at NVC right now. And the reason that
they are now being sent to all these embassies and consulates is because they are not opening
interview slots for NVC to release those files. And as I mentioned to you before, in other videos,
typically a request will be sent to the NVC 30 days before an interview slot is open so they know
at least a month in advance which cases will be shipped to an embassy in which cases are not ready
to go and they have to wait for the for their turn. NVC works on a first come first serve case,
depending on which cases were documentary qualified first. Now that you understand how NVC
works, which I think answers a lot of questions from a lot of our YouTube channel viewers,
and that's why I did this video. Let's jump for a quick update about which embassies
are scheduling interviews right now. Those are embassies that are now receiving cases from NVC
in a limited capacity, but they're still receiving. Start with the US Embassy in Bangkok,
Thailand. This embassy is processing IR1 and CR1 cases that were documentarily qualified
in March of 2020 and other preference cases like F2As, F2Bs, F4s preference categories that were
documentarily qualified in November of 2019. This embassy is working on a semi-regular capacity
and is taking cases currently from the NVC. NVC has been receiving notifications from talent
60 days in advance and therefore they're able to send those cases and update applicants that their
interviews are being scheduled. The next embassy is in Lagos, in Nigeria. Lagos Nigeria is working
on limited capacity. They are processing IR1s and CR1s petitions that were documentary qualified in
October of 2020. Those applicants are getting interviews right now again, it's a limited
capacity under the four-tier system, but they are receiving them. So for F2As documentary qualified
spouses of green card holders that are currently processing documentary qualified cases from
January of 2020. Or other family preferences, F4s, F3s, they're going back to November of 2019. And
those cases are the ones that are being processed again, still limited capacity, but that's the
information that we can report to you right now in Lagos Nigeria embassies. The US Embassy in Nepal.
This embassy is processing limited capacity interviews from NVC. And they're working on
documentary quantified cases for May of 2020. For F2A categories for IRs, CR1s, they are working in
October of 2020. For immigrant visa interviews. That is the US Embassy in Nepal. The US Embassy
in Saudi Arabia, they're processing IR1 and CR1 cases that were documentarily qualified
in January of 2020. And they are getting interviews. This embassy may be reopening fully,
very soon, but they are definitely working on getting interviews for all 14 categories,
including employment-based cases. But the report that we have to provide right now is
for immigrant visa petitions, immediate relatives. They are working in January of 2020. Another
update from the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. Currently, IR1, CR1 cases we have a lot of clients
in this embassy who are anxious. They're currently processing the cases from July and August of 2020
that were documentarily qualified at NVC. NVC has been receiving notifications, again, 30 days
prior from the embassy to send cases over there. They're not working full capacity, obviously very,
very slow. But if your documentary qualified in July, August of 2020, there's a good chance
you may be getting an interview. And if you're not, we still highly recommend trying to do an
expedite with this particular embassy. They have been providing some good responses and with the
update that I provided in another video, the fact that they are prioritizing healthcare workers for
emergency appointments, it's definitely worth a shot. So moving to the US Embassy Mumbai,
they are currently processing documentary qualified IR1s, CR1s that are documentarily
qualified in November of 2020. there has definitely been a lot of movement of that embassy
even for preference employment-based cases, we're getting more people getting interviews there.
While they're getting priority for immigrant visas for immediate relatives, they are also processing
immigrant visas for employment-based cases. So if you are qualified, and your priority is current,
make sure you check with this embassy as soon as possible. To move into the US Embassy in Madrid.
This US Embassy is now processing. IR1s, CR1s cases that were documentary qualified
in July, August of 2020. So we've definitely seen some good movement there. It's one of the
more active embassies in Europe for applicants that are being qualified. During those dates,
they're getting interviews. And so we're gonna make a video with many more embassies that we
can go one by one and give you more updates as to what's working, what's not working,
and who is actually getting their interviews at the moment. This was just a little bit of a quick
update to summarize how NVC works and tell you what's happening with embassies at the
moment and who is actually getting interviewed. So once again, if you're here for the first time,
don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Click the notification bell so you won’t miss any of
our videos. And also give us a big like so YouTube will be able to share this video
with more people just like you. Once again if you need my help, send me a text, 619-483-4549.
I'm here for you. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in our next video.