The National Visa Center announced this week they will no longer collect original civil documents from immigrant visa applicants. The National Visa Center, or NVC, is an office of the Department of State that collects documents for immigrant visa applications and organizes files, then sends them to the U.S. consulates abroad who then conduct immigrant visa interviews.
As of November 12, 2014, the NVC has agreed to accept photocopies of the civil documents (such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, police certificates and criminal dispositions) rather than the originals. Applicants will still need to take those original documents with them to the U.S. consulates abroad when it comes time for the final interview. We believe this is a positive change for two reasons. First, it saves time, which is of the utmost importance to our clients. Second, visa applicants will keep custody of their own original documents at all times and will no longer have to ask consular officers to return their documents if they want them back. Many times, visa applicants are too nervous at the consular interview to remember to ask.