An approved I-130Petition for Alien Relative, filed by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to establish a qualifying family relationship with an intending immigrant.See it in the glossary feels like the hard part is over. For a family member abroad, it is actually the point where a second agency takes over the case, and a new sequence of fees, forms, and document checklists begins before anyone sees a consular officer. Here is what happens between approval and the interview.
The handoff from USCIS to the State Department
Once USCIS approves an immigrant petition, whether a family-based I-130 or an employment-based I-140Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, filed by an employer (or in some categories the worker) to classify a person under an employment-based category.See it in the glossary, for a BeneficiaryThe person on whose behalf a petition is filed, such as the relative or worker who would receive the immigration benefit.See it in the glossary who will process abroad rather than adjust status inside the United States, the approval is forwarded to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC)The State Department office that collects fees and documents from approved petitioners before a case is scheduled at a consulate.See it in the glossary. The NVC does not decide the underlying petition; it functions as a document clearinghouse that prepares the case for a consular officer at the embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over the applicant. It generally takes several weeks after USCIS approval before the NVC creates the case file and sends the first instructions.
Step one: paying the fees
The NVC requires two separate fees before it will accept any documents: the Immigrant visaA visa issued at a consulate to a person intending to live permanently in the United States. On admission the holder becomes a permanent resident.See it in the glossary Application fee and, for most family-based cases, an Affidavit of supportForm I-864, in which a sponsor promises to financially support an intending immigrant so that the immigrant is not likely to rely on public benefits.See it in the glossary Review fee. Both are paid online through the Consular Electronic Application Center, and the NVC generally will not move a case forward until payment has processed, which itself can take several business days.
Step two: Form DS-260
After the fees clear, each intending immigrant on the case, not just the principal applicant, completes Form DS-260, the online Immigrant Visa Application. It asks for much of the same biographical, family, and travel history information already submitted with the original petition, but it is a separate submission made directly to the State Department rather than USCIS, and it has to be completed in full before the case can move to document review.
Step three: civil documents and the Affidavit of Support
With the DS-260 filed, the case moves into document collection. The PetitionerThe person or employer who files a petition on behalf of a beneficiary, such as a relative filing an I-130 or an employer filing an I-140.See it in the glossary completes Form I-864, the Affidavit of Support, along with financial evidence such as recent federal tax transcripts, showing the household income needed to sponsor the applicant. The applicant separately gathers civil documents: birth certificate, marriage certificate if applicable, divorce decrees for any prior marriages, and police certificates covering places lived for a set period, translated where required. The NVC reviews everything for completeness before considering a case documentarily qualified, and it will flag missing or inconsistent documents rather than let the case proceed with gaps.
Documentarily qualified, then the wait for an interview slot
Once the NVC confirms the DS-260 and every required document, a case is considered documentarily qualified. For visa categories subject to annual limits, the case also needs a current Priority dateThe date a petition was filed, or a labor certification was submitted, used to determine an applicant's place in line for a visa category with limited annual numbers.See it in the glossary under the Visa Bulletin before an interview can be scheduled; immediate relative cases, which are not numerically limited, can move to scheduling as soon as they are documentarily qualified. The NVC then transfers the file to the relevant embassy or consulate and schedules an interview date, though actual wait times vary enormously by post.
That variation is not hypothetical. A State Department update TR Immigration covered showed wide gaps in interview scheduling from one embassy to another, with some posts running years behind others handling the same visa categories. Scheduling can also be disrupted entirely for a period, as it was when the State Department paused immigrant visa interviews worldwide for several weeks in 2026 during a consular officer training initiative. A pause or a scheduling gap is an administrative delay, not a denial or a cancellation of the case itself.
The medical exam
Before the interview, the applicant completes a medical examination with a physician approved by the embassy or consulate, known as a panel physician, covering vaccinations and communicable disease screening required for immigrant visa issuance. This is generally scheduled close to the interview date, since the results have a limited validity window, and it is separate from anything submitted earlier to the NVC.
The interview itself
At the interview, a consular officer, not a USCIS officer, reviews the case, questions the applicant, and decides whether to issue the immigrant visa. Approval typically results in a visa stamped in the applicant’s passport along with a sealed packet to present at the U.S. port of entry, where admission as a permanent resident is finalized. A refusal can result in a request for additional evidence, further administrative processing, or, in some cases, a formal denial that may require a waiver or a new petition to overcome.