Information from the
National Visa Center ("NVC")
- NVC indicates that it takes approximately 4 to 5 weeks
for files from INS Service Centers to reach the NVC.
Generally, it takes the NVC 3 to 4 weeks to send out a
Packet III. This time frame does not apply to Ciudad
Juarez, Santo Domingo or Manila, which go through
affidavit of support review.
- The NVC needs to have the OF-230, OF-169, I-864 and 3 tax
returns in order to ship cases to posts. As to the three
posts for which affidavits of support are being reviewed,
NVC will typically forward the case after no longer than
120 days, unless there is a back-and-forth with the
petitioner on completion of the I-864. (However, because
of Cd. Juarez’s level of staffing to deal with the
affidavit of support, scrutiny on the I-864 is not as
high on cases bound for that post.)
- If there is no response at all from the beneficiary, the
case is closed out after it is pending at the NVC for one
year.
- Because I-864-based refusals have been increasing,
resulting in a decrease in visa issuances, and because
I-485s are not being processed, numbers have been moving
forward at a faster rate. The result of this, combined
with a 2% unemployment rate in the area that results in
hiring problems, has been a substantial strain on the NVC’s
resources.
- NVC is using DHL for all mailings of Packet IIIs except
to 16 countries (and except to beneficiaries in the
U.S.).