Immigrant Visa Overview

Foreign citizens wishing to immigrate and live permanently in the U.S. must follow specific procedures in order to apply for an immigrant visa. The immigrant visa issued by the U.S. Consular Section allows you to travel to the United States for admission as a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR). Once admitted you will have the right to live and work in the United States permanently. Further information can be found at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

You cannot begin the process by yourself and must have an approved petition. For additional information about how to file a petition, please see USCIS website.

Immigrant Visa Process

The immigrant visa process requires multiple steps to complete the application. The details of the process are available at https://travel.state.gov. The steps below begin with the assumption that you have filed a petition with the USCIS.

Disclaimer: This website and associated call center services cannot provide status or information concerning the processing at the USCIS, NVC, KCC, or the U.S. Consular Section.

Step 1 – Filed Petition (Pending USCIS Approval)

Check the status of a filed immigrant petition at the USCIS website.


Step 2 – Approved Petition

If you received notification that your Immigrant petition is approved by USCIS and was forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) for further processing, please visit https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/approved.html to learn about the next steps for processing at the NVC.

The Diversity Visa (DV) program is administered by the U.S. Department of State, Kentucky Consular Center (KCC). For information please visit https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/diversity-visa-program-entry/diversity-visa-instructions.html.

The NVC, KCC, or U.S. Consular Section will provide notification and instructions of further actions and interview date(s).


Step 3 – Preparation for the Interview

WARNING: If you have not received an appointment letter/email concerning the application of your Immigrant Visa, you are not ready to complete the process on this website. (Please refer back to step 1 and 2 above.)

To learn about interview preparation, click here.

If you have received the appointment letter/email from NVC, KCC, or the U.S. Consular Section, you will need to complete an action on this website as part of the preparation for the interview. See below:

  • Register for document return services

    All Immigrant Visa applicants who have received an appointment letter/email, must register on this site for the return of the documents after the processing of the application. For more information, see Visa Document Courier Services.

All Immigrant Visa applicants who have received an appointment letter/email must create a new account. If you have created an account please, sign in to continue.


Step 4 – Attend the Consular Section Appointment

Attend the appointment indicated in the letter/email received by NVC, KCC, or the Consular Section. Please remember to bring all required documents to your appointment.


Step 5 – After the Appointment

After attending the U.S. Consular Section appointment, you may track the status of your visa application at https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?App=IV.

If the visa application is approved, the courier return of the documents can be tracked on this website. Please sign in.