FormDS-260
Immigrant Visa Application — Consular Processing
When your relative is abroad, an approved petition moves to the National Visa Center, and the case is completed on Form DS-260 and at a consular interview. Errors here are expensive in a way that domestic filings are not — a refusal abroad separates a family across an ocean while it is corrected.
In plain English
The path to a green card for a relative who is still outside the country.
We manage the National Visa Center stage end to end: the immigrant visa application, the affidavit of support with the financial record behind it, the civil documents, and the certified translations. Each document is checked against the reciprocity requirements for the specific country, because what satisfies the Center from one country will not satisfy it from another.
We then prepare your relative for the interview itself — the medical examination, the appointment, the documents to carry, and the questions the consular officer will ask about the relationship, the sponsor’s finances, and any gap in the record.
Where a ground of inadmissibility surfaces at the consulate, we move immediately to the waiver stage rather than losing months to correspondence.
§ 01Sequence
How a Form DS-260 case actually moves.
- 01
NVC case creation
The approved petition is transferred and a case number is issued.
- 02
Fees and forms
Immigrant visa fee, affidavit of support fee, and the DS-260 application.
- 03
Document review
Civil documents and certified translations, checked against country reciprocity.
- 04
Documentarily qualified
The Center confirms the file is complete and schedules the interview.
- 05
Medical and interview
Panel physician examination and the interview at the consulate.
- 06
Visa issuance
Entry to the United States as a permanent resident.
§ 02 · Preparation
What you will be asked to gather.
Bring what you have to the consultation, including the documents you are unsure about. Missing items are identified there, not three months into the case.
- Approved petition receipt and NVC case number
- Birth, marriage, police, and military records as required for the country
- Certified English translations of every non-English document
- Sponsor’s tax transcripts and proof of domicile in the United States
- Valid passport with sufficient remaining validity
Where these cases go wrong.
Not hypotheticals. These are the recurring reasons a Form DS-260 filing is delayed, questioned, or denied.
- 01Civil documents that do not meet the reciprocity standard for the specific country.
- 02A sponsor who cannot show domicile in the United States.
- 03Answers on the DS-260 that contradict earlier filings.
- 04Attending the interview without knowing which grounds of inadmissibility may be raised.
§ 03Related filings
A case is rarely one form.
Most clients file two or three of these over several years. Knowing the sequence in advance is how you avoid paying twice for the same evidence.
- I-130Petition for Alien RelativeProves the family relationship that makes a green card possible.Family
- I-485Application to Register Permanent ResidenceTurns an approved petition into a green card without leaving the country.Green card
- N-400Application for NaturalizationThe last filing. Permanent resident becomes United States citizen.Citizenship
- I-751Petition to Remove Conditions on ResidenceConverts a two-year conditional green card into a permanent one.Green card
- I-601Application for Waiver of Grounds of InadmissibilityAsks the government to forgive a bar that would otherwise end the case.Waivers
- I-129FPetition for Alien Fiancé(e)Brings a fiancé(e) to the United States to marry within ninety days.Abroad
Start here
Ask about Form DS-260 before you file it, not after.
A short conversation about your record will tell you whether this is the right filing, what it will need, and what could go wrong. That conversation is with the attorney.