As part of the Consular Processing, each applicant is required to provide NVC the following:
- Form DS-260
- Form I-864 and supporting documents
- Civil documents
In this article, we will focus on civil documents that must be provided with your immigrant visa application.
Keep in mind that EACH civil document (birth certificate, marriage certificate, police certificate, etc.) must strictly meet the Department of State (DOS) requirements.
- For example, if your birth certificate was issued by the government of Argentina, the birth certificate must meet all the requirements described on the DOS page for Argentina.
- On the other hand, if your marriage certificate was issued in Brazil, then you need to double check marriage certificate requirements for Brazil.
This rule applies to all civil documents.
Before submitting your civil documents to an NVC account, you must first ensure that each civil document meets the requirements for the country of issuance.
If you fail to provide a civil document that meets all the DOS requirements, the processing of your immigrant application will be significantly delayed.
We will provide links for each country’s civil documents requirements later in this article.
General Civil Documents Checklist
After completing the Form DS-260, the immigrant visa applicant must upload the following documents to their NVC online account:
Type of document | Examples of acceptable documents | Who must provide it |
Birth certificate |
| Applicant |
Marriage certificate |
| Applicant |
Divorce documents |
| Applicant |
Unexpired passport |
| Applicant |
Petitioner documents |
| Petitioner |
Police certificate(s) |
| Only applicants over 16 years old |
Court and prison records |
| Only applicants who have criminal convictions |
Military records |
| Only applicants who have served in the military |
Adoption documents |
| Only adopted children |
Police certificates
If you are 16 years of age or older, you must obtain a photocopy of a police certificate from all countries you have lived in using below criteria:
If you … | AND you… | THEN submit a police certificate from… |
Are 16 years old or older | Lived in your country of nationality for more than 6 months at any time in your life | Your country of nationality |
Are 16 years old or older | Have lived in your country of current residence (if different from nationality) for more than 6 months | Your country of current residence |
Have ever lived in another country for 12 months or more | Were 16 years or older at the time you lived there | The country where you used to live. |
Were arrested for any reason, regardless of how long you lived in that city or country, and no matter what age you were |
| The city and/or country where you were arrested. |
Note: Police certificates do not need to be obtained for time in the United States.
Important: Police certificates expire after two years, unless:
- The police certificate was issued from your country of previous residence, and
- You have not returned there since the police certificate was issued.
How to Upload Documents to NVC Account
All civil documents must be scanned and uploaded to your NVC account.
The scanned copy of your documents must be:
- In color;
- Include the front and back of any document that has stamps, seals or writing on the back;
- Include a certified English translation of each foreign language document;
- Clear and legible;
- Oriented so it can be read across the screen without the need to rotate the document.
All original documents must be brought to the interview.
Besides the civil documents, each applicant must upload their petitioner’s Affidavit of Support documents (tax returns, W-2 forms, etc.). You can find the Affidavit of Support checklist here.
If you need a joint sponsor, the joint sponsor’s checklist of required documents can be found in this article. A joint sponsor will also need to provide proof of U.S. domicile. Acceptable documents that serve as a joint sponsor’s proof of U.S. domicile:
- Lease agreement;
- Utility bills for the last 12 months;
- Mortgage statements for the last 12 months;
- Pay stubs for the last 12 months, etc.
Civil Documents Checklists for All Countries
Before uploading your civil documents to an NVC account, you must ensure that each document meets the U.S. Department of State requirements.
If documents were issued in different countries, each document must meet the country of issuance requirements.
Below you can find the civil documents requirements for each country in the world.
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Central African Republic
- Palestinian Authority
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- United Arab Emirates
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bermuda
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burma
- Burundi
- Guinea-Bissau
- Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza
- Virgin Islands, British
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Congo the Democratic Republic of the
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Curaçao
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Côte d’Ivoire
- New Caledonia
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Brunei Darussalam
- Congo the Democratic Republic of the
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Sint Maarten (Dutch part)
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- United Arab Emirates
- Burkina Faso
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Micronesia, Federated States of
- Russian Federation
- Wallis and Futuna
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza
- Papua New Guinea
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Haiti
- Holy See
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Cayman Islands
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran, Islamic Republic of
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza
- Italy
- Marshall Islands
- Solomon Islands
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Virgin Islands, British
- Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Hong Kong
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- North Korea
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- South Korea
- United Kingdom
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Saint Lucia
- Sierra Leone
- Sri Lanka
- Timor-Leste
- Macau
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia, Federated States of
- Moldova, Republic of
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Montserrat
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- North Macedonia
- San Marino
- Sint Maarten (Dutch part)
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Papua New Guinea
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Oman
- Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestinian Authority
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Pitcairn
- Poland
- Portugal
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Qatar
- Central African Republic
- Congo the Democratic Republic of the
- Costa Rica
- Czech Republic
- Dominican Republic
- Iran, Islamic Republic of
- Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Moldova, Republic of
- Romania
- Russian Federation
- Rwanda
- El Salvador
- Holy See
- Micronesia, Federated States of
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Sint Maarten (Dutch part)
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Cabo Verde
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Virgin Islands, British
- Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza
- Wallis and Futuna
- Yemen
- New Zealand
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Related links:
Consular Processing – How to Apply for Immigrant Visa