IR5

Step 1
A U.S. citizen files the Form I-130 petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office that covers his or her permanent place of residence.

Step 2
The approved I-130 will be forwarded to National Visa Center (NVC), and then to U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou. Note that visa petitions typically take 3-4 months to arrive at the Consulate after being sent by NVC; this is largely due to unavoidable delays in Chinese customs resulting from a bilateral treaty with China limiting the movement of official documents into the country.

Note: Once NVC has received your immigrant visa fee, it will send you the immigrant visa instruction packet (Form DS-230 Part I) along with further instructions. The sooner you respond to NVC with the documents requested in this packet, the faster your case will progress.

Step 3
Once the Consulate receives the petition, it will review the file to ensure that all necessary documents have been submitted by the beneficiary.  If more documents are required, the Consulate will resend the instruction packet to the beneficiary.  Once all documents have been received and security processing completed, the case will be scheduled for an interview. Upon receiving the completed Packet 3 forms, the Consulate will schedule an interview for the beneficiary. Interviews are typically scheduled for a date within 2 to 4 months of receipt of the forms.

Step 4
Once the interview date is set, the Consulate will send the beneficiary an appointment packet (known as Packet 4) providing instructions on how to prepare for the interview. The beneficiary will need to have a medical exam completed at one of a list of designated hospitals before the interview takes place.