Unexpired passport valid for six months beyond your intended date of entry into the United States.

One color photographs which meet Department of State specifications. These photographs must be full-face and taken within the last six (6) months.

Applicants whose case was processed by NVC will be required to bring your appointment letter. Both locally filed and NVC cases must bring their courier confirmation page.  

You must obtain the original, or certified copy (provided by the issuing authority), of the birth record of each family member (yourself, your spouse, and all unmarried children under the age of 21, even if they are not immigrating with you.  If the children are deceased, so state giving year of death). Note:  We will not accept the short form version of a UK birth certificate.  The certificate must list both parents’ names;

• If your birth certificate is unavailable you should obtain a certified statement from the appropriate government authority stating the reason why the record is not available. With the certified statement you must obtain secondary evidence. For example:
  • An affidavit from a close relative, preferably the applicant’s mother, stating the date and place of birth, both parent’s names, and the mother’s maiden name.
  • An adoption decree for an adopted child; or
  • A baptismal certificate that contains the date and place of birth and both parent’s names providing the baptism took place shortly after birth.

If the applicant is applying for an IR5 or an F4 visa, they must also obtain an original or certified copy of the petitioner’s birth certificate.

The original or a certified copy of your adoption certificate will be required. The certificate must show date and place of adoption, along with the names of the adoptive parents. This certificate must be issued by a public authority and show that a public record exists of the adoption.

If you are/were married you must present an original or certified copy.

You must also present proof of the dissolution of any previous marriage, such as a death certificate, divorce decree or evidence of annulment.

If you are aged 16 years or older, you are required to obtain a police certificate from the ACRO Criminal Records Office. Further information is available from their website at www.acro.police.uk.

Note: The police certificate must list all names and aliases by which you have ever been known, e.g. maiden name, alternative spellings of names used on legal documents etc. UK police certificates are valid for 24 months only.  Failure to present all necessary and valid police certificates at the time of the interview will incur significant delays to your application.  If your UK police certificate indicates “No Live Trace,”  or “Further  Information  Stepped Down” you are required to provide complete details of the offense(s) and disposition. If you do not recall the specific details, consider obtaining a Subject Access Report so that you can provide the Consular Officer with accurate information on the day of your interview. To obtain a Subject Access Report, visit http://www.acro.police.uk/subject_access.aspx.

If the name on your birth certificate differs from the name on your passport, and the change was not made through marriage, legal evidence of your name change is required.

Police certificates are required for all countries where you have lived for more than 12 months since the age of 16 and any country where you have been arrested, even if you were not resident there.

U.S. police certificates are not required.

Police certificates from certain countries are unavailable or are obtained directly by this office.  Fingerprints are required for certain countries. A list of UK police stations who can provide fingerprinting services is available from the Embassy website, here (PDF – 337kb).  Foreign police certificates are valid indefinitely, unless you have returned to reside in that country or has been arrested since the issuance of the certificate.

If you have been convicted of a crime you must obtain a certified copy of each court record and any prison record, regardless of the fact that you may have subsequently benefited from an amnesty, pardon or other act of clemency or the United Kingdom Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

Court records should include: Complete information regarding the circumstance surrounding the crime of which you were convicted and the disposition of the case, including sentence or other penalty or fine imposed;

If you have served in the military forces of any country you must obtain your military record.  On the day of the visa interview you will be required to furnish either your discharge papers or evidence of terminal leave from the forces.

Note: Military records from certain countries are unavailable. For further information, please contact the Immigrant Visa Unit.

Form I-864, a contractual affidavit of support, must be submitted at the time of the interview for immediate relative and family-based applicants and employment-based applicants when a relative is the petitioner or has ownership interest in the petitioner’s business.

Evidence submitted with the I-864 must be less than 12 months old.

Note: Aliens applying for Returning Resident/SB1 visa, are not required to provide Evidence of support- Form I-864.

Documents that are not in English must be presented at the visa interview together with a translation from an official translation service. The translation does not need to be notarized or apostilled. We are unable to recommend any particular translation service.

If the document is in another language but has a translation in English within or appended to the document itself, you are not required to take a separate translation to your visa interview. The consular officer will review the document and advise you at that time if any additional information or documentation is required.

Please check this page for information about the required fees and how to pay.