When a beneficiary is eligible to apply for an immigrant or K1 fiance visa (that is, priority date becomes current and/all the pre-processing requirements have been met), the National Visa Center (NVC) lines up the beneficiary for a visa interview. The NVC will send the applicant a packet with the visa interview appointment, information, the application forms and a list of the required application documents. It is important that visa applicants submit documentary requirements to NVC to be documentarily qualified for the visa interview, otherwise they will be found ineligible for visa issuance and be asked to return to the Consulate for another appointment. The basic documents that an applicant must submit are:

1. PASSPORT: Each visa applicant must have a passport valid for at least six (6) months from the time of the visa issuance. Filipino citizens can apply for a passport at the Passport Division, Department of Foreign Affairs, Roxas Boulevard, Manila, Philippines. The DFA phone number is 02-737-1000.

2. DS-230 Parts I and II: Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Forms. These forms are sent to applicants along with their appointment letters. Each family member applying for an immigrant visa is required to complete these forms.

3. BIRTH CERTIFICATE: Each fiancee visa applicant must have a birth certificate issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on security paper. Copies are needed for principal applicants, derivative family members and petitioners who were born in the Philippines. You may call the NSO Information Center at 02-737-1111 or visit their e-census webpage to inquire about how to secure a birth certificate. If the NSO does not have a copy of the birth certificates, you must obtain a statement about its unavailability from the NSO and a certified birth certificate from the local registrar in the town where you were born.

4. NBI CLEARANCE: Applicants aged 16 years and older must have a valid Record Clearance for Travel Abroad Purposes from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Clearances should be in the applicant’s current name, birth certificate name, maiden name and any aliases or nicknames ever used, including different spellings of all names ever used. An official letter of explanation from the NBI is required for any notation of no criminal record, no pending criminal case and no derogatory record. NBI is located along Taft Avenue in Manila. For immigration purposes, an NBI clearance is considered valid only for one year from the date it is issued.

5. POLICE CERTIFICATES: A police certificate is required from a country in which the applicant lived for more than one year (six months if you are applying for a k-1 fiancée visa) after turning 16 years old. As with NBI clearances, foreign police certificates should be obtained in any maiden names, aliases or nicknames ever used while in the country in question, including different spellings of all names ever used. Information on how to secure police certificates from countries where these are available may be obtained by contacting U.S. Embassy Manila’s Immigrant Visa Branch, or an Embassy/Consulate of the country from which the Police certificate is required. The State Department's Visa Office offers online information on availability of country documents including police certificates through its Country Document Finder. Click on the letter that begins the country name, select the country and scroll down to "Documents".

6. MARRIAGE RECORDS: (If applicable) For Philippine marriages, the copy of the marriage certificate must be printed on National Statistics Office (NSO) security paper. If the marriage ended by divorce, annulment, disappearance or death of the spouse, legal and/or civil documentation must be presented attesting to the termination of the marriage (annulment decree, death certificate issued by NSO and printed on security paper, a foreign divorce decree, or foreign death certificate).

7. MILITARY RECORD: Applicants that have served in the military should present a certified copy of their military records.

8. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY AND/OR RELATIONSHIP: Applicants for a K1 visa should be prepared to submit documents that further establish their identity and/or their relationship with the petitioner or the principal applicant. Six or more photographs with family members together, taken over a period of time may help to establish the existence of a relationship. Personal correspondence, home telephone records, bank records, proof of joint property ownership and/or joint financial obligations, original baptismal records, medical record and adoption decrees are often useful.

9. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Evidence of Financial Support which shall include the I-134 (Affidavit of Support) which shall be filed up by the petitioner and duly sealed and notarized, and the petitioner’s income tax returns and W-2’s for 3 previous years.