Civil Documents for an Immigrant Visa: NVC Checklist and Translation Rules

Index

• Key Takeaways
• What Civil Documents Does NVC Require?
• Start With Your Country's Reciprocity Page
• NVC Civil Documents Checklist
• Do Your Civil Documents Need a Certified Translation?
• Do You Need an Apostille for NVC?
• Why NVC Sends Civil Documents Back
• After NVC Accepts Your Documents
• Build One Packet per Applicant
• Sources

The civil documents for an immigrant visa are the records that prove who you are and how you are related to your petitioner: a birth certificate, a passport, marriage and divorce records, police certificates and, where they apply, court, military and adoption records. Every applicant on the case needs a separate set, and your country's page on the State Department website decides which version of each document counts.

This guide is for applicants at the document stage with the National Visa Center (NVC) and for petitioners helping them from the United States. If the form itself is still open, start with our DS-260 guide. For the full sequence from NVC to the interview, see our guide to consular processing.

Key Takeaways

• One set per applicant. Each family member immigrating with you uploads their own documents under their own name.
• Your country page sets the version. It names the exact document, the issuing office and what the record must show.
• Translation depends on the interview country. A document in English or in that country's official language needs no translation for NVC.
• No apostille rule. The State Department asks for records from the official issuing authority, not for apostilles.

What Civil Documents Does NVC Require?

After the DS-260 is submitted, NVC asks each applicant, including every child immigrating with you, for documents that prove identity, family relationships and criminal history. Under the State Department's Step 7 instructions, each record must be issued by the official issuing authority in your country. The core set is:

• a birth certificate, as an original or certified copy;
• the biographic data page of your passport;
• a marriage certificate, if you are married;
• proof that every prior marriage ended: a final divorce decree, a death certificate or an annulment;
• police certificates, if you are 16 or older;
• court and prison records, if you were ever convicted of a crime;
• military records, if you served in any country's armed forces;
• an adoption decree and custody documents, if an adopted child's case rests on that relationship.

The petitioner's tax returns and income evidence are a separate upload that supports the affidavit of support, as our Form I-864 guide for 2026 explains.

Documents the Petitioner Provides

Some categories also need records from the petitioner. In IR1, CR1 and F2A spouse cases, NVC asks for proof that each of the petitioner's prior marriages ended. In IR5 cases for a parent of a U.S. citizen and F4 cases for a sibling, it asks for the petitioner's birth certificate, because that document shows the family tie.

Start With Your Country's Reciprocity Page

The State Department publishes a reciprocity and civil documents page for each country, often called the Document Finder. For every record, it lists the local document name, the issuing authority, how to request it and what an acceptable copy looks like, including which version NVC expects when a country issues more than one.

If the page marks a record unavailable, you do not upload it. If it is available but you cannot obtain it for another reason, Step 7 requires a detailed written explanation with your other documents, and the consular officer decides at the interview whether you must get the record before a visa can be issued. For a birth that was never registered or whose record was destroyed, State Department guidance on unobtainable birth certificates describes secondary evidence, such as an early baptismal certificate or a sworn affidavit from a close relative.

NVC Civil Documents Checklist

The table summarizes which immigrant visa civil documents each person needs and what NVC looks for in each record.

Birth Certificates

State Department guidance describes an acceptable birth certificate as one issued by the official custodian of birth records that shows the date and place of birth, the names of both parents and an annotation that it is an extract from official records. Short-form certificates issued for everyday use often leave out the parents, so check your country page before you order one.

Marriage, Divorce and Death Records

The marriage record should come from the authority that registered the marriage. Each earlier marriage, of the applicant and, in spouse cases, of the petitioner, needs its own proof of termination, and Step 7 asks for a final divorce decree, death certificate or annulment papers as an original or certified copy. An interim or provisional judgment does not show that the marriage ended. If a divorce was granted in one country and never recorded in another, the records can contradict each other, so explain the gap before NVC finds it.

Police Certificates: Which Countries and How Recent

Police certificates need the most planning, because one application can require several. If you are 16 or older, Step 7 sets these rules:

Police certificates expire after two years, unless the certificate came from a country of previous residence you have not returned to since it was issued. An Indian national who has worked in the United Arab Emirates for three years, for example, needs certificates from both countries. Check the instructions of the embassy that will interview you as well, because posts can add local requirements.

Court, Prison and Military Records

If you were ever convicted, Step 7 requires a certified copy of each court and prison record, even if you later received amnesty, a pardon or another act of clemency. If you served in the military of any country, you also upload a copy of your military record.

Do Your Civil Documents Need a Certified Translation?

Under Step 7, a document needs a certified translation only if it is not in English and not in the official language of the country from which you are applying. Two examples show how the rule works:

• No translation needed. A Spanish-language birth certificate for an interview in Ciudad Juárez, because Spanish is Mexico's official language.
• Translation needed. A French divorce decree for an interview in Manila, because French is not an official language of the Philippines.

The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that it is accurate and that the translator is competent to translate. Upload the native-language document first and the English translation after it, in a single file.

USCIS is different. Under 8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3), every foreign-language document filed with USCIS needs a full English translation and the translator's certification of completeness, accuracy and competence, whatever language the document is in. That applies to the I-130 and to adjustment of status in the United States. Neither rule requires a notary.

Do You Need an Apostille for NVC?

An apostille certifies a public document for use in another country that belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention. The State Department's immigrant visa instructions do not ask for one. They ask for a record from the official issuing authority, as an original or a certified copy. A certified copy is one issued or certified by the office that keeps the record; a photocopy stamped by a notary is a different thing.

An apostille therefore adds cost and time without helping your NVC file. Follow any embassy instruction that asks for one.

Why NVC Sends Civil Documents Back

When NVC finds a document it cannot accept, it updates your case in CEAC and notifies you, according to the State Department's upload instructions. You correct the item and press Submit Documents again, and the case goes back into the review queue. It is not a visa refusal, but every round costs time. These are the patterns that come up most often:

1. A short-form birth certificate. It omits one or both parents or the issuing-authority annotation.
2. A missing police certificate. A country of past residence or a place of arrest was left off.
3. An expired police certificate. It is more than two years old by the time NVC reviews it.
4. An incomplete marriage history. A divorce decree is not final, or one prior marriage of the applicant or petitioner has no proof of termination.
5. A translation problem. A third-language document has no translation, a partial one, or a translation uploaded as a separate file.
6. A scan that breaks the rules. Black-and-white copies, a missing back side with a seal, or one document split across several files.
7. Uploads under the wrong person. Each applicant's records belong under that applicant's name, and NVC will not start the review until every applicant's required items are in.

The State Department's scanning instructions call for color scans that are clear and upright, with each document in one file and PDF preferred. Its pages give two different size limits, 2 MB and 4 MB, so keeping each file under 2 MB satisfies both.

Did NVC send back one of your documents?

Send us the CEAC notice and the list of documents you uploaded. We will identify what needs to be replaced and which version your country page calls for.

Book a Consultation

After NVC Accepts Your Documents

Once NVC has your fees, DS-260, affidavit of support and civil documents, it marks the case documentarily complete and places it in line for an interview. At the interview, you bring the original or a certified copy of every document you uploaded, as our immigrant visa interview guide describes. If the wait is long, replace any police certificate that will pass the two-year mark and upload the new one. If the officer asks for more documents after the interview, see our guide to 221(g) and consular delays.

Build One Packet per Applicant

Many civil document corrections at NVC come down to the wrong version of a record rather than a missing one. Before you request anything, open your country page, list every applicant and every country each adult has lived in, and note which documents need a translation for the embassy that will interview you. That list shows what to order, from where and in what form.

Our family-based immigration lawyers prepare NVC document packets for families in many countries, from the first request for records through the visa interview.

Sources

Verified as of October 26, 2026. Civil document rules and embassy instructions change. Check the primary sources below before you request or upload any record.

1. U.S. Department of State — Immigrant Visa Process, Step 7: Collect Civil Documents (current page)
2. U.S. Department of State — U.S. Visa: Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country (current page)
3. U.S. Department of State — Immigrant Visa Process, Step 8: Scan Collected Documents (current page)
4. U.S. Department of State — Immigrant Visa Process, Step 9: Upload and Submit Scanned Documents (current page)
5. U.S. Department of State — Civil Documents FAQs, National Visa Center (current page)
6. U.S. Department of State — Prepare Supporting Documents: Birth Certificates and Unobtainable Records (current page)
7. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — 8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3), Translations (current text)