Not to be confused with the National Visa Center, the National Vetting Center (also abbreviated as NVC) was established by President Trump on February 6. The Vetting Center is being created to address the shortcomings of the current vetting protocols and procedures already in place with the Department of Homeland Security. According to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, “The federal government’s current vetting efforts are ad hoc, which impedes our ability to keep up with today’s threats.”
The National Vetting Center will be housed within the Department of Homeland Security, and it will work in conjunction with the entire U.S. intelligence community in an effort to coordinate and centralize screening and vetting activities. Intelligence information will be collected from government agencies and law enforcement so that immigration officials have access to real-time information when screening for potential terrorist and/or national security threats.
As of today, the National Vetting Center is not operational. The Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency have been given 180 days to develop a plan to implement and begin operating the Vetting Center.
Not to be confused with the National Visa Center
The National Visa Center (NVC) is part of the Department of State and plays a critical role in visa processing for certain immigrant visa petitions. Once an immigrant visa petition is approved by USCIS, it will be sent to the NVC for immigrant visa pre-processing. At this point, the NVC will do one of two things. If the category being applied for does not have yearly numerical limits, the NVC will immediately begin processing the visa petition. If, however, there is a yearly cap, the NVC will hold the petition until the beneficiary’s priority date becomes current. Once a priority does become current, or no yearly numerical limit exists for the visa category, the NVC will begin processing the petition by: (1) sending an invoice for visa application fees; (2) collecting the visa petition and supporting documentation; and (3) sending the entire petition packet to the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate once an interview is scheduled.
If you are interested in immigrating to the United States and would like to explore your options, please contact our office to schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys today!
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