Updated November 11, 2026

Immigrant visa interview details: consular processing, adjustment of status, and post-interview steps

An immigrant visa interview takes place at a US Department of State consulate abroad once your priority date is current, while applicants already in the United States attend an adjustment of status interview with USCIS. If a consular officer grants your immigrant visa, you receive a sealed Visa Packet to hand unopened to US Customs and Border Protection at the port of entry. You must pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee shown in the fee table below online so USCIS produces and mails your Green Card.

Consular processing vs. adjustment of status interviews

Once you are the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition and an immigrant visa number is immediately available, there are two pathways to apply for lawful permanent resident status (a Green Card).

If you are outside the United States, you apply at a US Department of State consulate abroad for an immigrant visa in order to come to the United States and be admitted as a permanent resident. This pathway is called consular processing. If you live in the United States, you can also choose to apply for your immigrant visa abroad through consular processing.

If you are already in the United States, you can apply for permanent resident status without returning to your home country to complete processing. This domestic pathway is called adjustment of status (Form I-485) and is handled by USCIS.

Comparison of consular processing and adjustment of status interviews from uscis.gov

How your case reaches the consular interview stage

Before a consular office schedules your appointment, your underlying petition must be approved and processed through the National Visa Center (NVC). Most immigrants qualify through a petition filed on their behalf by a family member or employer, while others qualify through refugee or asylum status or special provisions.

Once USCIS approves the petition for an applicant outside the United States, USCIS sends the approved petition to the Department of State's National Visa Center. The petition stays at the NVC until an immigrant visa number is available.

• Family-based petitions: A US citizen or lawful permanent resident relative files Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative).
• Employment-based petitions: A US employer files Form I-140 (Petition for Alien Worker). Investors putting significant capital into a US business venture file Form I-526 for themselves.
• Special categories: Applicants or petitioners file Form I-360 (Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant). Most humanitarian programs do not require an immigrant petition, though additional requirements apply.
• NVC fee bills and documents: The NVC notifies the petitioner and beneficiary when it receives the petition and again when a visa number is about to become available. The NVC collects immigrant visa processing fees (called fee bills) and supporting documentation.
• Reporting changes to the NVC: You do not need to contact the NVC for routine updates, as they contact you when they need information. However, you must contact the NVC if you change your address, if you were under 21 and have now reached age 21, or if you change your marital status, because these changes can affect your eligibility or visa availability.
• Interview scheduling: Once a visa is available or your priority date is current (earlier than the cut-off date listed in the monthly Visa Bulletin), the consular office schedules you for an interview. At the appointment, the consular office processes your case and decides if you are eligible for an immigrant visa.

Who must attend an adjustment of status interview and when it is waived

Under USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 5 (current as of October 27, 2026), all adjustment of status applicants must be interviewed by an officer unless USCIS waives the interview. For family-based applications, USCIS generally requires the Form I-130 petitioner to appear for the interview with the principal adjustment of status applicant. Derivative family members are also required to appear regardless of the filing category.

USCIS officers may decide on a case-by-case basis that it is unnecessary to interview certain adjustment of status applicants after considering all relevant evidence in the record. Even if an applicant falls into a general waiver category, USCIS is not required to waive the interview and conducts one whenever necessary.

• General waiver categories: Applicants who are clearly ineligible, unmarried children under 21 of US citizens filing Form I-485 on their own (or with a family where every applicant is eligible for a waiver), parents of US citizens, and unmarried children under 14 of lawful permanent residents filing Form I-485 on their own (or with a family where every applicant is eligible for a waiver).
• Military personnel petitioners: USCIS may waive the personal appearance of a military spouse petitioner, though the adjustment applicant must still appear. USCIS makes every effort to reschedule these cases so both can attend before deployment, or the applicant may choose to proceed while the petitioner is abroad.
• Incarcerated petitioners: USCIS may waive the personal appearance of an incarcerated US citizen spouse petitioner on a case-by-case basis, while the adjustment applicant must still appear.
• Illness or incapacitation: An officer may waive the personal appearance of an applicant or petitioner due to illness or incapacitation, which requires supervisory approval.
• When USCIS relocates a case for a required interview: Unless waived, USCIS transfers the case to the field office near your home when an interview is needed. Reasons include confirming your identity, validating your immigration status, or reviewing entry without inspection. An interview is also required to address criminal or security concerns, resolve fraud issues, or handle fingerprints rejected twice. Officers also interview applicants to review unresolved medical conditions, check affirmative eligibility answers, or locate missing agency files.

What happens during the interview and how to update your application

The interview allows the officer to verify important information about you and determine your eligibility. During an adjustment of status interview, the officer checks that you understood the questions on your application and gives you the opportunity to revise any answers that were completed incorrectly or that have changed since you filed.

Any unanswered questions or incomplete answers on the application are resolved at the interview. If information is added or revised during the appointment, you must re-sign and date the application at the conclusion of the interview.

Prepare for the window by reviewing your entire filed application before your appointment date:

• List every change since filing: Write down any new address, change in marital status, or age milestone (such as turning 21) so you can state it clearly when the officer asks if anything has changed.
• Flag errors immediately: If you spot an accidental mistake or an incomplete box on your submitted form, tell the officer at the start of the review so it can be corrected on the record before you re-sign.
• Bring supporting records for updates: Carry the government documents that match any revised answer, such as a marriage certificate, divorce record, or updated address details.

Rules for bringing an interpreter to your interview

If you are not fluent in English, you may use an interpreter for your adjustment of status interview. If the interviewing officer is fluent in your preferred language, the officer may conduct the examination in that language without an interpreter.

When you bring an interpreter, USCIS applies strict rules to protect the integrity of the examination:

• Identity and oath: The interpreter must present a valid government-issued identity document and complete an interpreter's oath and privacy release statement (Form G-1256, Declaration for Interpreted USCIS Interview).
• Word-for-word translation: The interpreter must translate what the officer and the applicant say word-for-word to the best of their ability, without adding their own opinion, commentary, or answer.
• Disinterested party rule: In general, a disinterested party should serve as the interpreter. An officer may exercise discretion to allow a friend or relative to act as your interpreter.
• Disqualification: USCIS reserves the right to disqualify an interpreter you provide if the officer believes the integrity of the examination is compromised or determines the interpreter is not competent to translate.

After your immigrant visa is granted: the sealed Visa Packet and CBP inspection

If you are granted an immigrant visa through consular processing, the consular officer gives you a packet of information known as a Visa Packet. Do not open this packet.

Along with the sealed immigrant visa packet, the US embassy or consulate gives you your Alien Number (the letter A followed by 8 or 9 numbers), your Department of State (DOS) Case ID (3 letters followed by 9 or 10 numbers, or for a Diversity Visa immigrant, 4 numbers followed by 2 letters and 5 more numbers such as 0000AB01234), your Immigrant Data Summary, and instructions for paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee.

When you arrive in the United States, hand your unopened Visa Packet to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at the port of entry. The CBP officer inspects you and determines whether to admit you into the United States as a lawful permanent resident. Once the CBP officer admits you, you have lawful permanent resident status and can live and work in the United States permanently.

If the US mailing address where you will live has changed since your consular interview, or will change immediately after you are admitted, give your new US address to the CBP officer at the port of entry so USCIS mails your Green Card to the right home.

Paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee and related filing fees

If you are immigrating to the United States through consular processing as a lawful permanent resident, you must pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee online unless you qualify for an exemption. USCIS uses this fee to process your immigrant visa packet and produce your Permanent Resident Card (Green Card). This fee is separate from the immigrant visa application fees collected by the Department of State.

USCIS strongly encourages you to pay the fee after you pick up your immigrant visa from the Department of State and before you depart for the United States. You can also pay after you arrive in the United States, in which case USCIS sends you a payment notice with instructions.

If you cannot pay the fee yourself, a family member, friend, employer, attorney, or accredited representative can pay it for you using your A-Number and DOS Case ID. If you are paying for family members who will reside with you in the United States, you can pay all fees in 1 online transaction.

You can pay online using a credit card, a debit card, a pre-paid debit card (such as a Visa gift card, though you may use only 1 pre-paid card and it must hold enough funds to cover you and any family members in the transaction), or a US bank checking account and routing number via Automated Clearing House (ACH).

Fees from uscis.gov (Form G-1055, edition 10/26/26), as of November 2026

Receiving and tracking your Green Card in the mail

After you are admitted to the United States, USCIS verifies that you paid the USCIS Immigrant Fee and mails your Green Card to the most recent US mailing address on file. This is either the address you provided to the Department of State at your immigrant visa interview or the updated address you gave to the CBP officer when admitted.

If you do not pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, it does not affect your status as a lawful permanent resident, but USCIS will not send you a physical Green Card until you pay. Without the physical card, you only have evidence of your lawful permanent resident status for 1 year from the date of your admission, shown by the temporary I-551 stamp that CBP placed in your passport when you entered the United States.

You can track the status of your Green Card on the USCIS Case Status Online page. If you move after arriving in the United States, update your address through your USCIS online account (after taking the identity verification quiz) and with the US Postal Service. If you do not receive your Green Card within 90 days of your arrival or within 90 days of paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee (whichever is later), call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283, submit an inquiry on the USCIS e-Request Non-Delivery of Card page, or submit the USCIS online help form.

Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) age calculation and visa availability

If your case involves a child who may turn 21 before immigrating, age-out rules under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) and INA 203(h) matter for both consular processing and adjustment of status. You must also notify the National Visa Center if you were under 21 and have now reached the age of 21.

Under USCIS policy guidance issued August 8, 2025 (effective August 15, 2025), USCIS clarifies that an immigrant visa becomes available for the CSPA age calculation based on the Final Action Dates chart of the Department of State Visa Bulletin. This aligns USCIS with the Department of State, which uses the Final Action Dates chart to calculate CSPA age for applicants applying for an immigrant visa abroad.

To protect eligibility under INA 203(h), the applicant must also satisfy the sought to acquire lawful permanent resident status requirement within 1 year of a visa becoming available, unless the applicant establishes extraordinary circumstances where the failure to timely file was due to circumstances beyond their control. USCIS applies the August 15, 2025 Final Action Dates policy prospectively to adjustment of status applications filed on or after August 15, 2025, while applications pending before August 15, 2025 continue under the prior February 14, 2023 guidance.

Practice example

Have any of your answers on the application changed since you filed, such as your address, marital status, or any incomplete items?

A strong, honest answer states clearly whether every detail on your submitted form is still accurate or names each specific update right away. Before the appointment, review your entire application line by line so you know exactly what is written on it. If nothing has changed, confirm that all answers remain true and complete. If something has changed since filing, such as a new residential or mailing address, a change in marital status, or turning 21, state the update plainly in one or two sentences and hand over the supporting government document if the officer asks for it. If you notice an accidental error or an unanswered question from when you first filed, point it out calmly so the officer can update the record before you re-sign and date the application at the end of the interview.

During the interview, USCIS policy directs the officer to verify that you understood every question on the application, resolve any unanswered or incomplete items, and give you the opportunity to revise answers that were completed incorrectly or changed since filing.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.