U.S. Embassy & Consulates
in France

Immigrant Visa – Required Documents

• All documents are required even if they were previously submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or NVC with your petition.
• For each document (with the exception of your passport and photograph), please present the original, one photocopy, and a certified translation for any document in languages other than English or French.

---

Passport:  A passport in good condition, valid for at least six months beyond your intended date of entry into the United States.

Photograph: One color photograph – 2 inches by 2 inches — for each applicant. The photo must have been taken within the past six months. Please see the photo requirements.

Shipping Envelope (if you currently reside in Portugal or the Azores): Applicants from Portugal or the Azores who are applying for an immediate relative or an employment-based visa, must provide a “Chronopost” envelope, 2 Kg format 25x36cm for Union Europeen international delivery.  Chronopost envelopes are only available from the French post office La Poste.  Visas are not available for pickup on the day of the interview.

Birth Certificate:  An original or certified copy for each applicant. The date, place of birth, and parent(s) name(s) must be shown on the birth certificate.  For those born in France, this means a “copie intégrale de l’acte de naissance.” Please see birth certificates from other countries.  Note, the Family Book (Livret de Famille) does not satisfy this requirement. Some applicants with French Nationality may be requested to submit French birth certificates even if they were born outside of France.

Marriage Certificate:  Married applicants must submit an original marriage certificate (copie intégrale de l’acte de marriage in France) or a certified copy bearing the appropriate seal or stamp of the issuing authority.  Marriage records listed in Family Book (Livret de Famille) are not accepted. In some cases, the consular officer may request a marriage certificate issued within the last three months.

Divorce Decree:  Applicants and Petitioners who have been previously married must submit evidence of the termination of each previous marriage.  Evidence must be in the form of original or certified copy of the divorce decree obtained from the adjudicating authority, bearing the appropriate seal or stamp.  Original or certified copies of a death certificate or annulments are also acceptable if applicable.

Police Certificate:  For current country of residence (France or Portugal), a Police Certificate is required for each applicant aged 16 years and over if the applicant has lived at least 6 months in country. For past country of residence, the applicant must have resided in country for at least 12 months for the Police Certificate to be mandatory. When the country of nationality of the applicant is other than France or Portugal (to include bi-nationals), the applicant must have resided in country of nationality for at least 6 months at any age for the Police Certificate to be mandatory. 

Please see instructions on how to obtain police certificates  for each country.  Police certificates must be less than two years old except for past country of residence when the applicant never returned in country. 

Court and Prison Records:  Applicants convicted of a crime must submit a certified copy of each court record and any prison record, regardless of the fact that he or she may have subsequently benefited from an amnesty, pardon or other act of clemency.  Court records should include complete information regarding the circumstance surrounding the crime for which the applicant was convicted, and the disposition of the case, including sentence or other penalty or fine imposed.

Military Records:  Persons who have served in the military forces of any country must provide an original copy of their military record.  If exempted from military service, the applicant should also provide an original copy of the exemption record.

Deportation Records:  Applicants previously deported or ordered removed from the United States must provide copies of their deportation hearing records and judgments.

Affidavit of Support or Employment Letter: Form I-864, a contractual Affidavit of Support, must be submitted for most family-based immigrant visa applicants and employment-based applicants when a relative is the petitioner or has ownership interest in the petitioner’s business. The form must be submitted with the petitioner’s most recent tax return and any other financial documents.

Widows/Widowers of U.S. Citizens are required to present form I-864W.

Employment-based visa applicants must show a recent letter from their employer confirming that the job offer upon which their application is based is still available to them and confirming the essential elements of the job offer including pay rate and hours. Qualified nurses must also present their Visa Screen Certificate.

All other applicants, including K-1 (fiancé/e) applicants must show evidence that they are not likely to become a public charge while in the United States. Use of the form I-134 is an efficient way to provide this information to the Consular Officer.

Download Forms Online.

Original Documents to Establish Relationship Between Petitioner and Beneficiary:  not applicable to employment-based visas).  This includes, but is not limited to plane tickets, photos and correspondence in the form of letters or emails.

Visa Fees:  Visa fees range from $205 to $345. Payment (if not already provided via NVC) is accepted at the U.S. Embassy Paris in U.S. dollars, euros or by credit card. Checks are not accepted. The application fee is non-refundable.