The National Visa Center (NVC) announced yesterday that, as of November 12, 2014, it will no longer be collecting original civil documents (birth and marriage certificates, police certificates, etc). Applicants and petitioners will be required to submit copies of civil documents to the NVC for review, but will submit originals at the time of their consular interviews. Specific instructions and guidance regarding the submission of these documents at interview will be provided by the consulate upon interview scheduling. This change is designed to reduce customer wait times at the NVC, which have increased across the board in the past several months.