Originally Posted by
rsnake
Chat with Charlie happened today. And again the question of when is the visa number actually counted came up. I feel like everytime this question is answered by Charlie, he replies from the perspective of people filing from abroad with consular processing, since that's the responsibility of Department of State that he works for, plus most of family visas are issued that way.
That's why he talked about National Visa Center, and everything being ready for interview, by which he means interview at consulate. I feel like that's behind the 'documentarily qualified' terminology that he uses, but there is nothing to indicate that USCIS uses that terminology or process. We don't have a straight answer from USCIS perspective. My guess is that the visa number is used when we get the 'Card Production Ordered' update status and not before then, even if USCIS calls us for interview. Any thoughts?