Filing Location Change for USCIS Form I-130

By USCitizen December 29th, 2011

Beginning January 1, 2012, Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative has to mailed to either the Chicago or Phoenix Lockbox facility depending on the place of residence of the applicant. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently made this announcement regarding stand-alone I-130 forms.

Information regarding the states and the corresponding Lockbox facility will be published on the USCIS website on January 1, 2012. Petitioners are advised to check which Lockbox facility has jurisdiction over their place of residence and send their Form I-130s to the appropriate address. Sending a petition to the wrong address will result in a delay in its processing.

Persons who are filing Form I-130 along with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status need to continue sending their applications to the Chicago Lockbox facility. Persons filing the petition from outside the United States, from a country that does not have a USCIS office, have to continue sending their applications to the Lockbox facility in Chicago. Those who are filing the petition from a country that has a USCIS office have two options – they can either file it with the Chicago Lockbox facility or send it to the USCIS office having jurisdiction over their area of residence.

Until the end of 2011, petitioners can mail their applications to the Chicago facility from where they will be routed to the appropriate USCIS Service Center for processing. Form the beginning of 2012 the change in filing location will come into effect. Please make sure that the applications are sent to the correct address.