Service citizenship and immigration United States announced that from February 1 to improve the efficiency of form I-130 «Petition for Alien Relative» (a Petition for a foreign relative) will be processed within the country only USCIS, and outside the United States — Department of State (DOS).
DOS will be responsible for certain services formerly provided by the international offices of USCI‘S; and for services that the Department already provides in countries where USCIS is not present. Active military personnel assigned overseas will be able to submit their form I-130 at the location in DOS, as well as some non-military petitioners who meet certain criteria for consular processing.
«USCIS continues to modernize and become more efficient, — noted the Deputy Director of USCIS Marc Coemans. Since the state Department has a much wider international presence, we gave them the authority to accept and consider petitions for immediate relatives abroad under certain circumstances. USCIS continues to expand the possibilities for the submission of applications via the Internet, which saves time and money for applicants and petitioners».
The state Department will process form I-130 locally, if the request falls under the following criteria:
- provisional General authorization for cases of prolonged or serious civil war or natural disasters;
- a complete solution for U.S. military personnel assigned to military bases abroad.
In addition, the DOS reserves the right to accept and process forms I-130, if the applicant meets the criteria of «exceptional circumstances» as described in updating the policy Manual.
All other applicants living abroad must file form I-130 online or by mail through the Dallas Lockbox.
