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USCIS Transitions the Intake Function to Lockbox Network for Several Benefit Requests

May 25th, 2010

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that it will be transitioning the intake function of several more forms from the Service Centers to its Lockbox network. By centralizing form and fee intake to a Lockbox environment, USCIS will improve consistency and integrity in the intake process.

The forms scheduled for the transition:

– I-817, Application for Family Unity Benefits (If filing under section 301 of the Immigration Act of 1990);

– I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur ;

– I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (Only those filed separately from the I-129);

– I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiance ;

– I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.

The transition will start mid-May with the Service Centers forwarding applications to the USCIS Dallas and Phoenix Lockbox facilities for processing. In June, USCIS will post the revised filing instructions, update the web page for each form, and announce the address change with a USCIS Update.

Throughout the transition period and up to the point where USCIS formally announces the new filing addresses, customers with concerns should contact the National Customer

Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.

[Audy_Rob 26]

This news just came out. How does it effects us?

From what I read today, depending on when you sent your I-129F petition and where you sent it, you might incur a slight delay (on the order of days, not weeks) and/or receive a notice saying your petition was transferred to Texas as part of this integrated incoming review for the affected petitions such as I-129F.

One member posted receiving a notice that their petition had been transferred from Vermont to Texas. That was just because of this change. It will end up back in the proper Service Center and be adjudicated. But I would think the transit time alone will add a minor delay.