Overseas Resident USCs: Where to File I-130

[meauxna 15]

USCIS.gov site instruction for filing I-130

See "Special Instructions"

The Special Instructions have been amended. The instruction in this post no longer applies.

Edited February 5, 2007 by meauxna

[Mary G. 0]

Does anyone know yet what is happening to those petitions sent in prior to January 26th? Are they also getting sent to the US for processing? Or will they be processed at USCIS Offices abroad? It looks like in Amy's case in Albania, they are getting sent to Vienna...but what about petitions that were filed at USCIS offices? We sent ours to Frankfurt in early December. If it was sent to USCIS then, does that mean it might just be processed there as it normally would have been?

Thanks,

Mary

USCIS.gov site instruction for filing I-130

See "Special Instructions"

"Special Instructions for Petitioners Residing Abroad:

Effective January 26, 2007, petitioners abroad must file their petition with a USCIS domestic Service Center. Petitioners filing from abroad are reminded that filing fees must be submitted by check or money order, payable in U.S. funds.

If you reside in: North America, the Caribbean, South America, or Europe, file your I-130 with:

By Mail:

USCIS Vermont Service Center

P.O. Box 500

St. Albans, VT 05479-0001

USA

By Courier:

USCIS Vermont Service Center

75 Lower Weldon Street

St. Albans, VT 05479

USA

If you reside in Africa, Asia, Australia or the Pacific, file your I-130 with:

By Mail:

USCIS California Service Center

P.O. Box 10130

Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-1013

USA

By Courier:

USCIS California Service Center

2400 Avila Road

Laguna Niguel, CA 92607

USA

Petitioners traveling abroad who actually reside in the United States should file their I-130 petitions with the appropriate USCIS Service Center, according to the filing instructions on the form."

This post has an interesting comment on the topic.

[payxibka 10,045]

Does anyone know yet what is happening to those petitions sent in prior to January 26th? Are they also getting sent to the US for processing? Or will they be processed at USCIS Offices abroad? It looks like in Amy's case in Albania, they are getting sent to Vienna...but what about petitions that were filed at USCIS offices? We sent ours to Frankfurt in early December. If it was sent to USCIS then, does that mean it might just be processed there as it normally would have been?

Thanks,

Mary

The information from Kiev is that the files that they have are going to Moscow. So if they are consistent then hopefully they are spreading the "pain" and using all available resources rather than bring them all back here.

[John and Sonya 0]

Does anyone know yet what is happening to those petitions sent in prior to January 26th? Are they also getting sent to the US for processing? Or will they be processed at USCIS Offices abroad? It looks like in Amy's case in Albania, they are getting sent to Vienna...but what about petitions that were filed at USCIS offices? We sent ours to Frankfurt in early December. If it was sent to USCIS then, does that mean it might just be processed there as it normally would have been?

Thanks,

Mary

The information from Kiev is that the files that they have are going to Moscow. So if they are consistent then hopefully they are spreading the "pain" and using all available resources rather than bring them all back here.

Last time I contact Kyiv was on thursday, and the only thing they told me was they were going to wait a few days for instructions then send to Moscow. Question to you, if you heard more than that, such as what process will it undergo in Moscow. Will they have to assign number, background check, then send to NVC, wait for reply from NVC, send in I-864 fees to NVC,........ or are they just going to send to Moscow, perform background check then send back to Kyiv?

We will be very fortunate if they just do background check then send back, it should only delay us a little. Its a good law and agree with it 100%, just mishandled. But time to move foward from that. I am planning to contact them again Monday to check status of our petition. It was already approved on the 23rd, we were just sitting first in-line to get interview, now we hear it is going to be thrown in a box with everyone elses. Hope they keep some kind of order of reciept. Thanks in advance for any info. John

[breezy 0]

Mary,

I sent in my I-130 to the Rome District USCIS Office on the 17th of Jan.

I called on the 26th and they said that there would be no change in our process,

(mind you that our petition has nt even been approved yet.)

Why or How? Not sure. Sorry.

Breezy

[Mary G. 0]

fwaguy, John, and Breezy,

It's reassuring to hear that the USCIS Offices in Moscow and Rome can still process I-130s that have already been filed. I'm hoping that's the same thing for Frankfurt. I tried emailing them last week, but so far no response.

Thanks so much for the information...and good luck to all of you!

Mary

Mary,

I sent in my I-130 to the Rome District USCIS Office on the 17th of Jan.

I called on the 26th and they said that there would be no change in our process,

(mind you that our petition has nt even been approved yet.)

Why or How? Not sure. Sorry.

Breezy

[John and Sonya 0]

fwaguy, John, and Breezy,

It's reassuring to hear that the USCIS Offices in Moscow and Rome can still process I-130s that have already been filed. I'm hoping that's the same thing for Frankfurt. I tried emailing them last week, but so far no response.

Thanks so much for the information...and good luck to all of you!

Mary

Mary,

I sent in my I-130 to the Rome District USCIS Office on the 17th of Jan.

I called on the 26th and they said that there would be no change in our process,

(mind you that our petition has nt even been approved yet.)

Why or How? Not sure. Sorry.

Breezy

Frankfurt should be the same, but keep trying the embassy next week. I feel we will all get our answers to whats going on with already approved I-130's next week. Let us know what you hear.

[Mary G. 0]

Good news for us: I heard back from USCIS in Frankfurt today. They said because we had already filed our petition, the changes should not affect us. I still can't help feeling badly, though, for everyone who'd planned on filing petitions abroad through DCF.

fwaguy, John, and Breezy,

It's reassuring to hear that the USCIS Offices in Moscow and Rome can still process I-130s that have already been filed. I'm hoping that's the same thing for Frankfurt. I tried emailing them last week, but so far no response.

Thanks so much for the information...and good luck to all of you!

Mary

Mary,

I sent in my I-130 to the Rome District USCIS Office on the 17th of Jan.

I called on the 26th and they said that there would be no change in our process,

(mind you that our petition has nt even been approved yet.)

Why or How? Not sure. Sorry.

Breezy

Frankfurt should be the same, but keep trying the embassy next week. I feel we will all get our answers to whats going on with already approved I-130's next week. Let us know what you hear.

[avoci 0]

Good news for us: I heard back from USCIS in Frankfurt today. They said because we had already filed our petition, the changes should not affect us. I still can't help feeling badly, though, for everyone who'd planned on filing petitions abroad through DCF.

fwaguy, John, and Breezy,

It's reassuring to hear that the USCIS Offices in Moscow and Rome can still process I-130s that have already been filed. I'm hoping that's the same thing for Frankfurt. I tried emailing them last week, but so far no response.

Thanks so much for the information...and good luck to all of you!

Mary

Mary,

I sent in my I-130 to the Rome District USCIS Office on the 17th of Jan.

I called on the 26th and they said that there would be no change in our process,

(mind you that our petition has nt even been approved yet.)

Why or How? Not sure. Sorry.

Breezy

Frankfurt should be the same, but keep trying the embassy next week. I feel we will all get our answers to whats going on with already approved I-130's next week. Let us know what you hear.

Just womdering,

So, this did not affect you because of the PLACE you filed or becuase of the DATE you filed?

[Mary G. 0]

According to the email I received from Frankfurt, it's because of the date. From meauxna's post, it doesn't look like people are allowed anymore to file the I-130 at USCIS Offices in Europe. I'm not sure why this is the case. But it does look like USCIS Offices in Europe are allowed the process I-130s that were filed prior to Condoleeza Rice's memo last week.

[Henia 11]

Thanks Meauxna

USCIS.gov site instruction for filing I-130

See "Special Instructions"

"Special Instructions for Petitioners Residing Abroad:

Effective January 26, 2007, petitioners abroad must file their petition with a USCIS domestic Service Center. Petitioners filing from abroad are reminded that filing fees must be submitted by check or money order, payable in U.S. funds.

If you reside in: North America, the Caribbean, South America, or Europe, file your I-130 with:

By Mail:

USCIS Vermont Service Center

P.O. Box 500

St. Albans, VT 05479-0001

USA

By Courier:

USCIS Vermont Service Center

75 Lower Weldon Street

St. Albans, VT 05479

USA

If you reside in Africa, Asia, Australia or the Pacific, file your I-130 with:

By Mail:

USCIS California Service Center

P.O. Box 10130

Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-1013

USA

By Courier:

USCIS California Service Center

2400 Avila Road

Laguna Niguel, CA 92607

USA

Petitioners traveling abroad who actually reside in the United States should file their I-130 petitions with the appropriate USCIS Service Center, according to the filing instructions on the form."

This post has an interesting comment on the topic.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

I just got this email yesterday:

Hello,

if you are a permanent resident in Germany you are welcome to file the I-130

with us.

Sincerely

Tatiana Munser-Harris

Immigration Assistant

____________________Reply Separator____________________

Subject: Filing Question

Author: <SMTP:starfish324@§§§§.com>

Date: 1/26/2007 2:40 AM

Good Morning,

I read that it is no longer possible to file the 1-130 directly with the

consulate in Frankfurt. It is still possible to file with your office in

Germany

though if I have German permanant residency, correct?

Thank you

Edited January 30, 2007 by Wacken

[meauxna 15]

The instructions in the original post have been taken down from uscis.gov as of today.

Don't anyone dare ask where they are supposed to file an I-130 today---who knows?! Proceed at your own risk

Edited January 31, 2007 by meauxna

[JazzeroKi 0]

The instructions in the original post have been taken down from uscis.gov as of today.

Don't anyone dare ask where they are supposed to file an I-130 today---who knows?! Proceed at your own risk

The official word at least regarding former soviet union and european countries is the following.

There is discussion currently going on between Department of State and USCIS regarding how and if Consular sections will continue to accept I-130 petions. These discussions are taking high priority and a decision is expected very soon.

People are being told if there is no USCIS office in your country then hold on to your petition for just a little longer. Or you can file with a USCIS office in the USA.

A decision has been highly expected to be given this week. But where this week is comming to a close it might be next week. Anyways considering how much faster an overseas office processes these in comparison to a stateside office I would just be patient for another week and wait to see what the operational decision is going to be.

[iluvmymac 0]

The instructions in the original post have been taken down from uscis.gov as of today.

Don't anyone dare ask where they are supposed to file an I-130 today---who knows?! Proceed at your own risk

The official word at least regarding former soviet union and european countries is the following.

There is discussion currently going on between Department of State and USCIS regarding how and if Consular sections will continue to accept I-130 petions. These discussions are taking high priority and a decision is expected very soon.

People are being told if there is no USCIS office in your country then hold on to your petition for just a little longer. Or you can file with a USCIS office in the USA.

A decision has been highly expected to be given this week. But where this week is comming to a close it might be next week. Anyways considering how much faster an overseas office processes these in comparison to a stateside office I would just be patient for another week and wait to see what the operational decision is going to be.

Where are you getting your info from? My embassy (Tokyo) is still saying to send the I-130 to USCIS in California. I've already sent mine in, and am hoping that after approval USCIS will send it back to my embassy.