Sending 129F direct to CSC

[LionessDeon 2,060]

hmm notice how it says effective 2007 so i can assume already its a outdated document

only took a few seconds to find this on uscis website

File Form I-129F at the USCIS Dallas Lockbox facility:

For U.S. Postal Service (USPS):

USCIS

P.O. Box 660151

Dallas, TX 75266

For USPS Express Mail and courier deliveries:

USCIS

Attn: I-129F

2501 South State Highway 121 Business

Suite 400

Lewisville, TX 75067

Please again, note the difference between the Texas Service Center (TSC) and the Texas Lockbox. They are NOT the same entity. TSC does not handle K1 petitions any longer (since more than a year), but all packages must still be sent to the lockbox to be routed (not transferred) to CSC.

Yes TSC and CSC are service centers. Do not confuse them with the Dallas Texas Lockbox where petitions are first sent and then routed to appropriate service center. If you are able to locate the person that gave you the wrong information I would do so and give her the correct information. She is probably wrongly informing others as well.

[WarmRegards 4]

Ok I did a bit more research on this and here's what I know. The address I used is a valid California Service Center address. I figured this out because one of the board members here "MaleAlpha" noted that he sent his 751 Form to the CSC directly in June this year. It was signed for by "N Lakelieh" which is incidentally the exact same signature for my package. So I know at the very least that

(a) it's been received

(b) that it went to the CSC and they signed for it given that the names match.

His ROC (751 package) was signed for 6/10 and NOA1 issued 6/16.

I'm thinking I will give it until Monday or Tuesday next week. If I don't see movement by then I will mail out a new packet to the Texas Lockbox.

I'm fully aware of the Texas Lockbox and the instructions online. I had everything addressed to that before I spoke to her. I just took the official word of the immigration representative as her having known better. I'm still not 100% convinced she's wrong given the facts above. My only cocern is that it's stuck somewhere in limbo with no-one knowing what to do with it.

[WarmRegards 4]

I called the USCIS and they said it should not have been sent directly to the CSC but to call on Tuesday after it's been 10 days to escalate it to a local agent there. She recommended against sending a new application because it would really slow things down further. Lastly she did say that I would likely still get my NOA1 having sent it to the CSC except they say to allow for up to 30 days.

[soulstriker 274]

I called the USCIS and they said it should not have been sent directly to the CSC but to call on Tuesday after it's been 10 days to escalate it to a local agent there. She recommended against sending a new application because it would really slow things down further. Lastly she did say that I would likely still get my NOA1 having sent it to the CSC except they say to allow for up to 30 days.

well lessons learned , keep your eyes on youe emails etc , hopefully it doesnt get stuck in limbo

[Mamed 18]

I think lawyers / immigration office are unnecessary for K-1 visa. Why waste time and money on them? I did everything myself for us (me USC and now my wife) except birth certificate translation+notarization and two papers she signed.

This website has everything you need. Use guides, example forms and search. And sometimes go to USCIS website, though instructions over there are harder to understand

Edited October 14, 2016 by Mamed

[Ash.1101 1,756]

To the OP:

All of your posts have been worries of how to avoid doing anything wrong. I would recommend researching the process here on VJ so you can smell out if any immigration officer gives you the wrong info. We have had people on VJ that turn to doing this all themselves because their lawyer ended up having no idea what they were doing.

I personally did not send out either the I-129F or my husbands AOS packet until I felt AT LEAST 90% sure that it was 100% correct. One of the reasons I sent out his AOS packet later than I should have was that I had a nagging feeling I was missing something, so I waited until I could look over everything and go through a checklist and go "okay, this is the correct address? this is in the correct order?" etc. Once I felt confident that I most likely would not get an RFE, I sent it out.

But yes, you send it to the Texas lockbox, then from there the petition will get forwarded to which ever service center is processing the cases at the time.


Almost everyone here (a good 90+%) has done all of this by themselves without ever speaking to an immigration officer or an attorney. If you ever question ANYTHING, like "but I think I'm suppose to send it to this place" look it up, do search and type in "Where to send I-129F petition?"

If you have any doubt of what we say, look at your forms instructions: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf

Page 7 of 9 under "Where Do I File This Form?" sends you to the USCIS website, and forth tab down gives you the Dallas Lockbox address. https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f


Law and government forms are an ever changing process, it's best to get the information from those who have been through the process. Even USCIS can give you wrong info, people here have gotten it all the time. And while some people may give bad information here, 99% of the time multiple people will jump in correcting that person and give the correct info.


If they do pick up your packet, instead of getting sorted as a I-129F at the dallas lock box and being sent that way, now they're going to have to go through the packet and sort it there at the CSC itself. One of the pluses of having a lock box for things to go too, is it allows for proper distribution to where certain applications need to go. When someone picks up your application, they're going to look at it and go "why in the world is this here?" then start sending it through the proper channels to get where it needs to go versus being sorted at the lock box and sent directly to those who deal with the I-129F's down at CSC in most likely a big crate.
While it may seem like the best course of action for the person who finds your application to just walk or foward the info to the right place, that's not their job so they're most likely not going to end up late on what THEY do because someone messed up sending. There's probably a place where they put "lost applications" that gets looked at maybe once a week or more when they can spare the time to send everything the right way. I'm sure they get mis-sent mail A LOT for multiple things.


And agreeing with the above post, I did everything other than what my husband (then fiance) needed to write out himself. We did K-1 to GC with all paperwork correct.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Ash.1101

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Ok I did a bit more research on this and here's what I know. The address I used is a valid California Service Center address. I figured this out because one of the board members here "MaleAlpha" noted that he sent his 751 Form to the CSC directly in June this year. It was signed for by "N Lakelieh" which is incidentally the exact same signature for my package. So I know at the very least that

(a) it's been received

(b) that it went to the CSC and they signed for it given that the names match.

His ROC (751 package) was signed for 6/10 and NOA1 issued 6/16.

I'm thinking I will give it until Monday or Tuesday next week. If I don't see movement by then I will mail out a new packet to the Texas Lockbox.

I'm fully aware of the Texas Lockbox and the instructions online. I had everything addressed to that before I spoke to her. I just took the official word of the immigration representative as her having known better. I'm still not 100% convinced she's wrong given the facts above. My only cocern is that it's stuck somewhere in limbo with no-one knowing what to do with it.

I'm sure you know this now, but ROC's are either sent to CSC or VSC for processing. They are based on location. Make sure you use the information you find to be relevant to what YOU are filing for. If you see someone doing ROC, don't follow what they're doing for I-129F, same goes for AOS, don't send it anywhere OTHER than Chicago lockbox. Different stages require applications to be sent different places.

But yes, that is a valid address and yes some things are sent directly there. Just not I-129F's.

And remember, instructions on the official USCIS website should ALWAYS trump what anyone else tells you because at the end of the day if you do something wrong, they will ask why and if you say someone told you too they'll just go "well did you read the instructions?"

The only things that vary from instructions are at the interview stages as some things, like the I-134, require MORE than the form instructions tell you, but usually you're told this by the consulate, as the consulates can vary in what they want, either more or less than the instructions. Until you're dealing with a consulate itself though, stick to the USCIS website.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Ash.1101

[WarmRegards 4]

I'm sure you know this now, but ROC's are either sent to CSC or VSC for processing. They are based on location. Make sure you use the information you find to be relevant to what YOU are filing for. If you see someone doing ROC, don't follow what they're doing for I-129F, same goes for AOS, don't send anything OTHER than your AOS packet to Chicago lockbox. Different stages require applications to be sent different places.

But yes, that is a valid address and yes some things are sent directly there. Just not I-129F's.

As I said before multiple times, I was aware of the Lockbox address and that things are supposed to get mailed there. That's not the issue. The issue was that I followed the directions of the immigration agent over the website and forums because I guess I deferred to authority on this. Right now I feel like I'm only being chastized for doing something wrong, when I've already admitted I did it wrong and I was aware of the instructions but chose to follow directions of the immigration officer and the form she gave me.

At this point I'd like advice on how to fix this and what steps I can take now. Since the address is valid that's a good sign. But as the agent on the phone today pointed out, they may have forwarded it on to Texas Lockbox, or sending it back to me, or any number of things. Given that I can't send out a new packet now, it seems the best course of action is to wait until Tuesday to see what happens unless anyone here can offer an alternate suggestion.

[Dutchster 1,107]

I get you might feel that way right now but it's also so needed to keep telling how you shouldn't always relay on immigration officers or documents from 2007 - in your case. This process is very easy to do on your own with the right website/forum and instructions from the USCIS website and good fact checks.

If you want to get advice on how to fix it or what steps to take now; some forum members gave you some advice. Cancel the check, re-send it to the right address or wait what's going to happen.

Edited October 14, 2016 by stephadams

[Ketsuban 1,034]

Either way you'll be waiting. Either for an I-797 Notice of Action receipt or for your returned package. You can't do anything for now.

[cdneh 3,112]

Either way you'll be waiting. Either for an I-797 Notice of Action receipt or for your returned package. You can't do anything for now.

Wait. They will return it to you, so you can send it to the correct place, or they may forward it there for you.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

DO NOT send a new package. Stop and wait.

They will either

1) reject the package and send it back to you

2) forward it themselves to the appropriate Lockbox

I repeat. DO NOT send a new package or cancel the old check. You will muck it up even more.

[soulstriker 274]

Wait. They will return it to you, so you can send it to the correct place, or they may forward it there for you.

most likely theyll return it to you

[Dutchster 1,107]

DO NOT send a new package. Stop and wait.

They will either

1) reject the package and send it back to you

2) forward it themselves to the appropriate Lockbox

I repeat. DO NOT send a new package or cancel the old check. You will muck it up even more.

So in cases like this is actually just really wait and see what happens?

[WarmRegards 4]

DO NOT send a new package. Stop and wait.

They will either

1) reject the package and send it back to you

2) forward it themselves to the appropriate Lockbox

I repeat. DO NOT send a new package or cancel the old check. You will muck it up even more.

What do you think about this: I send a new package with a new check, but do NOT put a stop payment on the original check. Then, next week once I see which of the two checks hits my account first, I put a stop payment on the other check. That will effectively cancel out whichever application happens to be processed second. Then they'll simply return the application with the invalid check.