Filling I 130 online or sending it by mail

[Bel Nes 0]

Hi everyone!  I now this may seem an obvious question  but it got me a little confuse , it's clear that in USCIS web page you have the choice either filling online OR sending your form and avidence by mail to the service center  , although Inoticed that almost everyone is doing both of them .. is it just fine if I do it only online with scanning and attaching all required documents? Thank you .

[SteveInBostonI130 3,477]

5 minutes ago, Bel Nes said:

Hi everyone!  I now this may seem an obvious question  but it got me a little confuse , it's clear that in USCIS web page you have the choice either filling online OR sending your form and avidence by mail to the service center  , although Inoticed that almost everyone is doing both of them .. is it just fine if I do it only online with scanning and attaching all required documents? Thank you .

 

Both? No, only one method is required and I have not read of anyone doing both.  Where have you seen people doing both?

 

The online submittal is relatively new - it's been available for only a few years.  We did ours by paper but most in my tracking group submitted online.

[Crazy Cat 42,027]

28 minutes ago, Bel Nes said:

Hi everyone!  I now this may seem an obvious question  but it got me a little confuse , it's clear that in USCIS web page you have the choice either filling online OR sending your form and avidence by mail to the service center  , although Inoticed that almost everyone is doing both of them .. is it just fine if I do it only online with scanning and attaching all required documents? Thank you .

People send the initial application and evidence by either one method or the other.... not both that I have seen.  Perhaps an RFE response could be sent by the other method. 

[Chancy 6,243]

36 minutes ago, Bel Nes said:

Inoticed that almost everyone is doing both of them

 

People do not normally attempt both methods as that would require paying the filing fee twice.  I know of no one personally or here on VJ who would want to pay twice for the same thing.

 

[Bel Nes 0]

I saw this mostly on YouTube videos and  true they all date 2 years ago , a friend of I did hers with an attorney 3 years ago and he suggested at the time doing that (sending by mail + registering the fill in the uscis so they can track it ) no idea how he have done that !

[Chancy 6,243]

21 minutes ago, Bel Nes said:

a friend of I did hers with an attorney 3 years ago and he suggested at the time doing that (sending by mail + registering the fill in the uscis so they can track it )

 

The attorney did not mean to file the petition via both methods.  They meant filing by paper, then creating a USCIS online account and tracking the paper-filed petition through that account.  Anyone with a US phone number may create a USCIS account.  It does not require re-filing the petition online.

 

[JeanneAdil 6,605]

with today's weather conditions i would defintely do it online

Can u imagine it going to Chicago lock box ,  for instance ,  and going thru a slow down for a blizzard?

Right now Phoenix and Dallas have decent weather which can change to nasty in the drop of a hat

 

so,  when u are ready to do this and think to mail it

look up the weather from here to there knowing that even USPS ,  UPS and Fed ex trucks get stopped when highways are blocked

and if u mail it,  keep copies of eveything including the petiton itself for your records (right up to the day of the oath for naturalization)

 

online u scan the documents and they arrive and if one can be read USCIS informs you to resend 

 

[PGA 251]

6 hours ago, Bel Nes said:

Hi everyone!  I now this may seem an obvious question  but it got me a little confuse , it's clear that in USCIS web page you have the choice either filling online OR sending your form and avidence by mail to the service center  , although Inoticed that almost everyone is doing both of them .. is it just fine if I do it only online with scanning and attaching all required documents? Thank you .

In my personal opinion and based on my experience, online is the easier, softer way. 

[JTT88 2]

You should file it online as the online process is much faster compared to the paper filing system.

[SalishSea 18,016]

1 hour ago, JAI TUTEJA said:

You should file it online as the online process is much faster compared to the paper filing system.

It's not "much faster."  Maybe a week or two at the most.  Once petitions are dispatched to service centers (whether filed on paper or electronically), the processing time is the same.