WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will change the filing locations for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. Effective Jan. 1, 2012, domestic petitioners will mail their stand-alone I-130 applications to either the Chicago Lockbox or the Phoenix Lockbox, depending on where they reside in the United States. The new filing locations will be updated with the corresponding addresses on Jan. 1 on the Form I-130 Direct Filing Locations page. This effort will balance workloads between the two locations and provide more efficient and effective processing of Form I-130.
There will be no change in filing locations when submitting Form I-130 along with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. Individuals filing these forms together will continue to mail them to the Chicago Lockbox facility. Petitioners filing from overseas addresses in countries without USCIS offices will also continue to file at the Chicago Lockbox facility. Petitioners residing in a country with a USCIS office may send their I-130 forms to the Chicago Lockbox, or they may file their Forms I-130 at the international USCIS office having jurisdiction over the area where they live.
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Posted on December 29, 2011 | Category: Immigration News
On Oct. 19, 2011, a USCIS Update was issued announcing processing improvements for certain naturalization and citizenship forms. USCIS has centralized intake of Forms N-336, N-600 and N-600K to the Phoenix Lockbox facility. The Dallas Lockbox facility will handle the Form N-300. This change streamlines the way forms are processed, accelerates the collection and deposit of fees and improves the consistency of our intake process.
This is a reminder that impacted forms received at local and district offices after Dec. 2, 2011, will no longer be forwarded to the appropriate USCIS Lockbox facility. Beginning Dec. 5, impacted forms received locally will be returned to the individual with instructions on how to re-file at a designated USCIS Lockbox facility.
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Posted on December 9, 2011 | Category: Immigration News
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012. USCIS is notifying the public that yesterday, Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.
Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after Nov. 22, 2011.
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Posted on November 23, 2011 | Category: Immigration News
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds eligible nationals of Haiti (and persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) who have not filed their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applications, to follow guidance about late filing.
Please go to the ‘Filing Late’ section of the TPS Web page for guidance on how to file for TPS and to determine if you may still apply.
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Posted on November 18, 2011 | Category: Immigration News
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas joined the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness in Pittsburgh to announce “Entrepreneurs in Residence.” This new innovative initiative will utilize industry expertise to strengthen USCIS policies and practices surrounding immigrant investors, entrepreneurs and workers with specialized skills, knowledge, or abilities. Mayorkas announced the initiative at the Jobs Council’s High Growth Entrepreneurship Listening and Action Session at AlphaLab in Pittsburgh before the Council’s quarterly meeting with President Obama.
“This initiative creates additional opportunities for USCIS to gain insights in areas critical to economic growth,” said Director Mayorkas. “The introduction of expert views from the private and public sector will help us to ensure that our policies and processes fully realize the immigration law’s potential to create and protect American jobs.”
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Posted on October 11, 2011 | Category: Immigration News
