On January 2, 2013, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced the posting of a final rule in the Federal Register that reduces the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives (spouse, children and parents), who are in the process of obtaining visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States under certain circumstances. The final rule establishes a process that allows certain individuals to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver before they depart the United States to attend immigrant visa interviews in their countries of origin. The process will be effective on March 4, 2013 and more information about the filing process will be made available in the coming weeks at www.uscis.gov. “This final rule facilitates the legal immigration process and reduces the amount of time that U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives who are in the process of obtaining an immigrant visa,” said Secretary Napolitano. U.S....
USCIS Announces Changes to Stand-Alone I-130 Filing Locations Published Dec. 23, 2011; revised Jan. 1, 2012 WASHINGTON – On January 1, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) changed the filing locations for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. Domestic petitioners will now mail their stand-alone I-130 applications to either the Chicago Lockbox or the Phoenix Lockbox, depending on their residence in the United States. Updated filing addresses are available at this link: Form I-130 Direct Filing Locations . 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...
WASHINGTON - Recently, USCIS has decided that they will issue Form I-797C, Notice of Action, with a new look and feel. The Form I-797C will be printed on a plain bond paper. The agency will save an estimated amount of $1.1 million per year. This form change will help reduce public perception that the Form I-797C demonstrates evidence of an immigration benefit or status. The top of the new Form I-797C will clearly display: “ THIS NOTICE DOES NOT GRANT ANY IMMIGRATION STATUS OR BENEFIT.” The following is a sample of how this disclaimer will appear on the Form I-797C: Please note,the Form I-797C, Notice of Action is used ONLY for certain types of communication between individuals and the agency including notifications of: Receipt (notifies the customer that their payment and application/petition has been received by USCIS) Rejection (notifies the customer that their application/petition has been rejected due to incorrect information or payment) ...