On March 26, 2015, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced two operational changes to balance its overall workload.
On March 27, 2015, USCIS began transferring some cases of Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, from its Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center in order to balance the case processing workload. Form I-130 is filed by any US citizen or lawful permanent resident petitioning to bring their eligible family members to the US. Cases filed with the following forms may have been affected:
- I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiance
- I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
- I-485, Application to Register Permanent Resident or Adjust Status
- I-821D/I-765, Consideration of deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals/Application for Employment Authorization
USCIS will notify applicants whose cases have been transferred, mentioning the transfer date and location of the service center in which the case will be processed.
How Transferred Cases Will Be Affected
In the case that the applicant’s case has been transferred, the original receipt number will not be affected. Excluding the additional time needed to transfer the file, the processing time will not be delayed. The filing location will also remain unchanged; applicants can still file Form I-130 at the address noted on the form.
Tracking the Status of Your Case
Applicants can track the status of their case any of the following ways.
- Applicants can check the status by entering the receipt number at Case Status Online.
- If the decision within the published processing time is not received by applicant, the applicant can ask USCIS about his/her case status.
- Applicants can sign up to receive automatic status updates by mail.
- Applicants can inquire using e-Request or can call National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283.
When asking about the case status, it is advisable to tell USCIS the original receipt number and mention that the case was transferred to a new location.
