The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have sent out an email notice to USCIS Stakeholders that they are working to reduce the extended processing times for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. This form is filed by U.S. citizens for their eligible immediate relatives and is the first step in helping the relative to immigrate to the United States.
The USCIS has been receiving feedback from the public expressing concerns regarding extended processing times for Form I-130. USCIS is working on the delays as part of their goal of preserving family unity. In the last few months the processing time has went from October 2012 to February 2013; that puts the processing time to around 9 months. We have found in practice that current I-130 processing is taking between 6 months to 11 months. USCIS’s goal is to return to an average processing time of five months by May 2014.
Last month, in an effort to expedite the adjudication of these cases, USCIS began transferring stand-alone Forms I-130 filed by U.S. citizens for their immediate relatives from USCIS’s National Benefits Center to its Nebraska, Texas, and California Service Centers. This shift improves USCIS’s ability to adjudicate the cases in a timely manner.”
If your case was transferred you will receive a Notice of Transfer which will include the date of transfer and where your case will now be processed. The original receipt number will not change and this action will not cause any further delay in processing your case. For further information and details please review the email notice listed below.
Source of Information:
USCIS Message: Update on the processing times of Form I-130s filed by U.S. citizens for their eligible immediate relatives