Update: In August 2019 USCIS announced it will NOT close 7 of their international field offices after all. But most will close by August 2020, or are already closed. Those that will continue operations are: Beijing and Guangzhou, China; Nairobi, Kenya; and New Delhi, India; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Mexico City, Mexico; and San Salvador, El Salvador, Read what this means below. You can check the USCIS website for the current status of foreign offices.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it will close all its international field offices in the next year and has now closed the first two, in Manila and Ciudad Juarez. See below for details of those closings. NOTE: U.S. embassies and consulates, operated by the State Department, are NOT closing. There will still be interviews for temporary visas (students, visitors and more) and for green cards. Read the following to understand more.
This post explains the impact on U.S. citizens residing abroad who want to petition their spouse, unmarried child under 21, or parent, all called immediate relatives. If the foreign national has a U.S. citizen relative living abroad, getting a green card is a 2-step process called “consular processing:” There are also other impacts of the closings but this is the one most used by our clients. Another note – the USCIS closings don’t affect the fiance visa process at all.
- Step 1: File the I-130 petition (application) with USCIS in the U.S. by mail. USCIS determines whether the claimed relationship between the parties is genuine and valid, and whether the petitioner qualifies. In marriage cases, the petitioner must submit detailed evidence to show the marriage is genuine. USCIS always suspects it’s fraudulent, just to get a green card. There’s no in-person interview at this stage.
- Step 2: If USCIS approves the petition they send the file to the National Visa Center (NVC) in New Hampshire who collects fees and reviews documents needed by the foreign consulate. Once the file is ready, the NVC schedules an interview at the consulate and sends the file to that consulate.
This was never an overnight process. Not surprisingly it’s taking longer these days – a year or so. But there was a way to greatly speed this up through “direct consular filing” (DCF) if the U.S. citizen petitioner lived in a country with a USCIS office in that country, In this case, instead of mailing the application to USCIS in the U.S., the petitioner visits the USCIS office in that country to file it in person. Normally processing takes 1-3 months. After that USCIS sends the file to the Department of State side of the embassy who would then collect and review documents, and schedule and conduct the interview – another 1-3 months typically. It used to be common to go through the entire process within 2 months or so. The NVC was not even involved.
This direct option is now disappearing because of the USCIS foreign office closures. Once the foreign office stops accepting I-130s, all petitions need to be mailed to the U.S. offices and go through the normal, slow process. Here’s more information on the first two to close:
Manila, Philippines – USCIS will permanently close its field office in Manila, Philippines, on July 5, 2019. The last day the office will accept applications/petitions and be open to the public is May 31, 2019. The office began redirecting Forms I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to the USCIS Lockbox on May 14, 2019.The U.S. Embassy in Manila will assume responsibility for certain limited services previously provided by USCIS to individuals residing in the Philippines: Go to the website for full instructions. .
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: USCIS will permanently close its field office in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. The last day the office will accept applications/petitions and be open to the public is May 30, 2019. The U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez will assume responsibility for certain limited services previously provided by USCIS to individuals residing in the Mexican states of Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, and Sonora (see table below). Beginning on May 31, 2019, individuals who were previously assisted by the USCIS Ciudad Juárez Field Office must follow these filing instructions:
Bottom line: If you’re residing in a country that still has an open USCIS office, file your I-130 ASAP. We can help even though you’re abroad and we’re in the U.S.
