Philadelphia Immigration Lawyer Blog

On March 21, 2008, the USCIS issued a reminder that all stand-alone I-130 petitioners must file their stand-alone I-130 petitions with the Chicago Lockbox and NOT at a USCIS Service Center. Here’s my earlier post about the new requirement back on February 21, 2008 and the USCIS has now issued its own reminder.

The I-130 is the petition that is filed by either a U.S. citizen or a permanent residents who are eligible to file for certain immediate relatives. Often, the I-130 is filed together with the I-485 application to adjust status (and this USCIS reminder is not applicable to the I-130 when it is being filed together with other petitions like the I-485). The new rule is only relevant to stand-alone I-130 petitions.

The USCIS is reminding petitioners that if they are filing a stand-alone petition, they must file with the Chicago Lockbox and if they don’t, as of April 30, 2008, an improperly filed I-130 is going to be rejected.

After the I-130 is filed with the Chicago Lockbox, the USCIS will then route the I-130 to either the Vermont Service Center or the California Service Center for receipting and adjudication (based on the petitioner's place of residence in the U.S).

Two separate post office box addresses have been established that correspond to the appropriate USCIS service center (either Vermont or California):

Petitioners who reside in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, or Wyoming must file their stand-alone Form I-130s with the Lockbox using the following address:

USCIS
P.O. Box 804625
Chicago, IL 60680-1029

Petitioners who reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, or District of Columbia must file their stand-alone Form I-130s with the Lockbox using the following address:

USCIS
P.O. Box 804616
Chicago, IL 60680-1029