Philadelphia Immigration Lawyer Blog

On May 23, 2008, the USCIS announced that it will soon require that Form I-751 (the Petition that is filed by individuals who were granted conditional residential status through marriage to a U.S. citizen in order to remove the conditions on that permanent residence status) be directly filed with either the California or Vermont Service Centers, depending on the residence of the applicant.

All Forms I-751 are currently acted on at either of these two Service Centers anyway. However, depending on the applicant’s residence, applicants can still send them to the Nebraska and Texas Service Centers—but not for long.

For now, the USCIS is “requesting” that all Form I-751 petitioners file their petition with the California or Vermont Service Centers as follows:

If you live in Alaska, American Samoa, 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, and Wyoming, you should file your I-751 with the California Service Center at P.O. Box10751, Laguna Niguel, California 92607-0751.

If you live in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., 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, and West Virginia, you should file your I-751 at the Vermont Service Center at 75 Lower Welden St., St. Albans, Vermont 05479-0001.

Once the formal change in the I-751 instructions has been made, the USCIS will no longer “request” that I-751 applicants file only with either the CSC or the VSC, but will require it. Any applicant who for now can still file with the Nebraska or Texas Service Centers, is advised to just go ahead and comply with the soon-to-be-required change of filing locations.