Effective August 15, 2011, petitioners residing outside the United States will no longer be able to routinely file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with U.S. embassies and consulates. As of the above date, petitioners residing overseas in countries where United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) does not have a public counter presence (most posts will not) will be required to file their Form I-130 by mail with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox.

Thereafter, U.S. embassies and consulates will only be able to accept and process Forms I-130 in exceptional circumstances. However, petitions properly filed at an embassy or consulate prior to August 15, 2011, will not be affected by this change.

This change eliminates a significant advantage that petitioners residing outside the United States previously had over petitioners residing in the United States. By filing their Form I-130 with a consulate abroad, the adjudication of Form I-130 was significantly faster, since the consulate would approve the petition directly rather than forwarding it to USCIS.

Under the new procedures that take effect on August 15, 2011, petitioners residing outside the United States will be subject the same extended delays that apply to other Form I-130 petitions filed with USCIS.