State Department provides guidance to U.S. citizens locally filing Form I-130 petitions for certain immediate relatives

The U.S. State Department has provided guidance to U.S. citizens who are eligible to locally file Form I-130 petitions for Afghan, Ethiopian and Ukrainian immediate relatives.

Key Points:

• U.S. citizens who are physically present overseas with their Afghan, Ethiopian or Ukrainian immediate family members and have not filed an immigrant visa petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can request to file a Form I-130 petition locally at the closest U.S. embassy or consulate that is currently processing immigrant visas.
• Such U.S. citizens can request to locally file the I-130 petition on behalf of their spouse, unmarried children under the age of 21, and parents who fled Afghanistan after Aug. 2, 2021, Ethiopia after Nov. 1, 2020, or Ukraine after Feb. 1, 2022.
• Those wishing to locally file a Form I-130 petition should email the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate’s Immigrant Visa Unit. Immigrant Visa Unit email addresses are available on individual embassy or consulate websites. A list of U.S. embassy and consulate websites is available here.

Additional Information: Individuals who have already filed a Form I-130 petition with USCIS for their immediate family members and have yet to receive approval can contact USCIS here regarding expedited processing. More information regarding the immigration visa process is available here.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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