USCIS office in Moscow to close

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it will close its field office in Moscow next month due to a significant decrease in demand.

Key points:

• The office will stop accepting applications Feb. 28, 2019.
• The office will permanently close on March 29, 2019.
• The USCIS office in Athens, Greece will assume jurisdiction over immigration services in the Russian Federation, as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
• Beginning March 1, 2019, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow will accept applications for limited services previously provided by the USCIS office in Moscow. See the list of services here.

BAL Analysis: Employers with personnel traveling between Russia and the U.S. and requiring visa and other immigration services previously obtained through the USCIS office in Moscow should plan to use the USCIS office in Athens after Feb. 28. Individuals submitting certain petitions, including U.S. lawful permanent residents submitting applications for travel documents, family-sponsored immigrant petitions or naturalization applications should follow the filing instructions on the USCIS website. Additional information is available on the websites of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the USCIS office in Athens.

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

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