United States | Agency issues recommendations for USCIS family-based petition procedures

The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) issued formal recommendations to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for improving family-based petition routing procedures and preventing post-approval delays.

Key Points:

• The CIS Ombudsman serves as a liaison between the public and USCIS.
• USCIS changed its methodology for processing approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative petitions in 2022, impacting response review processes to the somewhat confusing questions that determine where the agency sends the approved form and resulting in tens of thousands of cases being misrouted.
• On Dec. 18, 2024, the CIS Ombudsman offered the following formal recommendations to USCIS to improve the customer experience and streamline processing:
  • Revise Form I-130 and its instructions
  • Use conditional logic in the online Form I-130 to obtain more accurate responses
  • Implement a self-service tool in petitioners’ online accounts
  • Provide the State Department’s National Visa Center with a mechanism to request and obtain approved petitions from USCIS
  • Provide relief for beneficiaries impacted by the previous routing procedures
•  The formal recommendation also provides an overview of the transfer process for approved I-130 forms, outlines key concerns and explains how the recommendations address those concerns.
• After a formal recommendation is made, USCIS is required by statute to respond within three months.

Additional Information: Since 2021, the CIS Ombudsman has submitted two informal proposals to USCIS about this issue which led the agency to implement procedural changes. However, the department noted that more could be done by the agency to address the remaining issues. If implemented, the recommendations will help petitioners complete the form more accurately while helping the agency reduce misdirected petitions, increase efficiency and avoid unintentional burdens on the public. Past recommendations made to USCIS by the department can be found here.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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