USCIS Vermont Service Center temporarily closed

BAL has confirmed that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has temporarily closed certain operations at its Vermont Service Center (VSC) due to a possible COVID-19 exposure.

Key points:

• The closure is resulting in delays in delivering mail to the Vermont Service Center.
• USCIS has not yet made an official announcement or released any information, but reports indicate that the closure is expected to last through April 15.
• USCIS Service Centers are responsible for adjudicating immigration petitions and are not open to the public.

BAL Analysis: Unlike USCIS field offices and Application Support Centers, USCIS Service Centers do not provide in-person services and many officers responsible for adjudicating petitions at the Service Centers already telework. Therefore, a temporary closure of VSC operations will not necessarily affect processing or adjudication of cases that have already been filed. BAL is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as soon as guidance is available.

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

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