WASHINGTON - Effective Aug. 15, 2011, petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices must file their Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lockbox facility in Chicago. This change makes the filing process more efficient and gives USCIS greater flexibility in managing its workload. Petitioners residing in a country with a USCIS office may send their petitions to the USCIS Chicago lockbox, or file at the USCIS office in that country. Overseas petitioners filing with the lockbox should expect processing times similar to petitions filed domestically, which currently stand at five months.

Based on a Policy Memorandum published in July 2011, these petitioners will also be granted more time to respond to Requests for Evidence (RFE). Applicants and petitioners residing outside the United States are now given up to 12 weeks to respond to RFEs, plus an additional 14 days to account for overseas mail.