Form I-130, Petition For Alien Relative: Fill & Download for Free

USCIS used to assign the service center for I-130 petitions based on state of the petitioner, but it does not do that anymore.If you are a US citizen filing an I-130 for a foreign spouse living abroad, submit your application to either the Chicago or Phoenix USCIS lockbox based on the state that you reside. See the USCIS I-130, Petition for Alien Relative webpage for details. More specifically, here is the USCIS website for Direct Filing Addresses for Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative.After the USCIS lockbox gets the application and deems everything is in order, they send it to one of several USCIS service centers for review and adjudication. These USCIS service centers include:California Service CenterNebraska Service CenterPotomac Service CenterTexas Service CenterVermont Service CenterThe assignment to one of these is not based anymore on the state that the petitioner lives. It used to be that way.Now, USCIS assigns cases to service centers based on the balancing work load of the service centers. For example, I live in Vermont, but my I-130 petition for my wife was assigned to the Potomac service center. I have seen petitioners that live on the east cost assigned to California or Texas and petitioners that live on the west cost assigned to Vermont or Potomac. Again, now it is based on balancing service center workload.The only way to know what service center that you are assigned is to read it on your I-797C, Notice of Action, when you get it after submitting the I-130 petition package. Look in the bottom left hand corner.I write free information and articles on the US fiancé and spouse visa processes along with adjusting to new life in the USA on my website and blog. See my website and blog in my biopage.

Before marriage, your future spouse is eligible for a K Fiancee visa. After marriage, your spouse is eligible for a green card.K Visa - You can find info about the K visa on the USCIS website. Keep in mind that you have 90 days to get married.I-130 - If you spouse came to the US with another visa, you will have to submit an I-130. Once a US citizen and an immigrant are married, the US citizen is eligible to petition for their immigrant spouse to get a green card. To do this, the US citizen submits an I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative. This form tells the US immigration services that a US citizen wants to bring their immigrant spouse to the US. You should mail this form to your corresponding UCSIS processing center, which you can find here.Getting the Green Card - Once the I-130 is approved or you have both arrived on a K Visa and married, you and your spouse should submit an I-864 - Affidavit of Support. According to the USCIS, this document shows that the petitioner accepts the financial responsibility of an immigrant who is coming to the US. Basically, the US citizen who signs this form becomes the sponsor.After all this, you’ll just have to wait about six months for the application to process!Work Authorization - When your spouse applies for their green card (sends in the I-864 and I-485), he or she is eligible to apply for work authorization. To do this, you should submit the I-765 form with the rest of your green card forms. This usually takes about 90 days takes to process.Best of luck!

USCIS has a website where you can Check Case Processing Times.Firstly, select the form I-130, Petition for alien relative.Secondly, select the service center assigned from your NOA1.Then, look at the Estimated Time Range for the form type.Currently, based on all service centers using this USCIS website and real life people giving information on their timelines through my website and Facebook discussion group, I am seeing between 8 - 11 months for USCIS approval of form I-130.