How do I file?

There are two basic ways to legally assist your relatives to immigrate into the United States:

1. If your relatives live in another country, you will file an I-130 petition with USCIS. Please follow the instructions for relatives included with the I-130 petition. On page 3 of the instructions, you will find the addresses where your petition should be filed. Please check our website for any updates on instructions or fees. Make sure your petition is complete, signed, and submitted with correct fees. You will need to submit evidence of your U.S. citizenship, and evidence proving your relationship to each person for whom you are filing a petition.

2. If your relatives are already in the United States and entered legally, then they may be able to file an I-485 application to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident at the same time as you file the I-130 relative petition. Petitions filed at the same time with permanent residence applications (I-485) must be filed at a location that is different from where you would file an I-130 petition by itself. Please read the instructions for the two addresses where concurrent filings can be mailed.

What happens after I file?

We will mail you a receipt confirming that we have received your petition. If your petition is incomplete, we may have to reject it, or ask you for more evidence or information, which will delay processing. Please send all required documents the first time to avoid delay.

We will notify you when we make a decision. Normally, when we approve the petition, we send it to the U.S. Department of State¡¯s National Visa Center (NVC). When your relative¡¯s place in line permits issuance of a visa number, the NVC will notify you and your relative, inviting him or her and qualifying dependents to apply for immigrant visas. You can find more information about immigrant visa processing from the State Department¡¯s website at www.state.gov.

How long will it take USCIS to process my petition?

Since processing time depends on a number of factors, it is difficult to provide a timeframe. We post current processing times on our website at www.uscis.gov, which is the best way to monitor progress of your petition.

What if I filed a petition for a relative when I was a permanent resident, but I am now a U.S. citizen?

If you become a U.S. citizen while your relative is waiting for a visa, you can upgrade your relative¡¯s visa classification and advance the processing of that petition by notifying the appropriate agency of your naturalization. When you are a U.S. citizen, your husband or wife and any unmarried children under age 21 will have visas immediately available to them.

• If you become a U.S. citizen after your Form I-130 petition is already approved and it has been forwarded to the State Department¡¯s National Visa Center (NVC), you should notify the NVC that you have become a U.S. citizen. Requests to upgrade petitions due to the naturalization of the petitioner should be sent to:National Visa Center32 Rochester AvenuePortsmouth, NH 03801-2909

Please include a letter with information regarding your relative, a copy of your Naturalization Certificate, and a copy of the petition approval notice. Once the NVC is notified that the petitioner has been naturalized, the NVC will immediately send the visa information on your relative to the designated U.S. Embassy or consulate abroad. To confirm that your approved petition has been forwarded to the NVC, you can contact the NVC¡¯s automated recorded message system at 1-603-334-0700 and, with a touchtone telephone, enter your USCIS receipt number.

• If you become a U.S. citizen and your relative¡¯s petition has not yet been approved by USCIS, you will need to notify the Service Center where you filed your relative¡¯s visa petition that you are now a U.S. citizen. You should send the notification to the Service Center address located on the receipt notice you

received when you filed your Form I-130 petition. Please include a letter with information regarding your relative, a copy of your Naturalization Certificate, and a copy of the petition receipt notice. Call Customer Service at 1-800-375-5283 for assistance or if you are unsure about the status or location of your petition.

• If your relative is your spouse and has children who are your natural children, stepchildren, or adopted children, and you did not file separate petitions for them, you must file a separate petition for each of them with evidence of your U.S. citizenship. Please include a copy of the receipt notice for the original petition.