IMMIGRANT PETITIONS

Effective immediately, consular posts abroad will accept petitions for immediate relative immigrant classification from American citizens who are resident in their consular district, including members of the armed forces, as well as true emergency cases, such as life and death or health issues, and others determined to be in the national interest.

To demonstrate residency in a consular district, the American citizen petitioners must be able to show that they have permission to reside in the consular district and that they have been doing so continuously for at least six months before filing the petition.  Individuals who are in country on a temporary status, such as students or tourists, would not be considered to meet the residency requirement.

All lawful permanent residents and American Citizens resident in the United States or with a permanent address in the United States will need to file the I-130 petitions at the USCIS Service center having jurisdiction over their place of residence (as indicated on the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov/files/forms/i-130.pdf).

Examples of family emergencies include minor children who would be unexpectedly left without a caretaker.

Examples of national interest include facilitating the travel of United States military and other USG direct-hire employees assigned overseas who are pending transfer on orders and need to petition for immigrant classification of their spouses and minor children at a post overseas.