I-130/I-485 Filing Location

[Familyguy]

Happy holiday! Folks,

Love the site and thanks for all the educations.

I am a foreign spouse of a USC filing for AOS and about to send out my forms (I-130/485/765/131) in San Francisco, CA, but now confused for the appropriate USCIS location I need to send to. Indeed it sounds like a stupid question but I can't search out prior threads as elaborate reference yet.

From i-485 instruction, it says:

"The Direct Mail address for the aliens mentioned above, applying for adjustment of status is:

U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
P.O. Box 805887
Chicago, IL 60680-4120"

However, i-130 instruction says:

"If you live in Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii or Nevada, mail this petition to:

USCIS California Service Center
P.O. Box 10130Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-0130

NOTE: If the Form I-130 petition is being filed concurrently with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, submit both forms at the local USCIS office having jurisdiction over the place where the Form I-485 applicant resides".


It seems to us " submit both forms at the local USCIS office having jurisdiction...." implies that even though I should file to my CA USCIS (SF,CA), because SF USCIS can only process employment based AOS, not for family based AOS, I should ignore the i-130 instruction and still have to submit all my forms to Chicago lock box.

Am I correct?

Thanks a bunch!

Familyguy

 

[catjupp]

send your package to the Chicago lockbox address-family petitions get sent there first and then are adjucated to local district offices-make sure also you note the 2 different addresses-1 is for USPS and 1 is for courier (like Fedex) depending on which on you choose.

 

[Familyguy]

Thanks a lot!

send your package to the Chicago lockbox address-family petitions get sent there first and then are adjucated to local district offices-make sure also you note the 2 different addresses-1 is for USPS and 1 is for courier (like Fedex) depending on which on you choose.

Hi! Catjupp

Thank you very much for the prompt reponse!

Yes I noticed there are two addresses for different couriers. I thought most folks here use USPS PO BOX one, not so many use the second one.

Any one has experiences to make a comparison on timeline, reliability...?

Best

Familyguy

 

[catjupp]

I filed by fed-ex-it was fast! I sent the docs in on Dec. 13th and they were received the 14th. Before you send your packet, make a copy of all the papers (you can do this at Fed ex too!) just in case. Once USCIS receives your packet you should receive a notice of action from them for all the papers you filed. This took about a week for me to get. About a week-2 weeks later you will get a notice asking you to go for fingerprints and photo appointment. From there you wait for work permit and interview notice. It takes about 75-90 days from your notice until you get work authorization. Good luck!

 

[Anahit]

Hi! Catjupp

Thank you very much for the prompt reponse!

Yes I noticed there are two addresses for different couriers. I thought most folks here use USPS PO BOX one, not so many use the second one.

Any one has experiences to make a comparison on timeline, reliability...?

Best

Familyguy

Just send by USPS priority mail. You'll get a tracking number with it. It usually takes 2-4 business days. I never had a problem with it.

 

[Familyguy]

Thanks Catjupp and Anahit

Just send by USPS priority mail. You'll get a tracking number with it. It usually takes 2-4 business days. I never had a problem with it.

Thanks for all the insights which mean a lot for me!

Will report my journey on my timeline.

Best luck for all other folks

Familyguy

 

[Fifi]

Hello,

I have been reading different forums from this sight that I think is a great source of valuable information. If there is anyone that can guide me, it will be deeply appreciated. I am a US citizen married to a foreign spouse. We would love to live together in the US but I am not so sure what forms I am suppose to file so he can come legally here. I sent an i-130 late April. Apparently they cashed my check, but have not received a notice yet. I notice through the forums that alot of people are also filing the form 485 with the i-130. I would like to know what is the difference in filing just the i-130 to California Service Center and filing the i-130 along with the 485 in Chicago lock box? Thank you for your time.

 

[Fifi]

Guidance on Spouse

Hello all,

I filed an I-130 in late April. My spouse was actually in the Visa Waiver Program for his country, so he has come to the US as a visitor times before. Last year, before we got married in Germany, we planned on getting married in the US and when he was on his way here, he was questioned through I think Homeland Security for his purpose in the US. Of course not knowing about visas and immigration laws, he said marriage. They contacted me about his purpose here and I replied marriage. So from Dallas they sent him back to Germany which was the worst day of my life. He did intend to go back within two weeks, but I guess the roundtrip ticket that he had on hand was not sufficient enough. On his I-130 I marked that he was REMOVED since I was not sure what to mark instead of denied entry. Will this affect our processing of our application? Is there anything that I should do or file? I have called USCIS and even gone to customer service in Sacramento, but it seems that if I do not have a 797, they cannot do anything for me. Any guidance is deeply appreciated.

 

[Anahit]

Hello all,
I notice through the forums that alot of people are also filing the form 485 with the i-130. I would like to know what is the difference in filing just the i-130 to California Service Center and filing the i-130 along with the 485 in Chicago lock box?

Concurrent filing is only for AOS (adjustment of status) when your spouse is in US. If he is outside, then you can file only I-130.

So from Dallas they sent him back to Germany which was the worst day of my life. He did intend to go back within two weeks, but I guess the roundtrip ticket that he had on hand was not sufficient enough.

Sorry about that.
Marriage itself is a proof of immigrating intent. That's why they didn't believe his intention of going back.

On his I-130 I marked that he was REMOVED..."
Of course he wasn't removed... he didn't even get here, he couldn't have been removed. Did you at least attach an explanation for that? You need to take care of that as soon as you get the notice of action.

 

[Fifi]

Thank you. I actually checked the copies I have made for the petition I sent and realized I did not submit the copies of the stamp he had on his passaport for his denied entry. I think that if they process our case, they would research the reason why he was denied entry by tracking the report that was made in their system somehow. But you are right, I should check with USCIS and include a statement along with documentation.