On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) issued a formal recommendation to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) on revising Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative and improving how it processes these forms after approving them.
The Issue
If U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents (LPRs) want to sponsor an eligible family member for a Green Card, they must start by filing Form I-130. Once USCIS approves the form, the family member must then either “adjust” their immigration status to LPR status (referred to as adjustment of status) or apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad (known as consular processing). Based on the responses provided on the form, USCIS will either retain the approved Form I-130 for adjustment of status or send it to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) for consular processing.
USCIS changed its methodology for processing approved Form I-130 petitions in 2022, impacting the way in which it reviewed the responses to the somewhat confusing questions that determine where the agency sends the approved form. This resulted in tens of thousands of cases being misrouted. The CIS Ombudsman worked with both the Department of State and USCIS on this issue. While USCIS has updated its policy guidance to allow officer discretion in determining where to route approved Forms I-130 when the petitioner’s responses are unclear, this action did not fix key issues, such as the need for a clearer version of the form and instructions, more flexibility in ensuring a correct response, and more interagency coordination in the handling of petition routing. Nor does it fix the many petitions still awaiting agency action.
Our Recommendation
To improve the customer experience and streamline processing, we recommend that USCIS:
- Revise Form I-130 and its instructions.
- Use conditional logic in the online Form I-130 to obtain more accurate responses.
- Implement a self-service tool in petitioners’ online accounts to streamline transfer requests and automate the movement of approved petitions.
- Provide the NVC with a mechanism to request and obtain approved petitions from USCIS.
- Provide relief for beneficiaries impacted by the previous routing procedures.
The formal recommendation also provides an overview of the transfer process for approved Forms I 130, outlines key concerns, and explains how our recommendations address those concerns.
Why This Matters
As part of our mission, we recommend changes in USCIS’ administrative practices to mitigate problems and enhance processes. Since 2021, our office has submitted two informal proposals to USCIS about this issue, which led the agency to implement procedural changes. While we appreciate the steps USCIS has taken to tackle the problem so far, there is more the agency can do to address the remaining issues. These recommendations, if implemented by USCIS, will help petitioners complete the form more accurately while helping the agency reduce misdirected petitions, increase efficiency, and avoid unintentional burdens on the public.
After we make a formal recommendation, USCIS is required by statute to respond within three months. We look forward to receiving the agency’s response.
More Information
For more information on how USCIS processes approved petitions, go to USCIS’ Form I-130 page.
Go to our Recommendations page to see our past recommendations and USCIS’ responses. You can also visit our Informal Proposals Shared with USCIS page to see a select list of informal proposals we have provided to the agency.