USCIS Announces Filing Changes for 140/485 starting Jul 30

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, effective July 30, 2007, Form I-140 immigrant worker petitions and employment-based Form I-485 applications for adjustment of status must be filed directly at the service center that will process the filings. This change includes Form I-907 requests for premium processing of the immigrant petition and applications for ancillary benefits related to the applications for adjustment of status (Form I-131 Applications for Travel Documents and Form I-765 Applications for Employment Authorization). The USCIS also announced new filing locations for Form I-129F Applications for Alien Fiancé(e)s. The announcement does not provide specific guidance on appropriate filing locations, but USCIS is expected to issue more detailed instructions, including a filing chart, prior to July 30.

The change in filing procedures follows similar changes applied to Forms I-129 and I-539 earlier this year. Please find below a brief summary of the filing locations for the affected forms:

· Form I-140 (and related Form I-907): Nebraska Service Center or Texas Service Center
· Employment-Based Form I-485 (and related Form I-131 and Form I-765): Nebraska Service Center or Texas Service Center
· Form I-129F: Vermont Service Center or California Service Center