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Updated on 06.06.2021

7 USCIS International Field Offices Remain Open

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is planning to close its offices abroad. Accordingly, applicants will have to prepare for changes in the future. Now, further details about the closure plans have become known, including that selected locations will remain.
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What is a USCIS International Field Office?

In addition to the USCIS Service Centers, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service maintains so-called USCIS Field Offices within the United States. These field offices are open to the public, but only by appointment.

USCIS International Field Offices are offices of the U.S. Immigration Service outside the United States. These USCIS field offices are located in U.S. embassy and consulate buildings around the world. In Germany, for example, the USCIS International Immigration Office was attached to the US Consulate General in Frankfurt am Main. There were a total of 23 USCIS international offices, of which only seven locations now remain.

The USCIS International Field Offices process, among other things, green card applications for alien family members of US citizens living outside the United States (I-130 form, Petition for Alien Relative) or receive Transportation Letter applications.

Closure of USCIS field offices

USCIS has started to close first field offices since 2018. The USCIS field office in Havana has already been closed since December 10, 2018. The USCIS field office in Moscow was closed on February 28, 2019. Most recently, USCIS withdrew its employees from Frankfurt am Main and London.

Contrary to initial reports that all USCIS field offices would be closed, seven international locations will remain open in the future after all:

  1. Beijing (China)
  2. Guangzhou (China)
  3. Nairobi (Kenya)
  4. New Delhi (India)
  5. Guatemala City (Guatemala)
  6. Mexico City (Mexico)
  7. San Salvador (El Salvador)

The tasks involved were assumed by USCIS offices within the United States and by US embassies and US consulates abroad (i.e., through the U.S. Department of State) after the field office closures.

Changes for applicants

In the field offices that are still open, there is already a very limited possibility to hand in the green card since July 1, 2019.

As of February 1, 2020, the majority of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) international field offices no longer accept I-130 green card applications for close relatives of U.S. citizens or green card holders:in. Alternatively, an I-130 "Petition for Alien Relative" for immediate family members (fiancés, spouses, etc.) of U.S. citizens living abroad must be filed online or at the appropriate USCIS lockbox in the United States.

Resources have been gradually redeployed. Applications for voluntary relinquishment of immigration status or applications for green card return via Form I-407 (Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status) must now be received by mail, and affected individuals can expect longer processing times of up to 60 days. The mailing address is as follows:

USCIS Eastern Forms Center
Attn: I-407 unit
124 Leroy Road
PO Box 567
Williston, VT 05495

Please note: Emergencies related to I-407 application submissions (e.g., urgent travel plans) will continue to be handled on-site during an in-person appointment.

The restrictions resulting from the closures are being felt particularly by US citizens and US military personnel in adoption proceedings or naturalization of family members. But refugees who are already in the United States and who want to bring their family members to the US must also prepare for significantly longer processing times for their cases.

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Updated on 06.06.2021