USCIS is experiencing delays in processing I-130 petitions filed by U.S. citizens for their qualifying immediate relatives (spouse, parent, or children). While normal processing time is less than six months, now there are cases that have been pending for over 9 months without a decision. USCIS has said that it is working to eliminate the backlog at the National Benefits Center by transferring these petitions to the Nebraska, Texas, and California Service Centers to balance the workload.
If you are a U.S. Citizen who filed a petition for an immediate relative and the petition is still pending, you should soon receive a “transfer notice” from USCIS indicating, in an effort to expedite processing of your case, the petition has been transferred to another Service Center. You should review the “transfer notice” carefully to determine which service center will process your case.
Note that this delay involves only “stand-alone” I-130 petitions; meaning those that have not been filed in conjunction with an Adjustment of Status application by the beneficiary.If you do not receive a decision or other notice of action from the service center within 60 days, please call Customer Service at 1-800-375-5283 or submit an inquiry using e-request at https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do. While your case is pending, you may check the status at https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/selectusertype.jsp under “After I File” or register for automatic case status updates.
If you move while your case is pending, you can call Customer Service or you can change your address online at: https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=coa so that USCIS can notify you of any further action on your case. It is important that you notify USCIS of any change of address as soon as possible after moving.