New Procedures Implemented by USCIS and Department of State

U.S. citizens, including members of the armed forces, who live abroad, may resume filing Form I-130,
Petition for Alien Relative, with an American embassy or consulate in countries where there is no U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) international office.

USCIS international offices will continue accepting I-130 petitions from U.S. citizens who live in the
country where the USCIS office is located, without interruption. The complete list of international offices
and the countries they service is on the USCIS web site: http://www.uscis.gov.

In addition consular officers and USCIS officers overseas will also accept petitions from individuals who
do not live abroad in cases:

���� Involving true emergency situations, such as life and death or health and safety, or
���� Where allowing overseas filing would be in the national interest, such as facilitating the processing of petitions filed by U.S. military stationed overseas who are pending imminent transfer on orders.

USCIS and the Department of State worked together to implement procedures to ensure that the
requirements of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act are met.
The Department of State will generally consider a U.S. citizen who has been living outside the United
States for at least six months as “residing overseas” for purposes of accepting Form I-130.
U.S. citizens traveling outside the United States temporarily, who actually live in the United States, must
file their I-130 petitions with the appropriate service center in the United States, according to the
instructions on the I-130 form, http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-130.pdf.