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Ice on Immigration: Petitioning Alien Relatives

By L. Patricia Ice, Featured Columnist

Question: I am a United States citizen.  I filed an i-130 Petition for Alien relative at a U.S. citizen and Immigration Services (USIS) Chicago lockbox on behalf of my foreign spouse.  I recently received a Notice of Action from USCIS stating that my petition had been transferred from one location to another.  Is this a good or bad sign?  Should I call USCIS about it?

Answer: It is not necessary to call USCIS at this time about the transfer of your case. The fact that the Petition has been transferred is neither good nor bad.  During the course of processing petitions and applications, the USCIS sometimes transfers files from one location to another.  This is not unusual.  There are USCIS offices and facilities in various cities and towns across the United States.  Each office or facility may perform a different aspect of case processing.  It is important, however, for you to keep the USCIS informed of any address changes, so that you will always receive notices regarding your Petition.  You may change your address online at www.uscis.gov or you may call the USCIS at 1-800-375-5283.