Announcement of Local Filing of Form I-130 Petitions as Option for U.S. Citizens to begin process of Sponsoring Immediate Relatives from Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Ukraine who are Fleeing Conflict

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The US Department of State has announced that a U.S. citizen who is physically present overseas with their Afghan, Ethiopian or Ukrainian immediate family members and have not yet filed an immigrant visa petition with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), may request to locally file a Form I-130 petition at the nearest US embassy or consulate that processes immigrant visas. Such citizens must be physically present in the country where they wish to file petitions. They can request to locally file on behalf of their spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21, and parents who fled Afghanistan after August 2, 2021; Ethiopia after November 1, 2020; or Ukraine after February 1, 2022.  
 
To request local filing of an I-130, U.S. citizen petitioners can email the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate’s Immigrant Visa Unit. You can find those email addresses at each individual embassy or consulate website.  If a U.S. citizen petitioner has already filed a Form I-130 with USCIS for their immediate relative and it has not been approved yet, these petitioners may submit expedite requests with USCIS. 

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