USCIS Appears to Transfer Nearly Half a Million I-130 Petitions for Immediate Relatives to Local Field Offices

Recent data appears to show that the USCIS has transferred to local field offices responsibility for adjudicating standalone Forms I-130, Petitions for Alien Relatives, filed by U.S. citizens on behalf of their immediate relatives (spouses, parents, and minor children). At the same time, it is unclear whether this transfer will increase processing times for such cases.

Key Terms

A Form I-130 is filed by a U.S. citizen with USCIS to establish they have a genuine, qualifying family relationship with a foreign relative. It is the first phase in the process to apply for lawful permanent resident status, i.e., a green card.

In the second phase, the relative files a Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status, with USCIS, or files an immigrant visa application with a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

A “standalone” Form I-130 means one filed without a Form I-485, usually because the relative is abroad.

USCIS Performance Statistics for FY2026

Between March and June 2026, USCIS appears to have transferred responsibility for over 400,000 immediate-relative Forms I-130 from its regional service centers to local field offices.

USCIS’s quarterly I-130 performance report for fiscal year (FY) Q2 showed that that nearly half a million I-130s were pending for immediate relatives at regional service centers. But by Q3, nearly over 400,000 of those cases were gone. Over the same period, the number of such cases at local field offices increased by over 400,000.

USCIS Offices:	# of Pending Immediate Relative I-130s (Mar. 30, 2026) per FY2026 Q2 I-130 performance report:	# of Pending Immediate Relative I-130s (June 30, 2026) per FY2026 Q3 I-130 performance report:
Regional Service Centers	480,881	62,418
National Benefits Center	12,624	62,418
Local Field Offices	255,509	711,526
Total	761,638	786,723

Processing Times

In March 2026, USCIS reported that regional center processing times for immediate-relative I-130s averaged 17 months.

Now, in Oct. 2026, USCIS reports that field office processing times for such cases is 83.5 months:

But that figure may be misleading. For one thing, since 2022, USCIS’ Frequently Asked Questions About Processing Times webpage has stated:

I filed a standalone Form I-130 that was relocated to a field office for interview. Which processing time should I look at?

We do not currently post processing times for a standalone Form I-130 at a field office. As noted above, we are working to develop processing times for all forms, form categories, and offices. If your Form I-130 was relocated from a Service Center to a field office for an interview, this may impact your processing time.

In other words, the posted processing time for I-130s at field offices appears to include immediate-relative and family-preference I-130s, as well as standalone I-130s and I-130 filed with Forms I-485. Actual processing categories for those subcategories may differ.

Another clue the 83.5-month figure may be misleading is that USCIS’ Historic Processing Times shows that through FY2026 processing times for immediate relative I-130s have not increased in comparison with the prior year:

Silence from USCIS

In short, USCIS appears to have transferred responsibility for standalone immediate-relative Form I-130 processing to its field offices. USCIS does not appear to have made any announcement about the transfer of responsibility for these Forms I-130. That is inconsistent with a now-archived USCIS webpage titled “Workload Transfer Updates” that explained:

If we transfer your case, we will send you a transfer notice. Your receipt number will not change, and the transfer will not delay the processing of your case.

These days, USCIS does not consistently advise petitioners that their cases have been transferred away from the office noted in their receipt notice. This can be frustrating to attorneys and clients. One tip is that calling the USCIS Customer Service Center may help discover whether a transfer has taken place. See AILA’s practice pointer, Understanding USCIS Updates to Processing Times Information (May 1, 2026).

It is unclear whether the transfer has been accompanied by increased processing times for standalone immediate-relative I-130s because USCIS does not publish this statistic for field offices. USCIS should publish this statistic because it impacts hundreds of thousands of families. While such cases are awaiting processing, citizens living in the United States are separated from their spouses, parents, and minor children waiting abroad.

Some lawyers are reporting that local field offices have scheduled interviews for I-130 petitioners (and beneficiaries, if in the United States). I have no insight about USCIS rules for when such interviews are required or are waived.

Maybe there’s an intrepid immigration reporter interested in trying to get to the bottom of this topic. I’ve also reported this to the AILA USCIS Operations Committee to see if they can find out more, advocate for greater transparency, and encourage the Trump administration to set a goal to process these cases within six months, similar to the Biden administration’s unmet goal. See USCIS Announces New Cycle Time Goals (Mar. 29, 2022).