End Of Consular I-130 Filing !!!!

[peace]

There is a notice on the state dept website announcing the end
of I-130 filings at all US embassies/consulates around the world.
Such filings can only be made with the USCIS office.

travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/immigrants_3121.html

Does it mean US embassies/consulates with USCIS field offices (eg New Delhi) will continue to accept
I-130s?

Any views?

[howiej1]

Re

Regarding the I-130 filings, I believe this State Department change in policy began around the time my wife was about to file my I-130. We were initially going to file it at the US Embassy in The Bahamas for quicker processing time. Upon contacting them, they said that US Embassies would no longer be accepting I-130's regardless of the US citizen residing in that country with the foreign spouse. Thus, my wife had to send the I-130 to the Texas Service Center and it took a few months to be processed and approved.

Interestingly however, about four months prior (February 2006) to my I-130 attempt, a friend of mine also from Bahamas and married to a US citizen spouse had his I-130 processed and approved along with his Consular Processing (CP) packet at the US Embassy. The whole process took only 6 weeks for him because his I-130 was approved right there in front of him and his wife and he handed in all the other forms for CP at the same time!!!

But he was told that he was lucky because his I-130 would be the last one accepted at the US Embassy in The Bahamas. I cannot conclusively speak for India but I believe that this practice has been discontinued the world over at US Embassies and this is unfortunate. As far as the reason for the change I dont know but I can say that it does make the CP option much longer than it would be if the I-130 could be processed at the foreign embassy.