USCIS Revises Permanent Residence Application, Changes Filing Locations

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on February 25, 2010, that it has posted a revised Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485) and changed the filing locations.

Beginning February 25, 2010, most applicants must submit the I-485 to a USCIS Lockbox facility, depending on the eligibility category under which they are filing, as provided in the form instructions. USCIS Service Centers will forward all I-485 applications to the appropriate Lockbox facility until March 29, 2010. USCIS will accept previous versions of the I-485 until March 29, 2010. After that date, USCIS will only accept the I-485 dated “12/03/09.” After the transition period, the Service Centers will return any incorrectly filed I-485 with instructions to send the application to the correct location.
USCIS said that applicants should not concurrently file an I-485 with an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140) at a USCIS Lockbox facility. Applicants should refer to the I-140 filing instructions for information on how to file forms concurrently.

When filing the I-765 at one of the USCIS Lockbox facilities, the applicant may elect to receive an e-mail and/or text message notifying him or her that the application has been accepted. The applicant must complete an E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (Form G-1145), and attach it to the first page of the application.