NBC Processing Some Family-Based Cases
Posted Oct 24, 2003

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) reported in October 2003, that family-based petitions and applications that are sent to certain U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS or CIS) / Legacy INS District Offices, as well as those districts' sub-offices and satellite offices, are being forwarded to the National Benefits Center (NBC). The NBC, which was previously called the Missouri Service Center, will perform the initial case processing, like accepting the filing fees and issuing receipt notices, and, where eligible, will issue Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) and Advance Paroles (AP) in family-based (FB) cases. The selected District Offices that are sending all their family-based petitions and applications to NBC are: Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Harlingen, Honolulu, Houston, Miami, New York, Phoenix, and St. Paul.
 
At this time, filings should still be submitted to the local CIS offices rather than directly to the NBC. This procedure is expected to change once a notice is issued in the Federal Register to require direct filing with the NBC. We addressed this expected change in family-based application processing in our MurthyBulletin articles from January 31 and May 16, 2003, entitled, respectively, Citizenship and Family Cases: Centralized Processing Likely and MSC Citizenship and FB Green Card Processing Draws Nearer, both available on MurthyDotCom.

As a result of this change, some local offices that would previously accept in-person filings of the family-based petitions and applications are no longer doing so. Before filing any case with the CIS, readers should consult with an immigration attorney or the CIS Field Office information site. Presumably, this centralization is to streamline the process and procedures for FB cases, consolidate data into a national database, and speed the processing of FB cases and the issuance of EADs and APs to eligible individuals.