Bi-Specialization Starts April 1, 2006
Posted Mar 27, 2006
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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is changing the allocation of case adjudication duties between the four USCIS Service Centers. The new system is referred to as Bi-Specialization. Essentially, the USCIS Service Centers will be paired. The Vermont Service Center (VSC) is paired with the California Service Center (CSC), and the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) is paired with the Texas Service Center (TSC). This means that the VSC/CSC pair will adjudicate certain types of cases; primarily nonimmigrant petitions. The NSC/TSC will adjudicate other types of cases; primarily immigrant visa petitions, regardless of where the sponsor and/or beneficiary reside/s. These changes go into place on April 1, 2006. This system is starting with I-129 petition filings for employment-based nonimmigrant, as well as I-140 filings for immigrant workers. The system impacts where cases have to be filed.
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Watch for a more detailed article this week (Friday, March 31, 2006) on MurthyDotCom and in the MurthyBulletin. We note that, for the time being, the USCIS will not reject cases that are filed under the earlier system. Cases will be accepted when filed with any of the USCIS Service Centers and forwarded to the appropriate location, so transfer notices should be expected on their case. This transfer process allows for the changeover, and will help those filing cases shortly before April 1, 2006, that could reach after that date.