I-130 changed?

That's right.. I-130 petitions can no longer be filed directly with the US consulates and overseas CIS offices, effective immediately. That affects all types of cases that would use the I-130, including adoption cases. It was changed to fall in line with the Adam Walsh Act, which will prohibit individuals (US citizens and LPRs) with certain criminal backgrounds (child abuse, sexual abuse of a minor, etc) from immigrating anyone. The overseas offices do not have access to the internal background checks that the US-based offices do, so all pending I-130s are immediatly being transferred to the US offices. You will now have to file your I-130 with the Service Center having jurisidiction over your intended residence. The service centers are in Texas, California, Vermont, and Nebraska. Look at the CIS website to determine which is appropriate for you. The processing time will differ depending upon the office, but expect this move to increase (possibly significantly) the overall processing time. As you may know, you only need to use the I-130 if you do not qualify for the "orphan" processing (use of I-600), or if you have already resided overseas with, and have had legal custody of, the child for 2 years.

Thank you so much for your quick reply! Umm.....It seems really long process to go here......I just check CIS website too. I adopted from Japan last year too as he was orphan, we filed I-600A before we met baby of course, we got 171, and then we went to Japan to filed I-600 with I-130 at US Embassy, to got IR4 visa for baby.Could you please correct me if I am wrong that I thought we must file I-600& I-130 to issue his visa (IR4 or IR3) whether baby matches orphan or not??

You would not do both an I-600 and an I-130. The I-600 is for orphans under INA section 101(b)(1)(F) and 8 CFR section 204.3(b); and the I-130 is for the immigration of a child under INA section 101(b)(1)(E). If you immigrate a child as an orphan (use the I-600), the issued visa is either an IR3 or IR4. If you immigrate the child as family member (use the I-130), the issued visa is an IR2. So there is never a circumstance when you would use both the I-130 and the I-600. They are 2 different processes.

We are also in the process of adopting from Japan, planning to go to pick up our son in 3-6 months. If you're doing the I-600, I think you need to file the DS-230, not the I-130. The I-130 is for people who adopt overseas and stay overseas with their child for 2 years before applying for visa to come to the U.S. Would love to talk with you more about adoption from Japan. Good luck!

Thank you so much for all your reply! Me and my husband looked over again all copies of documentation what we flied last year at US Embassy Tokyo for our son who issued IR4. We filed I -600, OF-169, I-604, From DS 230 part 1 and 2, and when we had an interview with baby we did filed I-130, 3 yrs tax return and I- 864 to got issue his Green Card.(because we did not finalized court in Japan)I think if we did finalized court in Japan, then we don't need to file I-130? I asked to my agency again if we need to file I-130 at this time,and they told me they were not sure yet after they changed I-130 filling at overseas, but it used to need to file I-130 when after we filed I-600. But we got official answer through my agency's lawyer about change I-130 filing from Joint Council On International Children's Services last week, and we feel comfortable now! It won't hurt us to get ready I-130, so we think we will bring with us next month just in case. Thanks again and pls feel free to post PM :-) Good Luck to you too!:flowergift:

I heard that the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo is no longer accepting I-600 applications, so we have to file the I-600 and get I-171 approval in the U.S. before going to Japan to adopt. Do you know anything about this?

I know you posted this in 2007...but I am hitting the same problem now. Can I-130s be filed by Americans in the country they are living in? We are ready to take our three Brazilian children home!