USCIS revises filing instructions for I-751

Yesterday the USCIS announced that it is revising the filing instructions for Form I-751. In the future all I-751 petitions will be filed either with the California or Vermont Service Center where those petitions are currently adjudicated.

Form I-751 is a petition which all conditional permanent residents are required to file to remove the conditions on their lawful permanent residency. All lawful permanent residents who gained their LPR status through marriage to a U.S. Citizen are conditional residents for the first two years. They are required to file Form I-751 to remove the conditions on their residency in the 90 day period before their conditional LPR card expires.

Under the new rules, residents of Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming must file their petitions with the California Service Center at:

USCIS California Service Center
P.O. Box 10751
Laguna Niguel, California 92607-0751

Residents of Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and West Virginia must file their petitions with the Vermont Service Center at:

USCIS Vermont Service Center
75 Lower Welden St.
St. Albans, Vermont 05479-0001

The USCIS is encouraging people to file their I-751's directly with these service centers immediately, but the new filing instructions will not be mandatory until the new instructions are published.