- A non-government report says USCIS began shifting about 400,000 I-130 cases to field offices in the third quarter of 2026.
- Some field-office processing ranges for related categories reach 83.5 to 113 months, but not every transferred case will take that long.
- Applicants should check the current office handling their petition and watch for transfer notices; USCIS has not confirmed a nationwide program.
A non-government report says USCIS began shifting about 400,000 immediate-relative Form I-130 cases from Service Center Operations to field offices in Q3 2026. The figure is below the nearly half-million count in the headline, and the report does not establish a formal nationwide policy.
The reported routing could expose families to different queues depending on which office receives a case. USCIS has not issued a clearly identifiable announcement confirming a nationwide transfer program.
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The cases involve immediate-relative petitions. They cover spouses, parents and unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens.
The reported change concerns where officers process petitions, not access to immigrant visas. Immediate relatives remain exempt from visa-number limits.
Field-office queues could stretch into years
Processing-time data for 2026 show wide variation among field offices, with some categories taking longer there than at service centers. For spouse, parent and child immediate-relative-style categories, some field-office ranges run from 83.5 to 113.0 months. Some preference categories take longer still.
Those ranges do not mean every transferred petition will take that long. They indicate how differently local workloads can affect cases, and why a processing estimate for one location may not apply to another.
A transfer also does not, by itself, change the petition’s family category or its position under visa-number rules. The reported operational shift concerns adjudication and routing.
Check the office now handling the petition
Applicants can take several practical steps while USCIS processes a case:
- Review the USCIS online account and paper notices for a transfer update or a change in the office handling the petition.
- Check processing times for the office currently handling the file, rather than relying only on the office listed when the case was filed.
- Keep the receipt number available. If USCIS sends a transfer notice, the number typically remains the same while the case moves internally.
A local transfer can make the handling office more important when checking the case’s estimated wait. It does not necessarily mean applicants must submit a new petition or obtain a new receipt number.
The reported estimate comes from non-government reporting. The reported shift has not been accompanied by a publicly confirmed policy memo number or Federal Register rule establishing a formal program. USCIS has not publicly detailed the change in a press release or FAQ.
