USCIS and State Department Partner to Improve Overseas I-730 Processing

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) today launched a pilot program to test new processing procedures for Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition follow-to-join cases (See definition below). USCIS and DOS developed these new procedures to improve customer service and help ensure greater consistency, efficiency and security in how these humanitarian cases are processed.

A person who has been granted asylum or refugee status in the United States may file a Form I-730 to have their spouse and/or unmarried child(ren) follow-to-join them in the United States. Overseas, the beneficiaries of Forms I-730 filed by asylees are known as follow-to-join asylees. Beneficiaries of Forms I-730 filed by refugees are known as follow-to-join refugees.

The new procedures are being implemented today in five pilot locations: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Guatemala City, Guatemala; New Delhi, India; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Yaoundé, Cameroon. All other posts will continue to follow existing procedures for these cases.  

For more detailed information about the pilot procedures, please see the Executive Summary on the USCIS website.  Additional information may be found on the DOS Follow-to-Join Refugees and Asylees webpage.