Urgent Visa Update! Vermont Service Center to Receive All O & P Petitions
Effective April 1, 2006, all O and P visa petitions -- regardless of the location of the petitioner -- must be sent to the Vermont Service Center of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). No longer will petitioners send visa applications to the service centers in Nebraska, Texas or California.
Please take note of the new addresses:
All regular O and P visa petitions must be sent to:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Vermont Service Center
75 Lower Welden St.
St. Albans, VT 05479
All Premium Processing O and P visa petitions must be sent to:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Premium Processing Service
Vermont Service Center
30 Houghton Street
St. Albans, VT 05478-2399
As Always, File Early!
According to the USCIS press release, specializing processing in two service centers will allow USCIS to "better manage and improve customer service." No doubt there will be some bumps along the way as USCIS makes this transition, meaning it is more important than ever to submit your visa petition as early as possible (up to six months in advance of your performance).
Please note the following:
Petitions received before April 1, generally will be processed by the service center that received them.
After April 1, any petition mistakenly sent to the California, Texas, or Nebraska Service Center will be automatically forwarded to the Vermont Service Center, and USCIS will honor the initial receipt date.
While all petitions must be received in Vermont, the USCIS is pairing the Vermont Service Center with the California Service Center to process O and P petitions. Some O and P petitions may be processed in Vermont, while others may be sent on to California for processing. Petitioners may not choose which service center will process a petition, and all petitions must be sent to the Vermont Service Center. Your receipt notice will state which of the two service centers is processing your petition.
We want to hear from you!
As Arts Presenters continues to work with the Performing Arts Visa Task Force (PAVTF) to improve USCIS policy, please keep us informed of your petition processing experiences. If you have complications with the process, please e-mail jdoumas@artspresenters.org.
|
