On March 22, Jackson & Hertogs began receiving electronic notifications that some pending I-140 immigrant visa petitions were transferred from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) California Service Center (CSC) to the USCIS Texas Service Center (TSC).  Although the transfer notifications state the files are being transferred because Texas "has jurisdiction over the case," these applications were under the jurisdiction of the CSC at the time of filing, and were correctly filed in California. 

We believe that these transfers are part of USCIS' ongoing plans to streamline case processing and minimize backlogs.  This has resulted in USCIS transferring certain types of cases between its four National Service Centers based on work force availability at the various centers.  Transfer of a file to TSC does not indicate that there is any problem with the petition, or that this will have any adverse impact on the case.

At this time, it appears that only I-140s filed with CSC from late October 2005 through January 2006 are being transferred to TSC.

I-140s filed alone, as well as I-140s filed concurrently with I-485 adjustment of status applications have been transferred.  Currently, USCIS has not indicated whether concurrent I-485 applications have also been transferred to TSC for processing along with the I-140 petitions.  In recent months, I-140 processing times at TSC have been faster than I-140 processing times at CSC, so shifting these files to TSC may well expedite their review.

There has been no official notice from CIS about any policy or workload decision to transfer I-1-140s from CSC to TSC.  Jackson & Hertogs is continuing to monitor this situation, and will provide more information as it becomes available.

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