U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a notice in the Federal Register proposing revisions to the Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and its accompanying Form I-130A, the agency announced July 15. The 60-day public comment period opened with the notice and will close September 14, 2026.
The proposed changes, published under OMB Control Number 1615-0012, are part of a routine revision of a currently approved information collection, according to the notice signed by John R. Pfirrmann-Powell, acting deputy chief of USCIS's Regulatory Coordination Division. The agency is required under the Paperwork Reduction Act to seek input on the necessity, accuracy, and burden of the information it collects.
Form I-130 is used by U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and lawful permanent residents to petition for certain foreign relatives who wish to immigrate to the United States. Form I-130A is a supplemental form for the beneficiary to certify information provided on the primary petition, the notice states.
USCIS estimates that 472,753 respondents will file Form I-130 each year, with an average burden of 2.3 hours per paper response and 1.6 hours per e-filing response. An additional 438,179 respondents are expected to file Form I-130A, with an average burden of 0.4 hours per response. The total estimated annual hour burden for the collection is 2,019,008 hours, and the total estimated annual cost burden to respondents is $378,202,400, according to the notice.
The agency is asking commenters to address four specific points: whether the proposed collection is necessary for the proper performance of USCIS functions; the accuracy of the agency's burden estimate and the methodology used; how the quality, utility, and clarity of the information could be improved; and how the burden on respondents could be minimized, including through the use of automated or electronic submission technologies.
Comments must be submitted in English or accompanied by an English translation, and must include the OMB Control Number 1615-0012 and the docket ID USCIS-2007-0037. Submissions can be made through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov. All comments will be posted publicly on the portal, and the agency warns that any personal information included in a submission will become public.
The notice does not specify what substantive changes USCIS is proposing to the forms or instructions. The agency said the full information collection instrument and instructions are available for review on the regulations.gov website under the same docket ID.
No official response from advocacy groups or immigration attorneys is reported in the source notice.