Can I file an I-130 immigrant visa petition for my relative at the Consular Section in Sofia?
Since January 2007, Consular officers are authorized to accept and adjudicate Petitions for Alien Relative, Form I-130, filed ONLY by U.S. citizens who are residents of our consular district for at least the preceding 6 months. Therefore, the petitioners must be able to show that they have permission to reside in Bulgaria AND that they have maintained their continuous residence for at least six months prior to filing I-130 petition at the Consular Section.The revised procedures were introduced in order to comply with the Adam Walsh Act, which became law in July 2006 and which required criminal background checks on American citizen petitioners.All U.S. citizens who live permanently in the U.S. have to file I-130 petitions at the USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over their place of residence. Information about that can be found at http://www.travel.state.gov/ or http://www.uscis.gov/.
