As of January 22, 2007, consular offices abroad were instructed to cease accepting certain immigrant visa petitions because consular officers lacked the means to perform the required criminal background checks on American citizen petitioners, as required by the Adam Walsh Act.

Subsequently, the Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) worked to develop a mechanism whereby USCIS will perform these required “Adam Walsh Act” checks for any petitions accepted abroad by consular officers.

Effective immediately, consular posts abroad will accept petitions for immediate relative immigrant classification from American citizens who are resident in their consular districts, including members of the armed forces, as well as true emergency cases, such as life and death or health and safety, and others determined to be in the national interest.

Examples of family emergency include minor children who would be unexpectedly left without a caretaker. Examples of national interest include facilitating the travel of United States military and other USG direct hire employees assigned overseas who are pending transfer on orders and need to petition for immigrant classification of their spouse and minor children at posts overseas.

To demonstrate residency in a consular district, American Citizen petitioners must be able to show that they have permission to reside in the consular district and that they have been doing so continuously for at least six months before filing the petition. Individuals who are in the country on a temporary status, such as student or tourist, would not be considered to meet the residency standard.

All lawful permanent residents, and American Citizens resident in the United States or with a permanent address in the United States, must file I-130 petitions at the USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over their place of residence, as indicated on the 130 Petition for Alien Relative instructions

American citizens residing in Uruguay may present their I-130 Petition for an Alien Relative may request an appointment for Tuesday or Thursday afternoons, between 2.00 to 4.00 pm through MontevideoIV@state.gov.

On the appointment date, the American Citizen will have to present the completed I-130 form for each relative s/he will be filing for and all necessary supporting documentation required on each case. The consular officer will not receive incomplete forms nor petitions with missing required documents according to instructions below. Filing fees must be paid in cash at the time of filing. Fees are not reimbursable, whether the petition is approved or not.

In general, American Citizens need to come in personally with the following documents required on each case:

-- Petitioner’s valid U.S. passport
-- Naturalization Certificate or US birth certificate
-- Proof of residency in the consular district for at least 6 continuous months (Uruguay)
-- Beneficiary’s valid and previous passports
-- Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, completed as per instructions
-- Forms G-325 A Biographic Information (4 pages each) for each spouse, beneficiary and petitioner
-- A US passport style color photo of petitioner and 3 of spouse as per info
-- Original marriage certificates of present and previous marriages for both spouses
-- Original divorce or annulment decrees and/or death certificates to prove legal termination of previous marriages of both spouses
-- Original birth certificates of children or step-children, beneficiaries of I-130
-- Evidence of relationship, such as family photos, bank accounts, credit cards statements, lease contracts, utility bills,
-- $355.00 dollars for each I-130 Petition for Alien Relative (one for each relative petition)

All foreign documents, except for those issued in the U.S. or Uruguay, need to be legalized by the corresponding authorities. All documents in other language than English or Spanish must be translated into English by a certified translator.