Updating earlier guidance, USCIS announced new guidance last week that it would now hold interviews earlier in the Form I-130 adjudication process for certain spousal petitions involving minors. Those certain petitions involve situations where:

• The petitioner or the beneficiary is less than 16 years old; or
• The petitioner or the beneficiary is 16 or 17 years old and there are 10 years or more difference between the ages of the spouses.

This new guidance will pose an additional obstacle, likely in the form of additional waiting times, for certain spousal petitions involving minors. Petitions that fall under these scenarios will also likely have a higher bar in showing the bona fides of the spousal relationship earlier in the petition process.

The guidance relates to spousal petitions in both Adjustment of Status and immigrant visa cases.