Nebraska Service Center

What the Nebraska Service Center handles

Nebraska is one of the five service centers in the USCIS Service Center Operations Directorate, which serves people whose cases do not need an interview (USCIS, SCOPS). Service centers decide filings sent by mail, online or through the Lockbox, and have no public counter (USCIS glossary).

USCIS’s chart of which center processes which form was last updated on Oct 11, 2024, and USCIS says it changes with workload (Service Center Forms Processing). For Nebraska:

Nebraska is also listed for the I-102, I-821, I-821D, I-824 and I-907, and with all other centers for the I-130, I-131, I-290B, I-539, I-751, I-765 and K-3/K-4 I-129F.

Two details set Nebraska apart. In the H-1B rows, it is listed only for changes of status and extensions, not for new petitions for workers abroad. And that is its only I-129 row: the chart does not list Nebraska for L, O, P, E or H-2 petitions.

Nebraska and the HART Service Center

USCIS’s glossary counts a sixth service center: HART (Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions and Travel Documents), which USCIS said would become fully virtual (HART notice, PDF). Its FAQ, accurate as of Aug 1, 2024, explains how some Nebraska cases move through it (HART FAQ, PDF):

• VAWA I-360s are mailed to Nebraska, which receipts them. Nebraska ships them to Vermont for preparation, and Vermont sends them to HART. A LIN receipt on a VAWA petition does not mean Nebraska decides it.
• U visa petitions (I-918). HART makes the bona fide determinations. If HART does not grant one, the case goes to Vermont or Nebraska for review for the waiting list.
• I-601A waivers are receipted by the Lockbox, scanned and assigned to HART, even though the 2024 chart lists Nebraska and Potomac for the form.

How to know if your case is at Nebraska

The receipt number is on the notices USCIS sends you, starting with the receipt notice. It has 13 characters: three letters and ten numbers (USCIS, checking your case status online). USCIS’s Congressional Inquiries guide says the letters identify where the case was first received, and that LIN is the Nebraska Service Center, formerly the Lincoln Service Center (USCIS guide, PDF).

Cases do move. USCIS sends a transfer notice, and the receipt number stays the same (Workload Transfer Updates, archived). The 2020 transfers on that page show both directions for Nebraska:

• Into Nebraska: part of the fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap petitions from Vermont, and U-based I-485s and I-539s from Vermont. These keep their EAC receipts.
• Out of Nebraska: immediate-relative I-130s, sent to Potomac, Texas, California and Vermont. These keep their LIN receipts.

Source: USCIS Congressional Inquiries guide. IOE means the case was filed online; it does not name a center.

Processing times: what you can and cannot get

USCIS’s quarterly data gives national medians, not Nebraska figures. The range USCIS currently gives for Nebraska, form by form, is only on its processing times page. National medians for Nebraska’s main forms:

Source: USCIS, All Forms by Quarter, FY2026 Q3. These medians cover cases finished at every office that handles the form, not just Nebraska.

The monthly report gives a different measure. In August 2026, the average for employment-based I-485s was 11.8 months (USCIS monthly report). An average and a median measure different things over different periods, so do not compare them directly. For the Department of Labor step that comes before many employment cases, see PERM processing time and PERM case status. For H-1B, see our H-1B page.

If your Nebraska case is slow

1. Check your case inquiry date on the processing times page: pick your form and the Nebraska Service Center, then enter your receipt date.
2. Send a case inquiry through e-Request once your case is outside normal processing time.
3. Call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833). USCIS says a service center should answer a service request within 30 days, or 15 days for an expedite (Contact Us).
4. Expedite. USCIS considers severe financial loss, emergencies or urgent humanitarian reasons, and clear USCIS errors, among other criteria, at its discretion. It says the need for a work permit alone is not enough. For forms that offer premium processing, such as many I-140s and I-129s, USCIS does not consider expedite requests, except from certain nonprofits (expedite requests).
5. Premium processing after a transfer. USCIS’s archived transfer page says that if your case was moved, you file the I-907 with the center that now has it, with a copy of the I-797 receipt notice.
6. Congress or the CIS Ombudsman. Your representative or senators can ask USCIS, once you have given them a privacy release (USCIS Policy Manual). The CIS Ombudsman, an independent DHS office, takes delay cases only after a case inquiry in the last 90 days, at least 60 days of waiting, and once your case inquiry date has passed.

The YourCaseStatus app (coming soon) will alert you when your status changes. Our status index explains each message you see in case status online, including fingerprints taken.

Mailing addresses

We do not list them: they depend on the form, the category and sometimes where you live. Use each form’s official filing page:

• I-140 addresses and I-485 addresses.
• I-129 addresses and I-360 addresses.
• I-601A and I-918: “Where to File” on the form page.

The other centers

• Texas (SRC) shares the I-140 and I-730 with Nebraska.
• Vermont (EAC) shares U visas and VAWA petitions with Nebraska.
• Potomac (YSC) shares the I-601A.
• California (WAC) is listed for most kinds of I-129.
• The National Benefits Center (NBC, MSC) is not a service center, but processes NBC and MSC receipts.

For every form, see the processing times hub.