Troops in the Pacific will now have to send visa applications for foreign family members to California for processing, in response to a new law designed to protect immigrants from sex offenders.

Officials with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the move should not significantly affect the visa process, and applicants likely won’t notice the change in the paperwork trail.

Last summer Congress approved the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, dealing with new monitoring and notification rules for sex offenders. It also limits who can sponsor an immigrant wanting to visit the U.S.

As a result, all visa petitions for foreign relatives — I-130 forms — must go through a criminal background check. Previously, embassy officials could approve those petitions, but since they cannot perform those background checks, the forms now must go through USCIS.

Chris Bentley, spokesman for USCIS, said over the last few months those forms had been being processed at various overseas and stateside locations, but they now will be handled by two offices.

Petitions for South America and Europe will go through the agency’s Vermont office, he said.

Petitions for the Pacific region, as well as Africa and Asia, will be handled by the California office, he said. Applicants should mail them to: USCIS California Service Center, P.O. Box 10130, Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-1013, USA.

The $190 application fee will not change, nor will the requirement that all applications be sent via mail. Bentley said electronic and fax options are being considered, but for now those applications will not be accepted.