US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS)
Overview And How It Works
At one time, the USCIS was called the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and was part of the Department of Justice which was primarily responsible for immigration and naturalizations services. Today, this area of US life is overseen by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). The core responsibilities of the USCIS are to improve customer service, eliminate immigration application and case backlogs, and in enhance national security. If you want to become a US citizen or need help with a green card or citizenship certificate, you will be dealing with the US Citizenship And Immigration Service (USCIS).
A Closer Look at US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS)
USCIS is a bureau and a part of the US government. A director heads the bureau and reports directly to the Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security. The Executive Office for Immigration Review reviews decisions made by USCIS. Funding from USCIS comes primarily from fees, although about 1% of the budget comes from congressional appropriations.
What USCIS Does
US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS) is responsible for many things:
- Granting citizenship
- Processing immigrant visa petitions
- Taking care of naturalization petitions
- Adjudicating asylum and refugee applications and claims
- Making adjudicative decisions at the bureau's service centers
- Managing immigration benefits and services
- Issuing documents for employment authorization (EAD)
- Adjudicating petitions for temporary workers who are not immigrants
- Granting recognized permanent resident status
Contacting and Dealing with USCIS
US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS) was created because INS was known to be ineffective. Under the INS, immigrants often faced long wait times to have applications processed and after September 11, 2001, some scandals developed about the way that citizenship requests were handled.
US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS) is a relatively newly formed agency, but changes have been made to make things easier for immigrants and those needing green card or citizenship services. USCIS' National Customer Service Center (NCSC), for example, allows anyone to call for information about their case status. The NCSC is also available for general questions. The main problem with the service center is that the employees who answer the phone are civilian workers and not USCIS immigration officers. In many cases, these customer service representatives have only some knowledge about USCIS and US immigration. They may tell you to contact your local District Office. To do this, however, you need to use the INFOPASS Appointment system to set up a meeting. This can get complex and may take some time.
A Better Way of Contacting USCIS?
Although US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS) is meant to improve on the service of the INS, USCIS is still quite new and therefore it is hard to predict how effective the new bureau will be. Already, there are some problems. The numbers that offer USCIS are not staffed by US immigration experts, for example. You still need to make an appointment with your local office to get basic information. Plus, the USCIS still deals with an enormous amount of paperwork and many forms. Negotiating through the maze can be tricky, and you may hear different things about the US immigration process, adding to your confusion.
Many people who deal with US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS) do not have proficient English skills and simply do not have the time during their working day to get the answers and service they require. Some people turn to immigration attorneys for help, but attorneys can be very expensive.
At US Citizenship, we have developed a better way. At US Citizenship, you can apply for all your immigration needs online, easily and with full confidentiality. You can fill out forms at your own pace, easily find the forms you need, and take all the time you need to fill out forms fully. We even have a full resource library that provides you with the most up-to-date information about citizenship and US Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS). 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we can help you become a citizen.
