United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the agency of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country’s naturalisation and immigration system.

Overview

Information	Contents
Established	1 March 2003
Jurisdiction	The Federal Government of the United States
Headquarters	5900 Capital Gateway Drive, Camp Springs, Maryland, United States
Staff	24,200+ (2025)
Annual budget	USD 6.81 billion (2025)
Agency leadership	Joseph Edlow, Director Angelica Alfonso-Royals, Deputy Director
Parent agency	The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Key document	The USCIS Policy Manual
Website	uscis.gov

History

USCIS is the successor agency to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which was dissolved by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and replaced by 3 components within the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS):

• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

USCIS changed its logo under the Biden administration from September 2024 to January 2025.

Mission statement

The USCIS mission statement was changed on 9 February 2022. USCIS Director Ur Jaddou announced the change. In 2021, USCIS leadership invited staff to submit wording they felt best illustrated the agency’s work.

The new mission statement reflects feedback from the workforce, the Biden administration’s priorities and Jaddou’s vision for an inclusive and accessible agency.

The mission statement is now:

USCIS upholds America's promise as a nation of welcome and opportunity with fairness, integrity and respect for all we serve.

Functions

USCIS processes immigrant visa petitions, naturalisation applications, asylum applications, adjustment of status (green card) applications and asylum applications. It also makes adjudication decisions at service centers and administers all the other immigration benefit functions (that is, not immigration enforcement) previously carried out by the INS.

USCIS’s other responsibilities include:

• Administering immigration services and benefits
• Issuing employment authorisation documents (EADs)
• Adjudicating non-immigrant temporary worker petitions (H-1B, O-1, and so on)

While the core immigration benefit functions remain as they were under the INS, the new objective is to process migrants’ applications more efficiently.

Improvement efforts include seeking to reduce the application backlog and providing customer service through various channels, including the USCIS Contact Center with information in English and Spanish, Application Support Centers (ASCs), the internet and other channels.

USCIS focuses on two key points on a migrant’s path to civic integration: when they first become permanent residents and when they are ready to begin the formal naturalisation process.

A lawful permanent resident is eligible to become a US citizen after holding a Permanent Resident Card for at least five continuous years, with no trip outside the country of 180 days or more.

Where a lawful permanent resident marries a US citizen, eligibility for US citizenship is shortened to 3 years provided that the permanent resident has lived with their spouse continuously for at least three years and the spouse has been a citizen for at least three years.

Forms

USCIS handles all the forms and processing documents relating to immigration and naturalisation. This is clear from the predecessor of USCIS, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), which ceased operating on 1 March 2003.

USCIS handles two types of form: immigration-related and naturalisation-related. Forms are designated by a specific name and an alphanumeric string comprising a letter followed by 2 or 3 digits.

Immigration-related forms are designated with an I (for example, I-551, the Permanent Resident Card) and naturalisation-related forms with an N (for example, N-400, Application for Naturalization).

Immigration courts and judges

The US immigration courts, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals, which hears appeals from them, are part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) within the US Department of Justice (USCIS is part of the Department of Homeland Security).

Operations

Internet presence

The official USCIS website was redesigned in 2009 and launched on 22 September 2009. The last major redesign before 2009 was in October 2006. The website now includes a virtual assistant, Emma, who answers questions in English and Spanish.

Enquiries and problem resolution

The USCIS website contains self-service tools, including case status checking and a change of address request form.

Applicants, petitioners and authorised representatives may also submit case enquiries and service requests on the USCIS website. Enquiries and requests are routed to the relevant USCIS center or office for handling.

A case enquiry may relate to a case that is outside the normal USCIS processing time expected for the form.

Enquiries and service requests may also relate to not receiving a notice, card or document by post, correcting typographical errors and requesting disability accommodations.

Where the self-service tools on the USCIS website do not resolve the issue, the applicant, petitioner or authorised representative may contact the USCIS Contact Center.

Where the Contact Center cannot assist the enquirer directly, the issue is referred to the relevant USCIS center or office for review. Some applicants and petitioners, mainly outside the United States, may also book an appointment on the website.

Funding

Unlike most other federal agencies, USCIS is funded almost entirely by user fees, largely through the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA).

The Immigration and Nationality Act authorises USCIS to charge fees for adjudicating immigration cases and for naturalisation services.

In fiscal year 2020, USCIS had a budget of USD 4.85 billion; 97.3% was funded by fees and 2.7% by congressional appropriations.

Staffing

USCIS comprises around 19,000 federal employees and contractors working in 223 offices around the world.

Offices

USCIS field offices provide interviews for all non-asylum cases; naturalisation ceremonies; information appointments; and applicant services.

USCIS asylum offices schedule interviews only for asylum and for suspension of deportation and special rule cancellation of removal under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA).

Asylum offices do not provide information services. Applications are not filed at asylum offices.

International offices provide services to US citizens, US permanent residents and certain others visiting or residing outside the United States. Look up the list of US immigration offices worldwide athere.