USCIS

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective Aug. 15, 2011, petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices will be able to file a Petition for an Alien Relative (Form I-130), with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox facility. This will increase the efficiency of the relative petition filing process and give USCIS more flexibility in managing its workload. Previous regulations permitted these petitioners, who comprise about 5 percent of all I-130 petitioners, to file with USCIS or the U.S.

USCIS Ombudsman Case Assistance Online pilot program, a new initiative allowing paperless submission of assistance requests. The pilot program is currently available in Texas and DC, with plans to expand nationwide in fall 2011.

Please check the attachment.

I-914 (T) and I-918 (U) Visa Statistics

This report contains information on the Victims of Trafficking (T visa) applications and the Victims of Crime (U visa) petitions.  The number of receipts, approvals, denials, and pending cases are displayed by fiscal year and by office.

Correcting a mistake on the Form I-140

USCIS Publishes Report On Service-wide Receipts And Approvals Of All Form Types For FY2011.

Please check the attachment to see the report.

USCIS notes from the stakeholder meeting on religious workers, providing an outline of changes resulting from the Religious Worker Final Rule that was published on 11/26/08.

Please check the attachment.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the availability of new data reports covering agency performance in a broad range of data  and operational areas. The reports, prepared at the request of agency stakeholders, advance agency efforts to enhance transparency and improve customer service.   

WASHINGTON—U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it will no longer offer parole to Lautenberg category members who are denied refugee status in Moscow.  Individuals who have been offered parole by USCIS in Moscow must make plans to arrive in the United States by Sept. 30, 2011.

Telecon Recap: Application Processing Times: A Conversation with USCIS Office of Performance and Quality

Overview

On April 27, 2011, the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman’s Office (Ombudsman’s Office) hosted a public teleconference regarding U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing times and interviewed Mr. Joseph Moore, Chief of the USCIS Office of Performance and Quality (OPQ), for this conversation.

Mr. Moore provided a brief overview of the functions of OPQ, as summarized below: