Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman 2012 Annual Report

On June 25, 2012, Acting Ombudsman Debra Rogers submitted the 2012 Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman's Annual Report to Congress.

In her opening message, Acting Ombudsman Rogers writes:

"Our mission is to assist individuals and employers who have encountered problems with the immigration benefits system. We are constantly striving to find new and better ways to perform this function. In this report, we identify some of the difficulties encountered by USCIS' customers and offer potential solutions. The Ombudsman’s Office interacts with a wide array of stakeholders; this report attempts to clearly and effectively capture their concerns and recommendations."

This Annual Report identifies ways of solving some of the serious and pervasive issues that stakeholders experience with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such as:

• Highlighting USCIS’ support for our nation’s military and encouraging enhancements to related programs;
• Calling for agency action on issues, including USCIS Service Requests, Extraordinary Ability Petition Adjudications, Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), Deferred Action Processing, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Adjudications;
• Improving customer service through a comprehensive policy review that assesses progress and efficiency in current USCIS programs and policies.

The report also highlights new multilingual engagement, expanded public outreach, and USCIS technological advancements – efforts that demonstrate USCIS’ commitment to providing better immigration services and ongoing challenges.

• Read the Executive Summary of the Ombudsman's 2012 Annual Report to Congress 
• Read the Ombudsman’s full 2012 Annual Report to Congress
• If you have difficulties accessing a file or need assistance, please contact the Ombudsman's Office at 202-357-8100.