United States Citizenship and Immigration Services The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is a bureau in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It performs many of the functions formerly carried out by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was part of the Department of Justice. The priorities of the USCIS are to promote national security, to eliminate immigration case backlogs, and improve customer services. The Bureau is headed by a director who reports directly to the Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security. USCIS was formerly and briefly named the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), before becoming USCIS. Functions The bureau is charged with processing immigrant visa petitions, naturalization petitions, and asylum and refugee applications, as well as making adjudicative decisions performed at the service centers, and managing all other immigration benefits functions (i.e., not immigration enforcement) performed by the former INS. Other responsibilities include:     • Administration of immigration services and benefits     • Adjudicating asylum claims     • Issuing employment authorization documents (EAD)     • Adjudicating petitions for nonimmigrant temporary workers (H-1B, O-1, etc.)     • Granting lawful permanent resident status     • Granting citizenship

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The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which includes the Immigration Court and the Board of Immigration Appeals, and which reviews decisions made by USCIS, remains under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. The bureau consists of approximately 15,000 federal government employees and contractors who work in 250 local and field offices in the U.S. and around the world. While core immigration benefits functions remain the same as under the INS, a new goal is to process applications efficiently and effectively. Improvement efforts have included attempts to reduce the applicant backlog, as well as providing customer service through different channels, including the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) with information in English and Spanish, Application Support Centers (ASCs), the Internet and other channels. USCIS focuses on two key points on the immigrant’s journey towards civic integration: when they first become permanent residents and when they are ready to begin the formal naturalization process. A lawful permanent resident is eligible to become a citizen of the United States after holding the Permanent Resident Card for at least five continuous years, with no trips out of the United States that last for 180 days or more. History The INS was widely seen as ineffective, particularly after scandals that arose after September 11, 2001. On November 25, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Homeland Security Act of 2002 into law. This law transferred the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) functions to the Department of Homeland Security. Immigration enforcement functions were placed within the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security and the immigration service functions were placed into the separate USCIS. On March 1, 2003, the INS ceased to exist and services provided by that organization transitioned into USCIS. Eduardo Aguirre was appointed the first USCIS Director by President Bush. As of April 5, 2006, Emilio T. Gonzalez, Ph. D., is the Director of USCIS. Official Web Site USCIS's official website was recently redesigned in October of 2006. Its redesign made the web page interface more similar to the Department of Homeland Security's official website. Forms USCIS handles all forms and processing materials related to immigration and naturalization. This is evident from USCIS's predecessor, the INS, (Immigration and Naturalization Service) which is defunct as of May 1st, 2003. USCIS currently handles two kinds of forms: those relating to immigration, and those related to naturalization. Forms are designated by a specific name, and an alphanumeric sequence consisting of one letter, followed by two or three digits. Forms related to immigration are designated with an I (for example, I-551, Permanent Resident Card) and forms related to naturalization are designated by an N (for example, N-400, Application for Naturalization). If you feel overwhelmed with the forms or the process, please, contact us - we can ease your confusion and make your USCIS experience more pleasant. We can help you fill your forms, consult on form preparation and document collection. In general, if you have any question about US visas, immigration to US, naturalization or status change - we can help! Start by contacting us now. For a list of all public use forms USCIS, click here. USCIS Office locations by zip code can be found here.