Tag: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Ombudsman States USCIS Must Prioritize Addressing Its Ballooning Backlog The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) faces severe and increasing application backlogs for employment visas, resulting in many lawsuits against it. These consequences stem from inadequate funding. This lack of funding makes it challenging to improve its processing services. The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman stresses the importance of reducing these backlogs and processing delays. Therefore, the USCIS's primary focus must shift to address these application concerns. In April, there were 8.5 million pending applications; more than 5 million had passed their deadline compared to the backlog of approximately 2.7 million that existed in July of 2019. In addition, the CIS Ombudsman stated that, though the USCIS had backlogs in the past, none were as severe as the current. The drop in revenue and lack of in-person operations caused by the pandemic contributed significantly to the backlog and employee attrition. However, some believe the agency's policies played an equal part in the processing delays. The USCIS has acknowledged the problem and has set aggressive processing goals. The CIS Ombudsman does not believe the situation will improve as quickly as the agency wants. This belief stems from the USCIS concentrating on reducing the backlogs without promptly addressing the systemic problems caused by such delays. The Ombudsman emphasizes that the USCIS must address both to succeed. Experts believe that the USCIS needs to make operational changes and obtain increased funding and staffing to improve its functioning. For example, the CIS Ombudsman recommended that the USCIS change its fee review process. She also suggested that the agency hire sufficient employees to eliminate the agency's backlog of cases. The USCIS has asked congress for additional appropriations and is hiring more employees. The agency has also recommended more improvements to help ensure uninterrupted work authorization for eligible, previously approved workers. The agency has already increased the automatic extension of work authorization for individuals who filed promptly. They have also extended the validity period of EADs to two years from one, based on a pending adjustment-of-status application. This extension means applicants are less likely to need renewal as USCIS processes the underlying application. The Ombudsman did acknowledge the agency's efforts to increase online filing and electronic processing and stated that it is near a turning point. However, she recommended that USCIS make developing an application programming interface, or an API, an immediate priority. This step would allow more companies and immigration attorneys that process benefits forms to transfer data to USCIS systems more efficiently. Keep your business up to date on new laws and regulations with Pre-employ’s free news resources. Contact a sales rep today. Source

Tag: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Ombudsman States USCIS Must Prioritize Addressing Its Ballooning Backlog

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