USCIS that stands for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is the immigration agency of the U.S. that handles all matters related to immigration and naturalization. Here are the things this agency does on an average day:
- As many as 325,000 individuals seeking information on immigration and naturalization visit the website of the agency www.uscis.gov.
- USCIS conducts naturalization ceremonies and welcomes new U.S. citizens. Around 3,200 are granted citizenship on an average day. This includes military and non-military naturalizations.
- Foreigners who wish to settle in the U.S. need to apply for permanent residence with USCIS. The immigration agency grants legal permanent resident status to 4,000 foreigners and issues 6,500 green cards.
- Refugees and asylees need to file applications for refugee and asylum status with USCIS. USCIS processes 183 applications for refugee status and grants asylum to 55 individuals.
- Employers in the U.S. seeking to bring their employees to the U.S. need to file applications with USCIS. 2,040 employment based petitions are being processed by USCIS, per day.
- USCIS processes employment based immigrant petitions and applications for work permits. Before approving applications for work authorization in the country, USCIS will need to make sure the new hires are eligible to work in the country. Employment eligibility of 58,000 such new hires are verified.
- To bring their eligible family members to the U.S., U.S. citizens and green card holders need to file petitions with USCIS. 2,600 applications filed by U.S. citizens and green card holders to sponsor their fiancé(e)s and other relatives are processed.
- There are various immigration applications other than family and employment, refugee and asylum applications. The agency completes processing 24,000 applications for those immigration benefits.
- USCIS customers can contact the agency through the toll-free customer service phone lines. Every day, the agency receives approximately 44,000 phone calls. Similarly, USCIS field offices and the National Benefits Center, both address the needs of the customers who visit the office. Around 9,500 such customers are served in a day.
- For almost all applications filed with the agency, USCIS conducts background checks. On an average working day, around 148,000 such checks are being conducted.
- USCIS offers fingerprinting services through its Application Support Centers. These centers collect fingerprints and photographs of around 15,000 applicants.
- Americans seeking to adopt children from foreign countries will need to file applications with USCIS. Parents in America adopt 26 foreign orphans, with the help of USCIS.
- Apart from providing immigration services, USCIS also engages in fraud prevention. USCIS has a fraud detection unit, the aim of which is to detect and prevent fraud.
