The public will have access to immediate and clear answers regarding case processing times.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced changes Thursday to simplify and improve how the agency communicates case processing time data to the public. As part of an agency-wide commitment to improve transparency, efficiency, and customer service, these changes will also make it easier for people to get an immediate answer about when they can inquire about their case.
USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou announced that "USCIS is committed to listening to our applicants and stakeholders, and to continually improving our services," adding, "This is an important step, and certainly not the last, in the pursuit of improving the clarity and transparency of the data that USCIS provides to the public.".
The processing times that the agency makes publicly available provide the information needed to understand how long it may take USCIS to process a particular form. These estimated times are based on statistics from the previous six months showing how long it took USCIS to approve or deny a specific percentage of cases for a given form.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and due to resource limitations inherited from the previous administration, USCIS accumulated a significant backlog of cases and experienced increased processing times. In February, there were reports of 9.5 million pending applications.
With the additional changes, users can now immediately find processing time information for their specific case type, instead of seeing an aggregate of all cases. These changes include:
- Drop-down menu for form categories. For example, if you want to check the current wait time for Form N-400 Application for Citizenship at the New York Service Center, you can limit the results by specifying the form category.
-The waiting time is now specified as a single number (e.g., 7.5 months) instead of a range (7.5 to 11 months).
-Review, simplify and add additional content to the processing times web pages to increase transparency, including a new FAQ page and an improved Additional Information page.
Finally, this initiative by the agency aims to improve how processing times are displayed, managing them in a meaningful, concrete, and useful way for both parties. However, it's important to emphasize that each case is unique, and some cases take longer to process than others, depending on their specific circumstances.
This news report was compiled using information from: USCIS and Telemundo 47