What is the USCIS?

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a federal agency. The USCIS along with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are components within the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS oversees lawful immigration to the United States.

USCIS was formed to enhance the security and efficiency of national immigration services by focusing only on the administration of benefit applications. It has the advantage of a legacy of more than 100 years of federal immigration and naturalization administration.

The USCIS also tackles illegal entrance into the United States, preventing receipt of benefits such as social security or unemployment by those ineligible to receive them and investigating, detaining, and deporting those illegally living in the United States.

USCIS has 18,000 employees working at 250 offices across the world and according to USCIS, their goals include:
•    Strengthening the security and integrity of the immigration system.
•    Providing effective customer-oriented immigration benefit and information services.
Supporting immigrants’ integration and participation in American civic culture.
Promoting flexible and sound immigration policies and programs.
Strengthening the infrastructure supporting the USCIS mission.
•    Operating as a high-performance organization that promotes a highly talented workforce and a dynamic work culture.

The services provided by the USCIS include:

Citizenship (Includes the Related Naturalization Process): Individuals who wish to become US citizens through naturalization submit their applications to USCIS. US Citizenship and Immigration Service determine eligibility, process the applications and, if approved, schedule the applicant for a ceremony to take the Oath of Allegiance. USCIS also determines eligibility and provides documentation of US citizenship for people who acquired or derived US citizenship through their parents.

Immigration of Family Members: USCIS manages the process that allows current permanent residents and US citizens to bring close relatives to live and work in the United States.

Working in the US: USCIS manages the process that allows individuals from other countries to work in the United States. Some of the opportunities are temporary, and some provide a path to a green card (permanent residence).

Verifying an Individual’s Legal Right to Work in the United States (E-Verify): USCIS manages the system that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.

Humanitarian Programs: USCIS administers humanitarian programs that provide protection to individuals inside and outside the United States who are displaced by war, famine and civil and political unrest, and those who are forced to flee their countries to escape the risk of death and torture at the hands of persecutors.

Adoptions: USCIS manages the first step in the process for US citizens to adopt children from other countries.

Civic Integration: USCIS promotes instruction and training on citizenship rights and responsibilities and provides immigrants with the information and tools necessary to successfully integrate into American civic culture.

Genealogy: The USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program providing family historians and other researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records.