By statute, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman submits an Annual Report to Congress by June 30 of each calendar year.  The Ombudsman’s Annual Report must provide a summary of the most pervasive and serious problems encountered by individuals and employers applying for immigration benefits with U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  The Annual Report also reviews past recommendations to improve USCIS programs and services.

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Annual Report 2013

On June 27, 2013, Ombudsman Maria M. Odom submitted the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman 2013 Annual Report to Congress.  In her message (PDF, 2 pages - 473 KB), Ombudsman Odom writes:

"Good government is grounded in a steadfast commitment to efficiency, transparency, and accountability….As an office of last resort, the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman…work[s] arduously to ensure that individuals applying for an immigration benefit can experience government at its best.  We are problem solvers, focused on assisting one case at a time and delivering policy recommendations…to improve efficiency and fairness in the administration of immigration benefits."

Annual Report highlights include: 

• Employment Authorization for Vulnerable Populations.  Concerns regarding employment authorization for certain Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioners, their derivatives, and U visa beneficiaries, as well as limitations on the ability of nonimmigrant victims to obtain work authorization.  
• Unaccompanied Children.  USCIS’s new policy to accept unaccompanied alien children (UAC) determinations made for custody purposes by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The guidance follows the Ombudsman’s 2013 recommendation (PDF, 16 pages - 281.88 KB) in this area and promises a consistent process for all children apprehended at the border who later seek asylum in removal proceedings. 
• Discretionary Relief and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.  A review of discretionary relief and USCIS’s successful implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. 
• Provisional Waivers.  Centralization of inadmissibility waiver filings, the subject of Ombudsman recommendations in 2010, and the new Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver Process are measures that promise to improve consistency and minimize delays for thousands of individuals and their families. 
• The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.  Stakeholders continued to raise concerns, and approximately 10 percent of cases received by the Ombudsman pertained to EB-5 cases.  During the reporting period, USCIS issued EB-5 program policy memoranda, and the most recent guidance addresses many longstanding stakeholder concerns.   

• Read the Executive Summary of the Ombudsman's 2013 Annual Report to Congress (PDF, 4 pages - 105.85 KB)
• Read the Ombudsman’s full 2013 Annual Report to Congress (PDF, 72 pages - 2.83 MB)

If you have difficulties accessing a file or need assistance, please contact the Ombudsman's Office at 202-357-8100.

• Prior Annual Reports

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Contact the Ombudsman's Office

By mail or phone:
Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman
Department of Homeland Security
Mail Stop 0180
Washington, D.C. 20528

Phone: 1-855-882-8100 (toll free) or 202-357-8100 (local)
Fax: 202-357-0042

For general inquiries: cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov

For public affairs inquiries, such as information relating to teleconferences or stakeholder engagements: cisombudsman.publicaffairs@hq.dhs.gov

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