The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) raises awareness about our mission and engages the public by:
- Hosting regional stakeholder meetings and national engagements on a variety of topics;
- Identifying problems individuals and employers encounter when dealing with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); and
- Promoting open and transparent communication between USCIS, USCIS’ customers, other government agencies, and external stakeholders.
We meet with a variety of stakeholders who have a vested interest in the immigration system. This includes businesses, advocacy organizations, legal providers, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, congressional offices, religious organizations, federal/state/local government offices, and foreign embassies. To request a meeting with the CIS Ombudsman, email us at CISombudsman.PublicAffairs@hq.dhs.gov. To receive webinar invitations, please sign up for our email updates.
Take the CIS Ombudsman Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Social Media
You can follow us on Twitter (@cisombudsman, https://twitter.com/cisombudsman), LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/company/cisombudsman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/cisombudsman).
Upcoming Webinars
Stay tuned for our future webinars, as we are always in the process of coming up with informative sessions for the public!
To RSVP to our future events, please subscribe to our distribution list.
We host national webinars and listening sessions on a variety of topics. Summaries and links to presentations and questions and answers from recent webinars are below.
January 19, 2023
Listening Session: Immigration Concerns and Options for Laid-Off Foreign Workers
We hosted a listening session with USCIS on immigration concerns and options for laid-off foreign workers.
CIS Ombudsman staff and USCIS officials began with a brief overview of options for workers following termination of employment. We then opened the phone lines to hear from stakeholders about any immigration-related issues they are experiencing as a result of being laid off; their experience with trying to use the immigration options USCIS has presented for laid-off workers; and any ideas or questions for how USCIS could practically mitigate the immigration impacts of layoffs for foreign workers under existing immigration laws and regulations. The summary is available on the Listening Session: Immigration Concerns and Options for Laid-Off Foreign Workers teleconference summary page.
October 27, 2022
Employment-Based Immigrant Visas: Looking Back at Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and Ahead to FY 2023 with USCIS
We hosted a joint webinar with USCIS on employment-based immigrant visa usage in FY 2022 and what to expect in FY 2023. CIS Ombudsman staff and USCIS representatives discussed the effect of cutoff date retrogression in the Visa Bulletin and concerns specific to derivative applicants. The summary is available on the Employment-Based Immigrant Visas: Looking Back at Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and Ahead to FY 2023 with USCIS webinar summary page.
September 21, 2022
Fireside Chat
Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman Phyllis Coven and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Jaddou sat down for an hour-long conversation to discuss challenges and accomplishments from Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and look ahead to FY 2023. USCIS Chief of Staff Felicia Escobar-Carrillo provided opening remarks, and Deputy CIS Ombudsman Nathan Stiefel provided closing remarks. During this session, CIS Ombudsman Coven and Director Jaddou discussed how their professional backgrounds and experiences have helped them in their current roles and moved on to the current challenges facing USCIS. As the conversation progressed, they delved deeper into several topics, including challenges that may have not been visible to the public over the last year and FY 2023 goals for an effective, efficient immigration benefits system.
Below are links to see summaries, presentations, and follow-up questions and answers from our past webinars. Past webinars are any that occurred over six months ago. To see a list of all the questions and answers, please see our Webinar Questions and Answers page.
2022 (through Sept. 1)
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August 25, 2022: Interagency Engagement on International Student Issues
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July 19, 2022: 2022 Annual Report
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June 22, 2022: USCIS' Backlog Reduction Efforts
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February 7, 2022: Listening Session: DHS Form 7001, Case Assistance Form
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January 20, 2022: Overview of myUSCIS for Applicants
2021
- October 14, 2021: Listening Session: Getting to Know the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman
- August 24, 2021: USCIS Introduces Online Filing for Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status
- August 2, 2021: Services for Noncitizen Veterans
- July 14, 2021: 2021 Annual Report to Congress
- June 23, 2021: Naturalization and Immigrant Integration
- May 5, 2021: USCIS Introduces Online Filing for Form I-765 for F-1 Students Seeking OPT
- April 14, 2021: USCIS Contact Center
- March 31, 2021: USCIS’ Online Filing and Customer Service Tools
- March 4, 2021: Overview of the H-1B Electronic Registration Process for Attorneys and Representatives
- January 13, 2021: How the DHS is Combating Human Trafficking and Forced Labor in Imported Goods
2020
- November 19, 2020: USCIS and CIS Ombudsman Joint Engagements on USCIS’ Current State of Operations (Session Two)
- October 28, 2020: USCIS and CIS Ombudsman Joint Engagements on USCIS’ Current State of Operations (Session One)
- October 7, 2020: USCIS’ Processing of Concurrently Pending Forms N-400 and Forms I-751
- September 29, 2020: Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Law
- February 20, 2020: USCIS H-1B Registration Process
- February 13, 2020: Best Practices for Filing USCIS Forms