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Citizenship and Immigration Services

Managed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the United States’ lawful immigration system is one of the most generous in the world.

  • The CIS Ombudsman's Webinar Series: Employment-Based Immigrant Visas

    On May 26, 2022, CIS Ombudsman hosted a webinar about USCIS' efforts to use all available immigrant visa numbers and more related to this fiscal year.

  • Lockbox Contact Tip Sheet

    The CIS Ombudsman has worked with USCIS on the following tip sheet on when and how to contact a USCIS Lockbox.

  • DHS/USCIS/PIA-071 myUSCIS Account Experience

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) operates myUSCIS Account Experience to engage benefit requestors and legal representatives, while they navigate and complete the immigration process, through an authenticated digital account experience. MyUSCIS Account Experience offers a personalized, authenticated, and secured account for benefit requestors and legal representatives, and replaces all aspects of the public facing USCIS Electronic Immigration System (USCIS ELIS).

  • DHS/USCIS/PIA-010 Person Centric Query Service

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) developed the Person Centric Query Service (PCQS) to allow users to submit a single query and view all transactions involving an immigrant or nonimmigrant across multiple DHS and external systems.

  • DHS/USCIS/PIA 009 Central Index System

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) maintains the Central Index System (CIS). CIS is a repository of electronic data that contains an index of basic data elements related to an individual as he or she passes through the immigration process. CIS contains information on the status of applicants and petitioners seeking immigrant and non-immigrant benefits, including: lawful permanent residents, naturalized citizens, United States border crossers, aliens who illegally entered the United States, aliens who have been issued employment authorization documents, individuals who petitioned for benefits on behalf of family members, and other individuals subject to the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Recently USCIS migrated records from a legacy mainframe database to a cloud platform and renamed legacy CIS to CIS 2. CIS2 continues to look and function like the CIS mainframe application, with subtle formatting enhancements.

  • CIS Ombudsman Strategic Plans

    The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) aims to be a champion for a transparent and efficient immigration benefits system administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Our strategic plans help us to effectively carry out our mission through casework, stakeholder engagement, and policy recommendations.

  • Follow Up Q&A from myUSCIS for Applicants

    Follow Up Questions and Answers from the CIS Ombudsman's Webinar: Overview of myUSCIS for Applicants.

  • USCIS Retired PIAs

    USCIS Retired PIAs - DHS/USCIS/PIA-001, 002, 004, 005, 006(a), 006(b), 006, 006(c), 011, 014, 014(a), 020, 024, 025, 026, 028

  • DHS/USCIS-027 USCIS Asylum Division

    System of Records Notices (SORNs) and Privacy Impact Statements (PIAs) regarding the Asylum Division of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

  • The CIS Ombudsman's Webinar Series: myUSCIS for Applicants

    January 20, 2022, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) hosted a public webinar providing an overview of myUSCIS.