On August 2, 2024, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) sent out this stakeholder message:
The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) is excited to officially announce that we now have four regional representatives across the country.
When the CIS Ombudsman was established in 2002 to serve as an independent, impartial, and confidential liaison between the public and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Congress wrote into law that our office would have a local presence to better identify trends and areas in which individuals and employers are having problems with USCIS. Earlier this year, we took a big step towards fulfilling that mandate when we strategically placed regional representatives in areas that align with USCIS’ regional operations and service center structure.
What Our Regional Representatives Do
Our regional representatives are based in Los Angeles (Western region), Dallas (Central region), Boston (Northeast region), and Orlando (Southeast region). These individuals:
- Engage with local immigration stakeholders to build relationships and hear about their experiences with USCIS.
- Help identify issues that may only be occurring in specific areas or USCIS offices.
- Share feedback from local stakeholders with our headquarters team to inform the recommendations we send to USCIS to improve its policies and processes.
- Provide an overview of our case assistance services and clarify the process to the public.
Meanwhile, our headquarters’ public engagement team will continue to meet with stakeholders throughout the country, focusing on national and international organizations and employers, foreign embassies and consulates, and headquarters-level components of other federal departments and agencies.
How to Contact a Regional Representative
We welcome opportunities for our regional representatives to engage with community-based organizations, employers and employer associations, legal service providers, schools, educational institutions, state and local government entities, and others. Please go to our Public Engagement page to find the contact information for the regional representative responsible for your local area.
More Information
Our regional representatives do not provide individual case assistance services. If you want to request case assistance from the CIS Ombudsman, please go to our How to Submit a Case Assistance Request page.