A key aspect of the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman’s (CIS Ombudsman) mission is to make recommendations to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on how USCIS can improve its services.
We identify systemic problems that individuals and employers face when seeking services from USCIS and make recommendations based on:
- Individual complaints and requests for case assistance;
- Our interactions with the public, including applicants, petitioners, national and community-based organizations, legal and faith-based organizations, employers and employer associations, institutions of higher education, and immigration professionals across the country; and
- Information and inquiries we receive from local, state, and federal officials, including USCIS.
Types of Recommendations and Proposals
We issue recommendations and proposals to USCIS in three ways:
- Our Annual Report to Congress, which we submit each year by June 30. USCIS is statutorily required to respond to our formal recommendations in the Annual Report within three months.
- Formal recommendations that we send to USCIS throughout the year. USCIS is statutorily required to respond to our formal recommendations within three months.
- Informal proposals where we identify emerging issues or trends and begin discussions with USCIS about how these problems can be addressed.
Contacting Our Policy Division
If you would like to share feedback or suggestions related to systemic problems and trends in USCIS’ administration of the immigration system, please email our Policy Team at CISOmbudsman.Policy@hq.dhs.gov. We use this information to spot and investigate trends and to work with USCIS to resolve problems in the immigration benefits system. While we may not respond to your email directly, we review every message and issue and appreciate feedback that can make our recommendations even more impactful.