More than two months since USCIS closed its offices

In light of the global health emergency generated by the Coronavirus, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) decided to temporarily close its offices until the risk to public health decreases.

The official decision was communicated to the public in late March 2020. USCIS has announced two different dates to reopen the offices in the past two months but has had to postpone the date due to the alarming number of people infected with COVID-19 in the country.

Therefore, the latest official statement declares that the USCIS offices will reopen mid-year, to be more specific, on June 4, 2020.

The decision to temporarily close the offices is intended to protect the health of applicants and USCIS employees.

With the closure of the USCIS offices, several face-to-face processes were suspended, for instance:

• Naturalization ceremonies.
• No one can apply for a Green Card temporarily.
• Hearings to apply for asylum and refuge in the US are currently suspended.
• Biometric data updates are not available right now.
• Immigrants are not allowed to enter the country temporarily, therefore, immigrants can submit their application online, but the processes will be completed when the risk to public health decreases.
  (If you need help submitting your application online using the USCIS virtual system, feel free to contact one of our specialized immigration attorneys).

Thus, because more than two months have already passed, hundreds of immigrant rights advocates, critics, and several senators have asked USCIS to resume citizenship services for immigrants currently residing in the US.

Senators ask USCIS to resume legal citizenship services

Due to the fact that thousands of immigrants are waiting for an opportunity to submit their applications and hopefully get the legal citizenship, several senators decided to send a petition to USCIS asking to resume naturalization ceremony services.

They present several arguments in the petition:

• Immigration processes are already delayed due to the Coronavirus health emergency, and extending the waiting time further could create chaos for USCIS employees.
  On top of that, immigrants who want to apply for citizenship could be affected by the waiting time.
• Immigrants who meet all the requirements to obtain legal citizenship could take advantage of social benefits and work legally without affecting the US economic system, just as the current government wants.
• Senators expose the revenue downturn tht USCIS is facing due to a lack of applicants. Therefore, it is ideal to gradually restore those services so that the USCIS economy stabilizes again.

The petition sent by the senators specifically states: “Our immigrant communities have helped write the economic, social, and cultural story of America. Accordingly, we urge USCIS to ensure eligible applicants have an opportunity to participate in U.S. Citizenship Oath of Allegiance Ceremonies to become citizens and are able to continue to contribute to our great country”.

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