The USCIS Wants to Hear Your Complaints

Your immigrant visa petition was denied because you didn't respond to a Request for Evidence...because you never received the Request for Evidence in the mail? Felt like the local USCIS adjudicator asked inappropriate questions at your marriage-based green card interview? If you've got a complaint, the USCIS Ombudsman wants to hear from you. He's even provided his e-mail address at: cisombudsman.feedback@dhs.gov.

The USCIS Ombudsman just released a report regarding the absence of a tracking system for complaints with the USCIS, and how the USCIS Office of Security and Integrity (OSI) is introducing a complaints tracking initiative to fix the problem. The initiative is supposed to guide the public on how to contact USCIS regarding problems they encounter with the system. The USCIS is hoping to increase overall customer satisfaction by using direct input from customers. The Ombudsman wants USCIS to expand that initiative to 1) establish a better means of informing the public how to submit general complaints; and 2) publish the collected complaint data for public scrutiny.

As an immigration lawyer, I welcome a specific, designated place to send concerns and complaints. What I would like even more is if action is taken on these complaints.

by Michelle Gee