For the first time in more than a decade, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) managed to reduce its backlog of immigration cases in 2023, pushing hard to complete an unprecedented 10 million cases over the course of the fiscal year.
The agency faced down two record issues at the same time. Despite receiving more than 10.9 million filings, it completed more than 10 million pending cases. The end result was backlog reductions of 15 percent.
“I’m so proud of the USCIS workforce and our dedication to fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve,” USCIS Director Ur Jaddou said. “We’ve completed a record number of cases, responded to emerging crises around the globe with essential humanitarian relief, and applied innovative solutions to improve customer experience and reduce backlogs.”
The agency reported administering the Oath of Allegiance to more than 878,500 new U.S. citizens, including 12,000 members of the military. That all but eliminated the backlog of naturalization applications and shaved months off the median processing time, from 10.5 months down to 6.1 months.
According to its interior data, the agency also improved its customer experience operations and worked to improve employment-based immigration policies. The former was achieve through new technology solutions, including a self-service tool for online rescheduling of biometrics appointments, new change of address capabilities and a 1-800 text-ahead capability.
Working with the Department of State, USCIS also doled out more than 192,000 employment-based immigration visas last year, ensuring that all available visas were used. The authorization documents validity period was increased to five years and eligibility ranges for various immigration services were clarified, while a newly proposed rule pushed for strengthened worker protections. Biometrics fees and appointment requirements have been removed for applicants seeking changes or extensions of nonimmigrant status and more child beneficiaries of noncitizen workers have been kept from aging out of child status when seeking permanent residence.
On top of all this, USCIS stressed that it remains focused on growing humanitarian concerns worldwide, through its interviews of refugees. It interviewed more than 100,000 refugee applicants last year and admitted more than 60,000 to resettle. It also completed more than 52,000 asylum cases. At this point, the agency noted, the world is experiencing the greatest displacement of people since WWII.