When viewed from the outside, the USCIS can seem like a large and impersonal organization. Many immigrants send in applications and petitions and hope for the best answer, without really considering how the organization itself works. However, the USCIS is not as impersonal as it seems; it does work hard to engage with immigrants and with the community at large.
The USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) is committed to public engagement. Rather than being just an administrative organization, the USCIS has been working hard to engage with communities, immigrants, and others who are affected by US immigration services. There are many ways that the USCIS takes its commitment to public engagement seriously:
1) By providing online resources. The USCIS website allows anyone to access information about the USCIS, immigration forms, blog posts, articles, guides, and more. Immigrants can access this information at any time and can even leave comments on blogs and get e-notification and status updates about applications.
2) By engaging in person and over the phone. Immigrants can phone the USCIS for help and schedule appointments at USCIS offices when needed. This personal contact ensures that immigrants are fully supported.
3) By creating pilot projects. When the USCIS wants to create a new service or change a service, the agency often creates a pilot program to test the service. Based on feedback from immigrants and USCIS employees, the USCIS can gather data to determine whether the new system helps improve US immigration services Ú or not. Based on this data, the USCIS determines whether to add the new services.
4) By sharing information. In the past few years, the USCIS has become more transparent about its operations and has even spoken openly about its processes, partly as the organization strives to offer better service. The USCIS publishes annual reports, makes many reports available on its website, and speaks with the media about new events and news at the organization.
5) By holding public engagements. The USCIS regularly holds meetings or engagements, which allow anyone with an interest in US immigration to share their views. Each engagement is designed around a specific topic of concern and there are both national and local engagements to take part in. The USCIS Office of Public Engagement (OPE) takes care of these efforts and can be contacted for more information. The USCIS website also lists upcoming engagements as well as notes from past engagements for public viewing.
