Even though there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to reduce the backlog of immigration cases that have been deemed over the United States more than ever this past year due to a number of hardships in other countries, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency did have a few notable achievements this year. For instance, the agency issued all of the available employment-based immigrant visas, which was double the number before the pandemic, and extended the EAD validity period for over 400,000 noncitizens whose work permits had expired during COVID. These actions collectively reduced the backlog in naturalization applications by 62%.
The USCIS recently released its annual progress report for FY2022 which highlights their achievements of the year. The following report demonstrates how the USCIS agency is dedicated to removing impractical obstacles, reviving public confidence in the immigration process, and enhancing openness, effectiveness, and the customer experience. The contents of the report are broken up into five sections, each discussing an achievement.
USCIS was able to complete over one million naturalization cases which welcomed 1,023,200 new citizens into the U.S. in 2022. In addition, USCIS worked hand in hand with the Department of State in order to issue all available employment-based immigrant visas before they became unavailable on October 1st of 2022. Lastly, the goal of USCIS’s ongoing efforts is to completely clear the backlogs. USCIS has made operational upgrades that boost productivity, strengthen system integrity, and speed up processing. For example, the volume of pending cases for immigrants waiting for an EAD renewal has returned to normal. Ultimately, the USCIS made significant impact in the lives of numerous immigrants globally.
