About Us

On March 1, 2003, service and benefit functions of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) transitioned into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as USCIS.

USCIS is a government agency comprised of 15,000 federal employees and contractors working in approximately 250 Headquarters and field offices around the world.

We are responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and establishing immigration services policies and priorities.

Our functions include:

• Adjudication of immigrant visa petitions
• Adjudication of naturalization petitions
• Adjudication of asylum and refugee applications
• Adjudications performed at the service centers
• All other adjudications performed by the INS

From this section, you can learn:

• How to file a request for information
• How to file an immigration-related Freedom of Information/Privacy Act (FOIA) request
• Which administrative and management functions and responsibilities were transferred from the former INS

This page can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/aboutus