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If you are experiencing problems during the adjudication of an immigration benefit with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), you can submit a case problem to the CIS Ombudsman using DHS Form 7001 (CIS Ombudsman Case Problem Submission Form). To submit a case problem on behalf of somebody other than yourself, who experiences a case problem with USCIS you should ensure that the person the case problem is about (the applicant for a USCIS immigration benefit, or the petitioner who seeks to obtain an immigration benefit for a third party) consents to your inquiry (see Submitting a Case Problem using DHS Form 7001: Section 15 Consent)
You should contact the CIS Ombudsman if you have an ongoing or immediate issue with USCIS, such as:
It is best if you contact our office for assistance after utilizing other resources for case problems with USCIS, such as:
While we do not require that you take these steps before you contact our office, the above listed resources can resolve many frequently asked questions such as
Additionally, certain information can be obtained from USCIS directly, such as information about individual immigration benefits.
NOTICE: Please be aware that CIS Ombudsman cannot provide legal advice. Our office does not have the statutory authority to tell you what type of immigration benefit you may be eligible for or how to remedy your particular immigration situation.
Submit a case problem using DHS Form 7001 (PDF, 8 pages - 217 KB.
You do not have to use the form DHS 7001 to submit your case problem to CIS Ombudsman. However, by submitting a properly completed form, the CIS Ombudsman will receive the necessary information to process your case problem. If you do not use the form and do not provide us with the necessary information, you may experience a delay in the processing of your case problem.
Once we receive your case problem, we will review your case, determine if we are able to assist you, and if appropriate, forward your case to USCIS for resolution. If for some reason we are not able to help you obtain a resolution to your case problem, we will inform you of the reasons in writing. If another government office or agency is better able to assist you with your case problem, we will make every effort to provide you with the contact information of that office or agency.
If you believe that our office should have accepted your case for assistance, you may resubmit your case problem with additional explanations as to why your case problem should have been accepted.
CIS Ombudsman cannot:
NOTE: CIS Ombudsman only has jurisdiction to provide assistance resolving case problems that arise under the jurisdiction of USCIS. The Ombudsman is not able to provide assistance with case problems that arise under the jurisdiction of other agencies dealing with immigration-related issues, such as:
When you submit your information and case problem to the office of CIS Ombudsman, you are consenting to our review of your information and contacting USCIS on your behalf. You also consent to the release of your information to authorities within USCIS or any person acting on behalf of USCIS.
In addition, it's the CIS Ombudsman's statutory mandate under the Homeland Security Act, Section 452, to capture and address systemic problems. As such, individual case problems serve as one of the basis to establish current systemic trends and problems individuals and employers experience during the immigration benefits seeking process. For this purpose, we will remove your personal information and use the remaining information collected for statistical purposes.
The scope of your consent to release your information is limited to the furtherance of resolving the case problem associated with your case, and the capturing of declassified data to establish systemic immigration problems occurring at USCIS.
(For additional information, please see the next section “Legal Notification Requirements”)
1. What Are the Penalties for Submitting Incorrect Information? Section 1001 of Title 18, United States Code states that whoever willfully and knowingly falsifies a material fact, makes a false statement or makes use of false documents will be fined up to$10,000, imprisoned for up to five (5) years, or both.
2. What Is Our Authority for Collecting This Information? Provide also the legal category of the immigration status you are seeking. If you are unsure about the category, submit as much information as you can in Number 12 of DHS Form 7001 Description of case problem or in writing,. If possible, provide us with a copy of the application you filed with USCIS so that we will be able to determine what immigration category you are seeking.
We request this information to carry out our mandate as provided by Section 452 of the Homeland Security Act of2002. We need the information to assist individuals and employers in resolving problems with USCIS; to identify areas in which individuals and employers have problems in dealing with USCIS; and to the extent possible, to propose changes in the administrative practices of USCIS to mitigate problems identified.
When you submit your information and case problem to this office, you are consenting to our review of your information to our office and contacting USCIS on your behalf. With the submission of your case problem, you also consent to the release of your information to authorities within USCIS or any person acting on behalf of USCIS. In addition, it's CIS Ombudsman's statutory mandate under the Homeland Security Act, Section 452, to capture and address systemic problems. As such, individual case problems serve as one of the bases to establish current systemic trends and problems. For this purpose, we will remove your personal information and use only the remaining information for statistical purposes.
The scope of your consent to release your information is limited to the furtherance of resolving the case problem associated with your case and capturing statistical data to identify systemic immigration problems.
You do not have to provide us with the particular information requested. However, if you omit certain information, our office may not be able to assist you, or the resolution of your case problem may be delayed.
3. Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. A person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a current valid OMB control number. The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The OMB Control Number is 1615-0103.
Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspects of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to cisombudsman@dhs.gov. Do not mail your case problem to this email address.
The following instructions will assist you in completing the form correctly. The items numbered below correspond to the section number of the form requesting the particular information:
1. Name of subject: The "subject" is the person the case is about. Please enter the person's full legal name (first, middle, last name). If the person possesses an alias, provide your alias by indicating "aka" and then listing the alias and all other legal names.
2. Contact information: Please provide the contact information of the person the case is about. If you are submitting the case problem on behalf of somebody else, please also complete Section 14.
3. Subject's date of birth: Self-explanatory.
4. Subject's country of birth and citizenship: Self-explanatory.
5. Alien ("A") Number: Provide your alien ("A") number, if applicable. Note that not every person has an alien number assigned by USCIS. For example, if you are seeking non- immigrant status in the United States, you may or may not have an "A" number. The "A" number can be found on many frequently issued USCIS documents, such as work permits or Notices of Actions.
6. Type of case problem: Indicate whether the case problem concerns an individual or an employer.
7. Person preparing this form: Indicate whether the preparer of this form is the person the case problem is about ("the subject"), an organization, attorney/representative or whether you are completing this form in any other capacity (such as a friend of the family, friend, uncle, etc.).
Important: If you are the beneficiary of an immigration application and the one submitting the case problem, you will need the consent of the individual who submitted the petition on your behalf ("the Petitioner"). In this case, you are (although the beneficiary) simply a representative of the Petitioner, and will need the consent of the Petitioner to submit this case problem (please see also Section 15).
8. Applications and petitions filed: List all applications/ petitions that are currently pending with USCIS and that pertain to the case problem you are experiencing. List the applications/petitions by identifying the date when the application/petition was received by USCIS (Receive date); the form number of the application/petition, which may be located on the lower right corner of USCIS form (e.g. , Form I-485); and the name of USCIS form (e.g. Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status).
9. Receipt number: Provide the receipt number(s) for the application(s)/petition(s) currently pending with USCIS. The receipt number is located on the top left hand corner of your Notice of Action (Form I-797) you received from USCIS in response to the application/petition you filed.
Please provide each receipt number associated with this case.
10. Immigration status or interim benefit Applied or Petitioned for: Provide information about the immigration status or the immigration benefit the person of the case problem is seeking (non-immigrant, immigrant, citizenship, naturalization, refugee or asylum status, work authorization, travel document, etc.)
11. Source of case problem: Please choose the options provided that best describe the source of the case problem.
12. Description of your case problem: Please provide a detailed description of your case problem.
13. Prior actions taken to remedy the problem: Check all the boxes that apply to the subject's or the representative's action(s) already taken to remedy the problem.
14. Designated Attorney/Representative: Please complete this section if you are an attorney, organization or designated representative who is submitting this case problem. You are also a representative if you are, for example, a friend of the person the case problem is about, and if you would like to assist the individual in resolving the case problem.
15. Consent: For privacy reasons, if you wish USCIS to disclose all the information in the file, we require the consent of the petitioner (the person who filed the petition with USCIS). As a general rule, the person who filed the application/petition with USCIS has to consent to the submission of a case problem to our office. This general rule, however, does not apply if the beneficiary is a lawful permanent resident or U. S. citizen.
16. Verification: If the person who submitted the inquiry is also the subject of the inquiry, this section should be electronically signed and dated by the subject of the inquiry. If a person is the representative and acts on behalf of the subject the case problem is about, the representative should sign and date the verification statement.
17. Declaration: If you are an attorney or representative submitting the case problem you should sign and date the statement. If you are submitting the case problem for yourself, and you are the subject of the case problem, you should sign this statement.
18. Submission of the worksheet form: Self-explanatory.
Complete DHS Form 7001 (PDF, 8 pages - 217 KB
This page was last reviewed/modified on October 14, 2008.
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