USCIS

Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2008
2

Our annual report summarizes the collected efforts of our employees into a single publication. 

It provides a snapshot of where we stand, where 

we have come from and where we are headed as 

an agency within the Department of Homeland 

Security. During the past year, we have made 

visible progress to enhance the security of our 

immigration system, improve delivery of customer service, and strengthen the infrastructure 

required to accomplish the ambitious long-term 

and near-term goals we have set. 

With close to 18,000 federal and contract 

employees working in 230 offices worldwide, 

we had a considerable amount of information to compile for inclusion in this report. 

This year’s report contains a wealth of new 

data, facts and figures on USCIS operations. 

Stakeholders will find valuable information 

on USCIS finances, case processing times and 

general immigration statistics in an attempt to 

increase agency transparency and share what we’ve learned with the American 

people. 

Efforts to improve our systems, upgrade our 

facilities and build our workforce since our 

creation in 2003 have shown positive results. 

Our decision-making process today is more 

robust and thorough than it has ever been—an 

approach we believe to be consistent with our 

obligation to individual applicants and the Nation as a whole. Yet, we still have much work 

ahead of us. The FY 2008 Annual Report and 

the newly re-designed USCIS Strategic Plan 

are built on the promise of maintaining the 

integrity of our immigration system while 

providing the service our customers seek and 

deserve. 

On behalf of all USCIS employees, thank 

you for your interest in learning how we run 

the largest immigration service in the world. 

Introduction: 

Welcome to the 2008 USCIS Annual Report
3

FY 2008 Annual Report

2008 Goals & Accomplishments............................4

Financial Overview.............................................26

Operations Data.................................................30

Refugee Affairs Division Data.............................35

Growth Management..........................................37

Transformation..................................................42

Facilities Management.........................................47

Office Overviews.................................................49

T

able

o

f

Content

s
The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor

Strategic Goal 1: Strengthen the Security

and Integrity of the Immigration System

4

Objective 1.1: Enhance the security of the

United States by ensuring that immigration

benefits are granted only to eligible applicants

and petitioners

USCIS was created with the dual mandate of securing the integrity of our national 

immigration system and supporting our proud tradition as a nation of immigrants. 

It is a delicate balance of compassion and precaution, reflecting our commitment to 

the American people and to those who wish to live among us and join in the liberties and freedoms afforded to every United States citizen.


5

FY 2008 Annual Report

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 1

FY 2008 Annual Report

5

USCIS conducted approximately 35 million 

background and national security checks 

on persons seeking immigration benefits 

last year. The background checks we employ were responsible for the apprehension 

of more than 1,200 criminals and wanted 

felons across the country, as well as the 

discovery of several dangerous fugitives.

 

To enhance this screening process, a new 

policy was developed for vetting and 

adjudicating cases with national security 

concerns. This initiative provides a coordinated, comprehensive process for identifying, tracking, and adjudicating applications and petitions with national security 

issues.

USCIS also developed a standard procedure to process biometric data for Iraqi nationals and certain non-Iraqi applicants seeking refugee or 

asylum status, through additional U.S. Government databases, thereby enhancing 

the security of these humanitarian programs.

In addition, the creation of the USCIS Command Center provides a continuously 

operating immigration information hub with full connectivity to unclassified and 

classified systems and instantaneous communication with USCIS leadership, DHS 

component offices and law enforcement and intelligence community partners.

Objective 1.2: Deter, detect, and pursue

immigration-related fraud

USCIS anti-fraud efforts will make it easier for our agency to securely and efficiently 

process immigration applications, easier for employers to comply with labor and 

immigration law and harder for those seeking to exploit our systems. 

The E-Verify program grew from 24,463 participants at the end of FY 2007 to 

88,116 at the end of FY 2008, with 

an average of 1,000 employers signing up each week. In addition, the 

number of queries processed through 

the E-Verify program doubled from 
FY 2008 Annual Report

6

3.27 million at the end of FY 2007 to 

6.6 million at the end of FY 2008. 

To keep up with the growing demand 

for the program, USCIS instituted 

monitoring and compliance procedures within E-Verify, aimed towards 

safeguarding personal information 

and referring instances of fraud, discrimination, and illegal or unauthorized use of the system to enforcement 

authorities. A third-party study found 

that between April and June 2008, approximately 96.1 percent of all cases 

queried through E-Verify were found to 

be employment authorized instantly or 

within twenty-four hours.

To combat other instances of employment related immigration fraud, USCIS issued the H-1B (employment of 

temporary foreign workers in specialty occupations) Benefit Fraud and Compliance 

Assessment (BFCA). The H-1B BFCA identified fraud and/or technical violations in 

21.7 percent of sampled H-1B petitions. Based on an analysis of types of fraud and 

violations found, guidance that addressed the fraud was prepared for field officers. 

Based partly on findings of the H-1B BFCA as well as an earlier Religious Worker 

BFCA, FDNS developed an Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASVVP). The ASVVP, expected to be operational in FY 2009, will depend on contract 

personnel to conduct low-level site visits. Implementation of this program will 

lessen the burden on Immigration Officers to conduct all site visits, thus freeing 

them to concentrate on more complex cases.

Objective 1.3: Identify and share

immigration-related information with partners

USCIS is an active partner in federal, state and local law enforcement efforts to apprehend and detain known criminals and others who fraudulently attempt to gain 

immigration benefits. We have a responsibility to the American people to protect 

our Nation and maintain the integrity of our national immigration system USCIS 

personnel work diligently to both keep our doors open and closely guarded. 

FY08 E-Verify Authorization Rates

Initial mismatches later confirmed 

as work authorized: .04%

Employees not confirmed: 3.5%

(not authorized to work)

Work authorized without 

a mismatch: 96.1%
7

FY 2008 Annual Report

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 1

7

The joint USCIS and FBI National Name Check Program (NNCP) substantially 

reduced all pending name check cases. The NNCP met the milestone of eliminating name checks pending more than three, two and one years, and is on track to 

eliminate those pending more than six months by early 2009. 

In the past year, USCIS has seen the total count of requests pending at the NNCP 

decline from a high of 350,000 in November 2007 to less than 8,700 in early FY 

2009. Name check requests pending longer than 33 months fell from 32,000 in 

August 2007, to only 107 over the same time period. The FBI Name Check Backlog, defined as requests pending longer than six months, has effectively been eliminated.

The USCIS National Records Center (NRC) retrieved, verified, and retired over 1.2 

million Alien Files in FY 2008. Over 230,000 files were entered into the National 

File Tracking System and the Central Index System. This structure protects data 

integrity and ensures accurate information is available for benefit and law enforcement programs associated with USCIS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 

Customs and Border Protection.

As USCIS anti-fraud and national security efforts have matured, intelligence and 

enforcement communities have recognized the value of having USCIS subject matter experts available for advice, information, and coordination. In order to improve 

information sharing and mutual education opportunities, USCIS Fraud Detection 

and National Security (FDNS) officers are 

embedded at the Department of State’s Kentucky Consular Center, FBI, ICE, INTERPOL, 

the National Joint Terrorism Task Force, El Paso 

Intelligence Center and the National Targeting 

Center. USCIS also implemented a field intelligence program to improve communication 

between USCIS field offices and local investigatory and enforcement entities. 

In order to provide useful information to 

those entities with the need to know, USCIS developed a Field Intelligence Program. 

Expected to be implemented in FY 2009, this 

program will deploy collateral duty and full 

time USCIS intelligence officers to field offices to facilitate the sharing of immigration 

information.
FY 2008 Annual Report

8

Objective 1.4: Integrate

security precepts with

Immigration adjudication

processes

As the gatekeepers of our national immigration system, we serve on the front lines of 

homeland security. We take this responsibility seriously. USCIS is continuously adapting 

security processes ahead of potential threats to 

the integrity of our immigration system. 

USCIS established an automated, computerbased Person Centric-Query (PCQ) Service. 

The PCQ represents a new automated approach of submitting a single query across a number of intra-agency 

systems and returning a consolidated view of an immigrants’ journey through the 

U.S. immigration system. The USCIS PCQ Service was nominated to the 2008 President’s Quality Award Program for excellence in Expanded Electronic Government.

USCIS quality assurance analysts audited the administration of Naturalization Quality Procedures (NQP) and conducted Naturalization Decisional Quality Reviews to 

ensure full compliance with USCIS policies and procedures by field office personnel 

in light of the significant increase in applications being processed under the surge 

elimination plan. The results of the NQP audit, monitored quarterly throughout the 

year, indicated that USCIS officers maintained accuracy rates in excess of 99% for 

Naturalization applications.

USCIS worked closely with the Department of State to launch a DNA pilot program in East Africa to empirically assess the extent of relationship fraud found in 

the Priority 3 (family reunification) refugee program. During a one week period, 

approximately 500 refugee applicants in East Africa were asked to submit to DNA 

testing; the results were significant – only 13% of relationships were confirmed to 

be valid.

 The remaining applicants refused to participate in testing, failed to appear for subsequent processing or had one family member in which the claimed relationship 

was not supported by DNA testing. Given the significant levels of fraud identified, 

the pilot program was expanded to other locations and acceptance of new P-3 cases 

suspended until an official application form incorporating a formal DNA testing 

regime for P-3 cases is developed in the future.
Early 20th Century immigrants arriving at Ellis Island 9

Strategic Goal 2: Provide effective

customer-oriented immigration benefit

and information

Objective 2.1: Improve timely processing of

immigration benefits

As a customer-oriented agency, one of the greatest responsibilities we face at USCIS 

is to ensure the highest quality service. It is our mission to make certain that the 

right person receives the right benefit in the right amount of time.

During the fourth quarter of FY 2007, USCIS received an unprecedented number 

of applications and petitions for immigration benefits. Nearly 2.5 million immigration benefit applications and petitions of all types were received, compared to 1.2 

million applications and petitions received in the same period the previous year. 

The scale of this sudden surge of applications over a short time period was unprecedented. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

10

To manage the filing surge, USCIS initiated a detailed work plan that resulted in the 

agency exceeding processing goals. Over the course of FY 2008, USCIS naturalized 

a record number of applicants while improving processing times for other core applications. USCIS employees completed 1.17 million naturalization applications, an 

increase of 56% compared to FY 2007. Through July, USCIS processed and adjudicated a total of 6.5 million applications for all types of benefits and petitions - 1.6 

million more than we received.

Naturalization processing times, which were once as high as 16-18 months, were 

down to 10 to 12 months at the close of FY 2008, with many local offices processing cases in 5 to 6 months. This success put USCIS on track to reduce national 

processing time averages to our goal of 5 months by the summer of FY 2009.

The USCIS Asylum Division exceeded its target for the percentage of credible fear 

screening determinations completed within 14-days of referral, completing 93 percent of cases within that timeframe. The Asylum Division achieved a 3.38 receiptsbased cycle time for asylum applications and a 3.16 receipts-based cycle time for 

NACARA applications. During the fiscal year, the Asylum Division reduced its pending caseload by 58 percent. 

USCIS deployed officers to 71 countries to interview more than 99,000 refugee 

applicants from 59 nations, a 44 percent increase over FY 2007. In addition, USCIS 

increased refugee processing circuit rides by 26 

percent, supporting the admission of 60,192 

refugees from around the world, the highest 

level of admissions since FY 2001. 

USCIS officers conducted 29 circuit rides to 

the Middle East to interview more than 23,000 

Iraqi refugee applicants. Ultimately, 13,823 

Iraqi refugees were admitted to the United 

States in FY 2008, exceeding the admissions 

goal of 12,000 Iraqis. Our efforts also resulted 

in a robust pipeline of approved Iraqi refugee 

applicants for admission in FY 2009.

USCIS successfully adjudicated 149,667 employment-based adjustment-of-status applications during FY 2008. This amount accounted 

for more than 92 percent of total available 

employment visas.
11

FY 2008 Annual Report

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 2

Objective 2.2: Use innovative approaches to

provide information resources and services to

eligible individuals and entities, including the

general public

USCIS is committed to providing immigration services and benefits to eligible applicants as expeditiously as possible and providing for a convenient and personalized immigration experience. Through the use of innovative information products 

and focused community outreach initiatives, USCIS improved stakeholder relations 

and provided for more frequent and more meaningful interactions with customers.

USCIS introduced a toll-free (1-800) Military Help Line with specially trained 

USCIS customer service representatives and a web page to assist service members, 

military families, and military points-of-contact with all immigration and citizenship issues. The Help Line handled approximately 38,000 calls for assistance during 

the fiscal year. USCIS also naturalized more than 6,800 immigrant service members. 

A new, fee-for-service, Genealogy Program was opened as a dedicated method for 

researchers to obtain information and copies of 

historical records over the internet. This initiative improved customer service for researchers 

and individuals requesting genealogy information, eliminated the need to file a Freedom 

of Information/Privacy Act request to obtain 

genealogy information, and improved that 

program’s service to traditional agency customers.

USCIS Congressional Liaison staff managed 

over 12,000 telephone inquiries, 2,600 formal written inquiries and 4,600 electronic/email inquiries from U.S. House and Senate 

offices relating to immigration policy and 

casework in addition to organizing nearly 

130 meetings and briefings with Members of 

Congress or staff. The Office of Congressional Relations was recognized by DHS leadership for having no overdue congressional 

correspondence.
FY 2008 Annual Report

12

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 2

Objective 2.3: Foster a customer-centered, 

scalable approach to service delivery

Over fifty different types of immigration 

benefits are processed through USCIS. Every case is unique and requires specialized 

attention from experienced USCIS immigration officers.

USCIS established an interactive, web-based 

tool for use by the general public to check 

the status of their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with USCIS. The 

USCIS FOIA Office received 80,000 FOIA 

requests and closed over 84,000 cases. 

The Asylum Division translated standard 

notices into the languages most commonly spoken by asylum applicants and 

established procedures to distribute these 

translated documents with decision letters 

to help USCIS customers better understand the decisions in their cases.

The Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program 

(CFRP) was launched, benefiting Cuban nationals who reside in Cuba and who 

are the beneficiaries of an approved Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-130, but for 

whom an immigrant visa is not yet immediately available. The CFRP accounted for 

5,569 travel documents issued. 

USCIS opened a regional office in Buffalo, N.Y. consisting of Status Verification 

Operations and Monitoring/Compliance functions to support E-Verify and SAVE 

customers. A contract was put in place with the National Call Center to create a formal in-bound call center functionality, develop formal scripts, and train call center 

personnel. 

A Community Relations webpage was established on USCIS.gov in addition to a 

public email address for Community Relations Officers (CROs) to ensure that stakeholders have access to the CROs in their jurisdictions. 
Early 20th Century immigrant at Ellis Island 13

Strategic Goal 3: Support

immigrants’ integration and participation in

American civic culture

Objective 3.1: Enhance educational resources

and promote opportunities to increase understanding of U.S. civic principles and citizenship, including its privileges and responsibilities

A key aspect of our mission to make the immigration process more meaningful, and impart a greater appreciation of American values to our newest citizens. 

Through the Office of Citizenship, USCIS is working to provide immigrants with 

the information and tools necessary to successfully integrate into American civic 

culture. The release of several USCIS educational products helps facilitate a smoother and simpler transition for immigrants into American life and make their immigration journey a successful one. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

14

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 3

As a lead component of the President’s 

Task Force on New Americans, USCIS led 

over a dozen outreach events to promote 

citizenship and civic integration initiatives, particularly its two flagship projects, WelcometoUSA.gov and the New 

Americans Project. USCIS also launched 

a public service campaign to promote 

volunteerism and the New Americans 

Project by producing foreign language 

broadcast announcements to reach a 

combined circulation of eight million 

individuals.

USCIS continued to improve upon previously organized citizenship education 

efforts with the publication Welcome to 

the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants

in two new languages, Polish and Urdu, 

for a total of 13 volumes. This publication was distributed along with more than 

15,000 Civics and Citizenship Toolkit to libraries, community and faith-based organizations, and adult education sites. 

USCIS recognized 15 foreign-born Naturalized 

Citizens as Outstanding Americans by Choice 

at high-profile naturalization ceremonies nationwide. In conjunction with this effort, the 

agency continued to promote the historical 

contributions of immigrants through a poster 

series on the contributions of immigrants to 

the U.S., highlighting prominent foreign-born 

Americans.

Educational efforts included hosting training 

conferences and workshops for volunteers 

and adult educators on the revised naturalization test, techniques for teaching civics and 

citizenship, and the naturalization process in 

general. To date, USCIS has trained more than 

2,000 individuals in over 25 conferences and 

workshops nationwide. USCIS field offices 

across the United States presented more than 

40 “Immigration 101” seminars.
15

FY 2008 Annual Report

Objective 3.2: Continue to ensure that the

naturalization process is a

meaningful experience and

leaves a positive, indelible

impression

USCIS sponsored more than 450 special 

naturalizations ceremonies in scenic and 

historic venues across the U.S., from Ellis 

Island to the deck of the USS Midway in San 

Diego Harbor, to highlight the naturalization process to general public audiences. 

USCIS officers traveled to military bases 

throughout the world, including war zones 

in Iraq and Afghanistan, and naturalized 

over 1,500 military service members and 

their qualified family members overseas.

USCIS coordinated with the Department of Defense to accomplish the 

largest overseas military naturalization 

ceremonies since the implementation 

of the National Defense Authorization 

Act of 2004, naturalizing 252 military 

service members in Balad, Iraq, on 

November 11, 2007; and 259 military 

service members in Baghdad, Iraq on 

April 12, 2008.
16 Early 20th Century immigrant family at Ellis Island

Strategic Goal 4: Promote flexible and

sound immigration policies and programs

16

Objective 4.1: Contribute to development of

clear, comprehensive, and effective policies

related to immigration and citizenship issues

USCIS policies are more robust and thorough today than they have ever been—an 

approach consistent with our obligation to individual applicants and the Nation as 

a whole. As such, a wide range of legislative and administrative issues affected our 

business processes and required the adaptation of existing policies and procedures. 
17

FY 2008 Annual Report

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 4

To implement the Consolidated Natural Resources Act (CNRA), USCIS developed planning 

to promulgate the wide range of regulations 

and policy guidance needed to ensure the application of Federal immigration law and regulations to the Commonwealth of the Northern 

Mariana Islands (CNMI). These actions will 

help implement effective border control procedures, codify policy and procedures governing 

the transition period, work authorization, legal 

status of current residents, treaty investor provisions, removal procedures, address national 

and homeland security issues, and minimize 

the potential adverse economic and fiscal effects of phasing out the CNMI’s own foreign 

worker program. 

In addition, USCIS developed guidance and 

a nationwide training for field offices and 

service centers to implement the Adam Walsh 

Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Act provides that aliens who have been 

convicted of certain specified offenses against a minor are precluded from filing 

family based immigration petitions unless the 

immigration services officer determines that 

the petitioner poses no risk to the beneficiary. 

USCIS also successfully implemented national 

obligations under the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect 

of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption 

Convention). This implementation enhances 

the security and insures the integrity of overseas adoption benefits.

As part of the Task Force on New Americans, 

USCIS drafted the report Building an Americanization Movement for the Twenty-first Century: A Report 

to the President of the United States from the Task Force 

on New Americans with policy recommendations to strengthen assimilation efforts in the 

United States. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

18

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 4

Objective 4.2: Ensure

the integrity, effectiveness, 

and responsiveness of

USCIS programs

USCIS continued to develop the Enterprise 

Document Management System (EDMS) 

to improve agency organization and support record keeping through the delivery 

of digitized Alien Registration Files. This 

system imports digital records and allows 

viewer access to USCIS users as well as 

other authorized government users. EDMS 

Release 2.1 improved the physical hardware necessary to increase system capacity to 50,000 Alien Registration files per 

month for more than 15,000 users. At the 

end FY 2008, the system contained over 400,000 Alien Registration files.

After a petition or application is denied by USCIS, petitioners and applicants have 

the opportunity to seek an appeal to overturn the adverse decision. USCIS received 

12,177 appeals, motions, and requests for certification based on cases adjudicated 

in FY 2008. Federal courts upheld 87 percent of litigated USCIS Administrative Appeals Office decisions. 

USCIS effectively administrated the re-registration of more than 300,000 individuals from Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador residing in the U.S. under Temporary 

Protected Status (TPS). This effort was coordinated through an extensive public 

outreach campaign to inform TPS recipients of the required procedures, in conjunction with consular offices from the affected nations. 

USCIS played a key role, working with the Office of Chief Counsel, ICE and DHS 

Policy and General Counsel, to collectively implement a sound policy approach for 

the use of the Secretary’s discretionary authority to exempt individuals from the 

material support inadmissibility ground. USCIS took the lead in drafting and disseminating substantive guidance for implementation of this authority throughout 

the agency, including changes in the law enacted by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008. Through USCIS Material Support Working Group, USCIS components raised and discussed issues of concern for intra-agency discussion and counsel interpretation. 
Early 20th Century immigrants arrive at Ellis Island 19

Strategic Goal 5: Strengthen the

infrastructure supporting the USCIS mission

Objective 5.1: Strengthen key management

processes, systems, and administrative support

activities, including our information technology

infrastructure

USCIS is working to transform the delivery of our immigration systems to make the 

public service we provide more secure and efficient. Following an extensive due 

diligence and evaluation phase that included providing industry bidders with access 

to Headquarters leadership and field operations, USCIS has awarded the Transformation Solution Architect Task Order, part of the DHS Eagle Contract, to IBM. The Task 

Order is an integral part of the USCIS transformation plan and represents a five-year 

investment to develop a new case management system and reengineer USCIS business processes by using industry-proven processes and technology.
FY 2008 Annual Report

20

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 5

For the fourth year in a row, USCIS exceeded DHS goals in the asset management 

and personal property arena. USCIS substantially strengthened personal property 

infrastructure and accountability agency wide, providing for the annual inventory 

and reconciliation for over 140,000 items valued at more than $120 million. 

The USCIS Senior Review Board approved over 260 acquisitions valued at over $1.6 

billion and the USCIS Contracting Officer awarded over $1 billion in contracts and 

provided active oversight for the administration of approximately $4 billion in ongoing contracts.

Objective 5.2: Enhance the organization’s

ability to support the mission in changing

environments

USCIS experienced record growth in new employee hires and facility acquisitions. 

USCIS began the year managing close to 16,000 employees, 5.5 million square feet 

of office space and 21 ongoing Lease Acquisition Projects. By the end of the Fiscal 

Year, an additional 3,000 employees came on duty, more than 200,000 square feet 

of office space was added and 26 new Lease Acquisition Projects had been started. 

The agency also implemented the first phase 

of the Overseas Footprint Realignment Plan 

to better meet the needs of the USCIS mission 

overseas, including the needs of internal and 

external stakeholders. This included opening 

a new office in Amman, Jordan, to provide 

crucial support in processing Iraqi refugees 

and closing offices in Tijuana and Hong Kong 

to more effectively align personnel resources 

with workloads and manage resources in a 

changing international environment. International Operations expanded the overseas 

officer corps by 22 officers, representing a 

37 percent increase in the number of USCIS 

overseas officers. 
21

FY 2008 Annual Report

Objective 5.3: Manage

financial resources strategically, including revenue, 

expenditures, and capital

investments

USCIS completed quarterly budget and 

performance reviews of all agency funding 

sources totaling $2.7 billion, no later than 

45 days after the close of the quarterly accounting periods. In addition, the agency 

improved payroll expense projections by 

developing and implementing an enhanced 

payroll projection tool for USCIS’ approximately $1 billion payroll expenses.

USCIS established and fully staffed a division 

to manage transition of the application/petition receipting functions from USCIS 

Service Centers to Treasury Lockbox Operations. This will improve USCIS ability 

to manage the intake of revenue 

through centralized locations and 

make the receipt process more costeffective and transparent. 

USCIS also developed an internal Systematic Alien Verification 

Entitlements (SAVE) billing and 

collections function updating 266 

customer agreements for federal, 

state, and local agencies currently 

registered with the SAVE Program, 

thereby ensuring collection of 2.5 

million dollars in revenue.
22 A 20th Century immigrant receives her naturalization certificate

Goal 6: Operate as a high-performance

organization that promotes a highly talented

workforce and a dynamic work culture

Objective 6.1: Strengthen the strategic management of human capital, including recruiting, hiring

and, career development

In response to the application surge, USCIS formulated a plan to deal with a sudden

and significant increase in its pending workload. The end result of this effort was 

the development of innovative approaches to maximize our resources and invest 

in our most valuable resource—human capital. To that end, we refined our human 

capital processes to more efficiently hire new employees, train them and get them 

on the front lines.
23

FY 2008 Annual Report

Str

ategi

c G

o

a

l 6

USCIS attracted nearly 55,000 qualified 

applicants through various nationwide 

announcements. USCIS hired 3,771 

new employees, including 1,471 Immigration Services Officers (formally 

Adjudication Officers). With this record hiring, USCIS has increased staff 

by 20.5 percent and achieved nearly 

88 percent of its two-year fee hiring 

in the first year. 

Under these new hiring initiatives, 

USCIS recruited and hired individuals with disabilities, with a focus on 

severely injured disabled veterans. Individuals with disabilities comprised 

9.3 percent of new permanent hires. 

In support of the largest agency-wide 

hiring surge in USCIS history, USCIS 

implemented an expedited process for advanced security entry on duty (EOD) approvals for surge hiring priorities, which reduced 

the average EOD approval cycle time by 50 

percent to 14 days for USCIS new hires and 

9.5 days for surge applicants. USCIS approved 

8,284 applicants to enter on duty (EOD) 

with the service, processed 2,235 internal 

transfers within USCIS, and made 6,778 

adjudicative determinations, a 62 percent 

increase in adjudicative determination over 

FY 2007. 

As part of an overall agency workforce 

restructuring initiative (WRI), Domestic 

Operations executed and completed implementation of a new workforce model in 

all of its field offices in the United States 

affecting over 5,500 federal employees. It 

was determined that WRI was necessary in 

order to more properly align with the job 

duties and responsibilities. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

24

To continue to attract talented, high-quality employees, USCIS launched the USCIS 

Recruitment and Hiring webpage located on the USCIS website. This website contains a wealth of resources, human capital guidance, information on various USCIS 

career opportunities and a direct link to USCIS career opportunities posted on the 

Office of Personnel Management’s USAJOBS website. 

USCIS also implemented and expanded an automated performance management 

system for managers, supervisors and non-bargaining unit employees in accordance 

with Office of Personnel Management guidelines on aligning performance to mission goals.

Objective 6.2: Foster a culture of integrity and

responsibility

USCIS provided training to over 10,000 employees on issues of integrity, emphasizing every employee’s responsibility to uphold the highest ethical standards and 

to administer the immigration system fairly, honestly, and correctly. The training 

included employees’ responsibilities, examples of “red flags” for corruption or 

misconduct, mechanisms and programs in place to identify criminal or serious 

misconduct, and guidance on reporting any 

suspected criminal or serious misconduct. 

The USCIS Office of Privacy was also created to 

prevent potential lapses in the secure handling 

of sensitive employee and customer personal 

data and to ensure privacy controls are built 

into system operations and procedures. The 

agency also issued a series of memoranda and 

other guidance to increase awareness and enhance employee knowledge and understanding of federal privacy laws, statutes, regulations, and policy.
25

FY 2008 Annual Report

Objective 6.3: Sustain

a culture of continuous

learning and development

The USCIS Academy built a diverse suite of 

training and education programs to prepare 

USCIS employees for current and future job 

responsibilities. These programs are organized under four categories: Immigration 

Training, Continuous Learning, Leadership Education and Development, and the 

Tuition Assistance Program. 

Through the USCIS Academy, a new, updated curriculum for BASIC was released 

at the beginning of FY 2008. The development of the curriculum was the result 

of an agency-wide collaborative effort to 

deliver a training program on a real-time 

basis grounded in on-the-job performance and addressing the changing needs of 

immigration benefit processing. More than 1,350 new Immigration Services Officers completed BASIC immigration training.

More than 360 USCIS employees participated in advanced skills training workshops, executive education programs and national security classes under the USCIS 

Academy’s Leadership Education and Development program. Approximately 3,000 

employees participated in Workforce Development programs. New supervisory 

training for first line and mid-level supervisors was developed and rolled out, with 

220 participants in these courses in FY 2008. 

In order to further enhance anti-fraud and national security efforts, USCIS developed and improved its Fraud Officer Basic Training Course. Beyond the Basic training, FDNS is developing program and process-specific training courses to implement all anti-fraud and national security programs consistently throughout the 

Agency.

Under professional education, over 20 employees participated in rigorous education programs at private institutions. 209 individuals – 50 of who are in degree 

programs – completed 300 courses under the USCIS Academy Tuition Assistance 

Program.
26 19th Century immigrants at Ellis Island

Financial Overview: USCIS’ strategic

use of resources to accomplish its mission

FiscalYear ‘08 Snapshot

For the FY 2008/FY 2009 Biennial period, USCIS implemented a system, as 

authorized by law, to recover the full cost of its operations. Additional resources 

have enabled USCIS to begin building a strong foundation upon which to build 

a modern immigration service for the 21st century. To enhance the transparency 

of our operations and provide the public with an accurate picture of how USCIS’

resources are allocated, we have provided a financial snapshot of our operations in 

FY 2008.
27

FY 2008 Annual Report

Income

USCIS took in nearly $2.5 billion in 

application and petition fee revenue 

during FY 2008, more than $330 

million over the FY 2007 level. Nonfee appropriations totaled $81 million.

In total, USCIS received nearly $2.6 

billion in new resources during the 

fiscal year. Spending (i.e., obligations 

and expenditures) totaled nearly $2.5 

billion. The difference between total 

new budgetary resources and spending 

was approximately $90 million.

Spending

More than 78 percent, or $1.9 billion, 

of spending occurred within our 

core immigration operations offices 

covering domestic and international 

adjudication operations, as well 

as customer service, support, and 

outreach. 

Nearly all remaining activities relate to 

or support these functions. Activities 

include those that are administrative 

such as rent and services we receive 

from other agencies (e.g., financial, 

security, mail). 

Other related costs include fraud 

detection and the operation of our 

Business Transformation program, 

a program that is leading the USCIS 

modernization effort. 

The immigration status verification 

activity, constituting approximately 

3 percent of USCIS spending, 

has a unique role outside of core 

immigration operation functions by 

providing immigration status services 

to governments and businesses.

Fee Revenue: $2.5 Billion

New Appropriations: $81 Million

Total Revenue: $2.6 Billion

Fee-based Spending: $2.4 Billion

Non-fee Spending: $108 Million

Total Spending: $2.5 Billion
FY 2008 Annual Report

28

Overall, about 35 percent of spending 

($875 million) was used for pay 

and benefits for more than 10,000 

temporary and permanent employees 

on board at the end of the year. 

The remaining 65 percent of spending 

($1,591 million) was used for 

general expenses. General expenses 

cover a broad range of activities and 

functions; from large contracts that 

support significant operations such as 

Application Support Centers and card 

production, to information technology, 

to facilities maintenance, and to much 

smaller costs such as employee travel 

and training.

Non-Personnel Expenses

$1.6 Billion

Pay & Benefits

$875 Million

Total Expenses: $2.5 Billion

Immigration Status Verification

$76 Million

Fraud Detection & National Security

$65 Million

Administration

$335 Million

Business Transformation

$56 Million

Customer Service, Support, & Outreach

$251 Million

International Adjudication Operations

$153 Million

Domestic Adjudication Operations

$1,531 Million

Total Spending Activity:

$2.4 Billion
29

FY 2008 Annual Report

The majority of fee revenue is deposited in the Immigration Examinations Account 

(or “Exams Account”) – the central fee account authorized by the Immigration 

and Naturalization Act and under which USCIS has the authority to recover costs 

through fees. About $1.2 billion or 50 percent of all fee revenue was derived from 

just four application types – adjustment of status, naturalization, employment 

authorization, and alien relative petition.

Spending and revenue plans are benchmarked to targets encompassed within the 

2007 fee review covering the FY 2008 through FY2009 period. Exams Account 

revenue ended the year $52 million below 2007 fee review assumptions. At this 

time, we are planning for the possibility that FY 2009 will face a similar reduction.

USCIS is taking action to ensure spending plans for FY2009 are consistent with new 

revenue estimates. While spending is expected to exceed the FY 2008 level, that 

is due primarily to spending associated with temporary capacity increases USCIS 

implemented to address a surge in adjudication workload realized just prior FY 

2007 fee schedule changes. Temporary capacity will be drawn down as necessary 

during FY2009 and early FY2010.

Other

Travel Document

Non-Immigrant Worker

Green Card Replacement

Premium Processing

Biometrics

Alien Relative Petition

Employment Authorization

Naturalization

Adjustment of Status

$530 Million

$90 Million

$131 Million

$133 Million

$163 Million

$175 Million

$226 Million

$276 Million

$375 Million

$376 Million

Total Revenue: $2.5 Billion
30

Operations Data: 

FiscalYear 2008 by the Numbers

19th Century immigrants arriving in the United States

With more than 18,000 federal and contract employees in 263 offices worldwide, 

USCIS is the largest immigration service in the world. Each day USCIS fulfills its 

promise to provide accurate and useful information to our customers, to adjudicate immigration and citizenship benefits, to detect and defer benefit fraud, and to 

promote awareness and understanding of United States citizenship. USCIS interacts 

with customers and adjudicates applications and petitions for a range of benefits 

including employment authorization, advance parole, asylum and refugee status, 

adjustment of status, and naturalization and citizenship.

Every year, USCIS receives approximately six million immigration applications and 

petitions for legal review and adjudication. Each day, in offices worldwide, USCIS 

provides dynamic, efficient service. We take this responsibility very seriously.

Our constant effort to deliver high quality service drives us to thoroughly screen 

and process applications, render timely decisions, and provide accurate information. 

We honor our commitment to public service through dedication to our mission of 

welcoming new immigrants and citizens and preserving the integrity of the immigration system.
31

FY 2008 Annual Report

All Forms

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

Oct-06Nov-06Dec-06Jan-07Feb-07Mar-07

Apr-07

May-07Jun-07Jul-07 Aug-07Sep-07Oct-07Nov-07Dec-07Jan-08Feb-08Mar-08

Apr-08

May-08Jun-08Jul-08 Aug-08

Sep-08

Active Suspense – Cases temporarily in suspense because we cannot process 

them today. For example, we may ask a customer for more information, and wait 

for their reply. This category also includes cases outside our control for security 

and background checks by other agencies.

Backlog – USCIS calculates its Backlog by subtracting Active Pending and 

Active Suspense from the total pending of each type of case. Any remaining 

positive balance is referred to as a Backlog. 

Active Pending – The volume of receipts received for each case type within 

the goal processing time. For example, if we have a processing time goal of 

4 months, we count receipts for the prior 4 months, and that is our acceptable 

Active Pending.

Receipts – The total number of applications and petitions for benefits received.

Completions – The total number of cases closed. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

32

The charts in this section show overall trends in receipts, completions, pending and 

backlogs since the completion of the first backlog elimination effort at the end of 

FY2006. 

Prior to August 2007 USCIS application fees did not keep pace with the costs of adjudicating applications. This meant the agency could not afford the resources needed to keep up with a growing workload and resulted in a rapidly growing backlog. 

Congress stepped in for a period of years with a temporary subsidy of appropriated 

funds to finance the resources needed to deplete the existing backlog. That subsidy 

ended in FY 2006 with the successful culmination of the first backlog elimination 

effort. The end of the temporary subsidy restored the pre-existing cost/capacity 

imbalance until the summer of 2007 when USCIS implemented a new fee structure 

to recover processing costs. 

Thus FY 2007 was a bridge year to a new, self-sustaining financial structure. However, in the summer of FY 2007, a sudden surge in demand temporarily compounded the capacity problem. The announced fee increase was itself one cause, as 

some chose to file their applications and petitions before the increase took effect. 

However, to the extent the surge was due to early filing, the increased volume of 

receipts prior to the fee increase was largely balanced by decreased volume afterwards. While core application volume increased 16% in June and July of 2007, 

N-400

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

Oct-06Nov-06Dec-06Jan-07Feb-07Mar-07

Apr-07

May-07

Jun-07Jul-07 Aug-07

Sep-07Oct-07Nov-07Dec-07Jan-08Feb-08Mar-08

Apr-08

May-08Jun-08Jul-08 Aug-08

Sep-08
33

FY 2008 Annual Report

filings of naturalization applications more than doubled in June, and in July naturalization filings were about eight times normal monthly receipts. Furthermore, USCIS 

received almost 800,000 additional employment-based applications for permanent 

residence due to the announcement by the Department of State in its July 2007 Visa 

Bulletin that any person in the United States waiting for an employment-based visa 

number could immediately apply for adjustment. 

In response to the unprecedented number of immigration applications and petitions received during June and July of FY 2007, USCIS developed a Surge Response 

Plan (SRP). The SRP was an operational blueprint responding to the increase in 

workload. It was built on the capabilities the new fee structure would create and 

on the revenue that came with the summer surge in application filings. As a result 

USCIS increased the Adjudications Officer workforce by 1,199 in FY 2008.

I-485

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

Oct-06Nov-06Dec-06Jan-07Feb-07Mar-07

Apr-07

May-07Jun-07Jul-07 Aug-07

Sep-07Oct-07Nov-07Dec-07Jan-08Feb-08Mar-08

Apr-08

May-08Jun-08Jul-08 Aug-08

Sep-08

Backlog Active Suspense

Receipts Active Pending

Completions
FY 2008 Annual Report

34

In FY 2008 USCIS reduced our total inventory of pending cases by 31 percent 

to 3.655 million. We substantially reduced processing times in several key areas, 

including naturalization, which we prioritized due to the large number of applications filed in the summer of 2007. This surge of applications drove our estimated 

processing time at the end of FY 2007 to 16 – 18 months. Last year we increased 

naturalization production by almost 57%, to 1.171 million, and reduced our 

national average processing time to 8.8 months. At the end of FY 2008 our total 

pending inventory of naturalization cases was less than the volume of cases we received that year, which demonstrates that we effectively worked through the entire 

1.4 million cases we received in FY 2007.

All Other Forms

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

Oct-06Nov-06Dec-06Jan-07Feb-07Mar-07

Apr-07

May-07Jun-07

Jul-07 Aug-07Sep-07Oct-07Nov-07

Dec-07Jan-08Feb-08Mar-08

Apr-08

May-08Jun-08Jul-08 Aug-08

Sep-08

Backlog Active Suspense

Receipts Active Pending

Completions
Vietnamese refugees arriving in the United States 35

Refugee Affairs Division: 

FY08 Production Data

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is an interagency partnership involving several governmental and non-governmental organizations, both overseas 

and domestically, whose mission is to identify qualified refugees for resettlement to 

the United States. The Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (DOS/PRM) coordinates and manages the USRAP overall while the authority to interview and adjudicate applications for refugee status rests with USCIS. 

Specially-trained officers from the Refugee Affairs Division (RAD) make refugee 

case status decisions on a case-by-case basis after analyzing the applicant’s testimony, case file information, security check results and country conditions. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

36

Refugee Processing Data

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

FY2006 FY2007 FY2008

Pending

Decision

Denied

Approved

Near East/

South Asia

Latin America/

Caribbean

Europe & 

Central Asia

East Asia Africa

Total Arrivals FY 2008:

60,192 

Total Arrivals FY 2007: 

48,281

Refugee Corps Officers were deployed 

to 71 countries to interview more 

than 99,000 refugee applicants from 

59 nations, a 44 percent increase over 

FY 2007. In addition, USCIS increased 

refugee processing circuit rides by 

26 percent, supporting the admission 

of 60,192 refugees from around the 

world, the highest level of admissions 

since FY 2001. 

USCIS officers conducted 29 circuit 

rides to the Middle East to interview 

more than 23,000 Iraqi refugee applicants. Ultimately, 13,823 Iraqi refugees 

were admitted to the United States in 

FY 2008.
An immigration officer reviews paperwork in the early 20th Century 37

In FY 2007, USCIS restructured its fee schedule, the first major change to our fees 

in 10 years. As a result of this restructuring, significant funds were earmarked for 

improving USCIS’ performance in processing immigration-related petitions and 

applications. In conjunction with these fee increases, the USCIS Director created the 

Growth Management Oversight Unit (GMOU) to track implementation of the critical enhancements funded by these new revenues. 

Growth Management: Building

a 21st Century Immigration Workforce
FY 2008 Annual Report

38

Growth

M

a

nagement

GMOU has two primary functions. The first was to oversee the hiring of approximately 2,700 new government employees, ensuring they are hired and trained in 

a timely manner. Approximately half of the new positions are immigration services 

officers, who review and process immigration-related applications; the other half 

is composed of specialists necessary to maintain day-to-day operations as well as 

provide administrative support. The second function is to track improvements to 

USCIS’ infrastructure, including, facilities, training, internal processing improvements, and upgrades to its information technology (IT) systems. In all, these 

improvements will allow USCIS to more efficiently process applications and provide 

better customer service while providing enhanced security against fraud and possible threats to our homeland.

Growth Management Achievements

In FY 2008, USCIS used new revenues from the revised fee schedule to:

Hire 1,517 New Federal Employees

Increasing the agency’s capacity to adjudicate applications is one of the keys to 

improved performance. Infused with new revenues generated by the revised fee 

schedule, USCIS was responsible for increasing its workforce by a total of 1,517 

new employees. 

Sept 07 Dec 08

4,068 Fee Rule 

+ Surge Target

3,683 Adjudicators 

onboard 08/30/08

3,288 Fee 

RuleTarget

2,565 Adjudicators 

onboard 09/30/07

Adjudicator Growth
39

FY 2008 Annual Report

Of these, 723 were to be immigration services officers, who directly process immigration applications. The other 794 positions support USCIS operations in various 

ways and include customer service representatives, program auditors, administrative 

staff, legal counsel, fraud detection and national security officers, and IT specialists. 

In addition to obtaining these 1,517 new 

positions, USCIS received authorization to 

hire 1,200 more employees as a result of an 

unexpected surge of applications filed during 

the third quarter of FY 2007 that required additional resources beyond those allocated via 

the revised fee schedule. 

By the end of FY 2008 more than 1,700 new 

staff had been added to the USCIS workforce 

to support these new requirements (see 

graphs below). Of these, over 1,000 were 

hired and trained as immigration services officers by the end of FY 2008. 

More work remains, but the progress made 

to date is noteworthy, especially when con8,870 Fee Rule Target

8,480 Employees 

onboard 08/30/08

6,684 Employees 

onboard 09/30/07

Sept 08 Dec 08

10,100 Fee Rule 

+ SurgeTarget

Fee-Rule & Surge Growth
FY 2008 Annual Report

40

Growth

M

a

nagement

sidering that the rate of hiring in FY 2008 

was four to five times higher than the norm 

in previous years and was all done while 

maintaining the federal government’s standards and procedures for civil service hiring.

The Growth Management Oversight Unit 

also oversaw additional enhancements 

funded by the new revenues. Thanks to 

the efforts of managers across all levels of 

USCIS, the following is a sample of the 

achievements seen to date:

Creation of the Secure Mailing

Initiative

($31.6 million per year)

USCIS has partnered with the U.S. Postal 

Service (USPS) to develop a secure, customer-friendly system for sending 

documents such as Alien Registration Cards and Employment Authorization Permits via USPS Priority Mail. The system will enhance the way USCIS monitors 

the delivery of secure documents and allow USCIS customers to track shipment 

of their documents online.

Enhance and ImproveTraining

($37.4 million per year)

The Office of Human Capital and Training 

established the USCIS Academy, a new 

institution that provides professional education and training opportunities for employees at all levels. 

In addition to providing substantive 

entry-level training, the USCIS Academy provides intermediate and advanced 

immigration training, offers continuous 

learning opportunities for professional and 

leadership development, and encourages 

members of the workforce to further their 

education during their careers through reimbursement of expenses for college-level 

courses and executive education. 
41

FY 2008 Annual Report

Fund Information Technology (IT) 

Initiatives ($109.9 million per year

and 88 federal staff)

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) 

is leveraging USCIS’ new resources to make 

needed improvements to the IT infrastructure 

of USCIS. Additional funds were necessary 

to upgrade and maintain the USCIS information technology environment, which includes 

programs to support a national securitybased immigration process that is more 

effective and customer focused. One of the 

programs will provide necessary technology 

upgrades to the current USCIS legacy IT 

systems so that these comply with federal 

regulations, law, and guidelines.

Another program focuses on upgrading and 

maintaining the USCIS IT operating environment so 

that it can sustain continued operations, reduce IT security risks and information 

sharing limitations through hardware and software standardization, and maintain 

USCIS’ ability to process cases and support other federal agencies. The third program provides USCIS with the capability to implement quick IT solutions as well 

as feature or functional enhancements to the legacy IT environment to address 

ongoing critical needs and legislative changes.
42 Early 20th Century Immigration Officers at Ellis Island

Transformation: 

Refining Processes With New Technology

In 2006, USCIS launched an agency-wide transformation that will position the organization to meet the escalating immigration challenges of the 21st century. These 

challenges include managing the increasing number of immigrants seeking U.S. 

benefits or citizenship; ensuring that deserving immigrants receive U.S. benefits or 

citizenship in a timely manner; and working across the immigration enterprise to 

identify, track, and apprehend individuals that pose threats to national security. 

The objective of the Transformation Program is to build a new business model. All 

components of USCIS will be engaged in developing the new model and tools to 

ensure they will have positive impact on agency operations. Employees will participate as subject matter experts in the development and review of business requirements, as testers in user acceptance testing, and as participants in focus groups. The 

new business model will allow USCIS to better manage the immense demands on 

employees due to the surge in workloads; to ensure enterprise-level services meet 

requirements at a departmental level; and to address the existing gaps in business 

process and supporting technologies that impair USCIS in achieving its national 

security, customer service and operational excellence goals.
43

FY 2008 Annual Report

Since 2006, USCIS has implemented several 

pilots and a proof of concept in an effort to 

learn lessons for full scale transformation 

of the USCIS business. The pilots included 

digitization of A-files, electronic case management, customer identity verification, and 

other pieces of the adjudication process. For 

each pilot and proof of concept, business 

units and field office personnel served as 

an integral part of the integrated product 

teams (IPT) to determine direction and 

monitor progress on these initiatives. 

USCIS and the Office of Information 

Technology (OIT) have made considerable 

progress with regards to the Enterprise 

Service Bus (ESB). Since its deployment in 

2007, ESB has provided a service-oriented 

architecture framework for connecting 

USCIS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Departmemt Of State (DOS), and US-VISIT systems across a single 

National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) supported messaging bus. ESB 

currently connects 11 systems from USCIS, ICE, DOS, and US-VISIT. Another seven 

systems will be added to ESB by the end 

of the calendar year2008. 

The most notable end-user component of 

ESB is the Person-Centric Query Service 

(PCQS). The PCQS is a composite service, 

which allows a user or system to submit 

a single query for all transactions involving a foreign national across a number of 

Department of Homeland Security and 

DOS systems. It returns a consolidated 

and correlated view of a foreign national’s past interactions with the government. The PCQS currently has more 

than 600 registered users and provides 

single-login, read-only access to seven 

systems. OIT added four more systems 

to the PCQS in November 2008. Users 

will be able to access 11 systems for simultaneous query under a single login.
FY 2008 Annual Report

44

T

r

a

nsform

at

ion

Looking to the future, USCIS requested contract proposals from private contractors to work with USCIS in developing a solution to support USCIS’ business transformation goals and to build the integrated operating environment for electronic 

adjudication. USCIS anticipates the transformed business process will deliver the 

following benefits:

• Enhanced national security and fraud detection

• Improved identity management

• Improved accuracy and consistency agencywide

• Decreased duplication of records

• Enhanced data sharing

• Increased customer accessibility

• Standardized business processes

• Improved workload and caseload management

• Greater accountability

• Elimination of manual reporting 

USCIS prepared for the far-reaching effects of transformation by standing up a new 

Office of Transformation Coordination (OTC). The OTC will lead, manage, and 

facilitate a comprehensive transformation of people, processes and technologies 

with quantifiable business outcomes. 

The OTC will coordinate all initiatives 

that impact or are impacted by transformation of the agency’s core business 

processes. 
Ellis Island in New York Harbor 45

Facilities Revitalization: 

Improving workspace to improve service

In 2003 USCIS was established as an independent agency with legacy facilities 

and minimal funding. As the first face and contact all immigrants experience with 

the federal government, it is critical USCIS make a positive first impression.

USCIS committed to bring the national immigration system into the 21st century 

and provide quality services from professional, convenient and modern facilities. 

Five years later, under excellent leadership and employee dedication, that commitment is being realized.

USCIS has started a number of initiatives to modernize our facilities. These initiatives were incorporated into a singular Model Office Concept that was unveiled 

in Fiscal Year 2007 and began implementation in Fiscal Year 2008. The Model 

Office combines architectural, engineering, business philosophy, and customer 

service concepts in order to provide better, more efficient offices with greater 

benefit to our customers.
FY 2008 Annual Report

46

F

a

c

i

l

i

t

i

e

s

Rev

i

ta

l

i

z

at

ion

USCIS has developed a regional office stamp through the use of color palettes, 

layouts, and unique signage that provide a pleasing atmosphere for employees and 

customers alike, and a cost savings through economies of scale. USCIS has developed a consistent and standard interior office design that provides easy navigation 

for our customers and better work flow for our employees. In addition, this standard office design is intended to decrease architectural and engineering costs and 

provide scheduling savings in future projects.

The location of USCIS Field Offices has been closely examined in the Model 

Office Concept. Through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS), 

USCIS has compared customer location and filing data, availability of public 

transportation, and other factors to select sites for future offices that best support 

the customer and the community. Through research into office efficiency, USCIS 

has determined that smaller offices, geographically distributed based on customer 

location, are more effective than one large central office. Decentralization projects 

have been initiated in Miami, Boston, New York, and Los Angeles to improve our 

services.

As a result of the Fee Enahancements approved in Fiscal Year 2007, USCIS experienced marked growth in both employee base and project inventory in Fiscal Year 

2008. USCIS began Fiscal Year 2008 managing 5.5 million square feet of space 

and 21 ongoing Lease Acquisition Projects. By the end of the Fiscal Year an additional 3,000 employees had to be housed and 26 new Lease Acquisition Projects 

had been started. These projects are setting the 

groundwork for USCIS to usher in a new era 

of immigration.

USCIS is transforming the way we do business by streamlining outdated processes 

to make us a more effective and efficient 

agency. USCIS is a fee-based agency that 

receives no appropriated funds to accomplish 

this transformation or to revitalize our outdated and overcrowded facilities. Therefore 

approximately 3.5% of the Fee Enhancement 

has been set aside for nearly a dozen facility 

renovation or new construction projects each 

year, for the next three years. This year alone 

USCIS managed a record setting 47 projects, 

over half of which were new starts. 
47

FY 2008 Annual Report

The following projects are highlights from the Fiscal Year:

Harrisonburg Remote File Maintenance Facility

(Harrisonburg, VA)

The Harrisonburg Remote File Maintenance 

Facility was a major multi-phase renovation 

project that began in July 2005. Phase 1 was 

an overhaul for the Records office, Phase 2 

the installation of the USCIS Continuation 

of Operations (COOP) and Phase 3 renovation completion. The project was completed 

in March 2008.

Hartford Field Office

(Hartford, CT)

The Hartford Field Office moved from 

the 4th floor of the A.A. Ribicoff Federal Building to the renovated 1st floor. 

The new space is a larger, more customer 

friendly office. Construction started in 

January 2007 and was completed in

November 2007.

Raleigh-Durham Field Office

(Durham, NC) 

The USCIS Raleigh-Durham Field Office marks the culmination of many years of 

hard work in opening a second Field Office in North Carolina. This office reduces 

the travel distance for customers in the state and is also one of the first offices to 

use several design elements from the “model office”. On top of that, it is certified 

LEED-Silver* for sustainable design. *LEED stands for Leadership in Energy 

and Environmental Design. It is a point based system where projects earn points 

for satisfying specific green building criteria within six credit categories. The six 

categories include Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, 

Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation in Design. 

The number of points the project earns determines the level of LEED Certification. USCIS currently has one LEED-Gold and one LEED-Silver facility. There 

are 18 LEED projects on the books over the next three years as USCIS strengthens it’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
FY 2008 Annual Report

48

Southeast Regional Office

(Orlando, FL)

In Fiscal Year 2007 Domestic Operations was 

restructured to improve management of the 

USCIS offices. A new “Southeast” Region 

was established. The Southeast Regional Office moved into their location in July 2008. 

RegionalVerification Center

(Buffalo, NY)

The USCIS Regional Verification Center was 

established in Buffalo, NY to support USCIS’s growing Employee Eligibility Verification Program. The office opened in February 2008 with plans for expansion already 

underway.

The Agency’s growth has not been limited to the USCIS Field Offices. The fee 

enhancements have helped Headquarters 

undergo a massive expansion in both responsibility and personnel. 

To accommodate this growth USCIS has initiated new Headquarters projects in 

both Washington, DC and Burlington, VT. 

In 2003 Washington consisted of two Headquarters facilities and Burlington only 

one. By the end of Fiscal Year 2009 Washington will have expanded to six facilities and Burlington to three. The new facilities include the Office of Security and 

Integrity, Records, Employment Eligibility Verification, Administrative Appeals, 

and a Training and Technical Center.
Early 20th Century immigrants at Ellis Island 49

Office Overviews:

Headquarters Offices and Divisions

A well-managed, modern immigration system is fundamental to maintaining our 

national and economic security. USCIS must be ready to face any challenge that 

presents itself. Whether it is the changing demographics of our customers, fluctuating and unpredictable demand for immigration services, new kinds of security 

threats, legislative mandates, or the tragedy of a man-made or natural disaster, we 

must be prepared to respond effectively.

USCIS component offices form the core of USCIS Operations, acting in conjunction to fulfill the USCIS mission and vision and guide our actions, our decisionmaking, and the processes we use to enhance and modernize our infrastructure 

and operations. The following section provides a brief overview of each office 

and its specific function within the agency.
FY 2008 Annual Report

50

Office of Administration

The Office of Administration provides the 

essential administrative services, policy and 

guidance to support USCIS operations and 

their customers. The office plans, develops 

and implements agency-wide policies, procedures and internal controls in the areas of, 

Asset and Facilities Management and Acquisition. 

Its mission is accomplished through the Facilities Management, the Asset Management 

and the Contract Support Divisions in headquarters, as well as the Field Support Center 

in Burlington, Vt. The headquarters office 

is responsible for planning, programming, 

budgeting, and policy decisions, whereas 

the Field Support Center is responsible for 

executing the programs and policies developed by headquarters. 

The goal of the Facilities Management Division is to provide a safe, secure, and 

productive work environment for its employees and customers. It manages an annual rent budget of approximately $168 million and an investment budget of over 

$61 million for planning and managing space. The Asset Management and Contract 

Support Division provides guidance and assistance to USCIS offices regarding all 

aspects of personal property management and has accountability of agency-wide 

property valued at almost $120 million. It also offers guidance and assistance with 

acquisition document preparation. The Field Support Center gives direct support to 

140 USCIS field locations, including project management and execution for lease 

acquisition, and a full range of asset management support. It also provides management and oversight for the acquisition of goods and services, being responsible for 

almost $1 billion in annual acquisitions and administration of approximately $5 

billion in existing contracts.

Administrative Appeals Office

The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) has jurisdiction over appeals from decisions on most immigration petitions and applications that are entered by USCIS 

regional service centers, district offices, and field offices worldwide. 

The opportunity to file an appeal after a petition or application has been denied allows a petitioner or applicant to attempt to overturn the adverse decision. There are 

numerous types of petitions and applications within the AAO’s jurisdiction, including employment-based immigration petitions, various waivers, legalization, and 
51

FY 2008 Annual Report

temporary protected status applications.

Selected AAO decisions are designated by 

the USCIS Deputy Director as USCIS Adopted Decisions, making them binding on 

all USCIS personnel. These Adopted Decisions provide a mechanism to establish 

consistency in interpretation and application of immigration and nationality law 

among all USCIS employees. Because the 

AAO reviews decisions from all USCIS 

offices throughout the world, it is in a 

unique position to detect patterns of 

fraud and to provide quality assurance to 

the USCIS adjudication process.

The AAO produces appellate decisions 

that provide fair and legally supportable 

resolutions of individual petitions and applications for immigration benefits. These 

decisions provide guidance to petitioners, applicants, practitioners, and government 

officials in the correct interpretation of immigration law, regulations, and policy. 

The AAO is staffed with 88 USCIS personnel, most of whom are attorneys, and ten 

contract personnel who operate and maintain the AAO file room.

Chief Counsel

The Office of the Chief Counsel (OCC) provides specialized legal advice, opinions, determinations, regulations, any other assistance to 

the USCIS Director, and represents the agency 

in visa petition appeals before the Executive 

Office for Immigration Review.

With a highly skilled team of more than 150 

attorneys nationwide, OCC on a daily basis 

fields a wide range of inquiries concerning 

immigrant and non-immigrant employment 

and family-based petitions, adjustment of 

status, adoptions, inadmissibility and waivers, 

naturalization, asylum and refugee status, and 

contract and administrative matters. OCC provides comprehensive litigation support to the 

Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation and the Offices of the United 
FY 2008 Annual Report

52

States Attorney. OCC’s areas of responsibility include providing legal education and 

training to USCIS staff, and advising USCIS and Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) staff on legislative, regulatory and national security issues.

Since its formation in July 2003, OCC has expanded and refined its headquarters 

and field structures to ensure maximum efficiency and responsiveness. At headquarters, OCC is divided into expert teams including the Adjudications Law Division, 

Asylum and Refugee Law Division, Commercial Law Division, Ethics Division, Litigation, Regulations and the National Security & Records Verification Law Division. 

OCC’s field structure takes the form of four regional offices: Northeast, Southeast, 

Central and Western. OCC’s regional offices work closely with headquarters staff to 

communicate developments and trends, and to formulate litigation strategies. 

In addition to its regional offices, OCC also has a Service Center Division that provides particularized support to service centers throughout the country. 

The Training and Knowledge Management Division is dedicated to expanding the 

availability of resources, education and information technology within USCIS’ legal 

and operational components. Through the Training and Knowledge Management 

Division, OCC has offered educational modules on the issuance of notices to appear, 

determining good moral character, effective writing, exercising discretion, and adjudicating waivers. 

Chief Financial Officer

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer 

(OCFO) serves as the principal advisor to 

the Director and executive leadership in all 

areas of budget and financial management. 

The OCFO strives to acquire the necessary 

resources to meet mission responsibilities 

and effectively manage and control costs to 

ensure resources are strategically deployed to 

front-line mission responsibilities. The OCFO 

is an integral partner in USCIS’ mission to 

improve the administration of benefits and 

immigration services for applicants by exclusively focusing on obtaining and protecting the resources that support immigration 

and citizenship services. The OCFO manages 

the agency’s $2.7 billion annual budget and 

ensures sound financial reporting to the 

Congress, the Office of Management and 
53

FY 2008 Annual Report

Office

Overv

i

ews

Budget, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and 

the public. 

The OCFO has five divisions including the Budget Division, Planning Division, 

Financial Management Division, Resource Management and Competitive Sourcing 

Division and the Lockbox Operations Division. All OCFO staff, including 84 federal 

employees and approximately 50 contractors, are located at headquarters in Washington, DC, with the exception of the Financial Operations Staff in Burlington, Vt. 

and Lockbox Operations Staff in Chicago, Ill. 

Citizenship

The mission of the Office of Citizenship (OoC) is to foster immigrant integration 

and participation of immigrants in American civic culture. OoC promotes education 

and training on fundamental civic principles and the rights and responsibilities of 

citizenship, provides federal leadership on civic integration issues, and celebrates 

the meaning of citizenship for immigrants and citizens. 

OoC develops civic education products and resources to assist immigrants through 

each step of their journey towards civic integration and citizenship. The materials of 

OoC help immigrants gain a deeper understanding of U.S. history and government 

and learn to identify with the basic civic values that unite Americans. OoC reaches 

out to immigrants with information and resources at different stages including at 

the earliest opportunity overseas, when they become permanent residents, as they 

apply for naturalization, and as they become 

new citizens. As appropriate, materials of OoC 

are made available for newly arriving immigrant groups in their native languages and 

for individual and classroom use written at 

appropriate English language learning levels. 

The OoC also promotes educational resources 

that facilitate English as a Second Language 

(ESL) acquisition. Through partnerships, OoC 

develops unique products and uses innovative methods to widely disseminate products 

and shares civic integration information with 

immigrants and immigrant-serving organizations.

OoC provides a variety of training resources 

to adult educators and community and faithbased organizations. These resources promote 

a deeper understanding of U.S. history, civics, 

the naturalization process, and enhance the 
FY 2008 Annual Report

54

quality of civics and citizenship instruction for immigrants. OoC hosts training 

conferences to refine and enhance the skills of adult civics and citizenship instructors and volunteers. OoC is expanding online training and technical resources that 

support the integration of civics and citizenship content into English as a Second 

Language (ESL) instruction. One goal of OoC is to increase the number and capacity of individuals and organizations that offer ESL and civics/citizenship classes to 

immigrants. 

OoC also uses training opportunities to ensure the new naturalization test serves 

as an instrument of civic learning. OoC provides training resources specific to the 

new test’s content and skills and has developed training for USCIS officers to ensure 

standardized test administration across the country.

 OoC has a unique role within the federal government to promote civic integration ideas and raise awareness of the importance of immigrant integration. OoC 

promotes and fosters dialogue on U.S. civic integration policy among all sectors of 

society as well as the international community. OoC Chief is a leading spokesperson 

on the topic of civic integration and attends many meetings, conferences and events 

in the United States and abroad as a speaker. As the leading entity in the interagency 

Task Force on New Americans, OoC is promoting an Americanization movement for 

the 21st century in partnership with various professional and community sectors in 

the United States. OoC also coordinates with a variety of organizations and groups 

to encourage volunteerism among both U.S. 

citizens and new immigrants and to celebrate 

the positive contributions of immigrants and 

naturalized citizens. 

Communications

The USCIS Office of Communications contains key external and internal communication components of the agency. The office is 

divided among five divisions: Media Relations, Community Relations, New Media, 

Internal Communications, and Strategic 

Communications. 

OCOMM’s comprehensive and cohesive approach to internal and external communications greatly enhances the agency’s effectiveness when communicating changes in 

laws, regulations, processes, and procedures 

affecting more than 18,000 employees 

and millions of customers. This approach 
55

FY 2008 Annual Report

Office

Overv

i

ews

enables USCIS to strategically position its messaging while providing employees and 

customers with the tools and information needed to accomplish the agency’s mission of securing America’s promise as a nation of immigrants. USCIS does that by 

providing accurate and useful information to its customers, granting immigration 

and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, 

and ensuring the integrity of the nation’s immigration system.

Congressional Relations

The Office of Congressional Relations (OCR) is responsible for advising USCIS 

executive leadership on legislative and operational matters of interest to Members 

of Congress. OCR serves as the primary point of contact for Members of Congress 

and their staff, handling inquiries on immigration policy, individual cases, and USCIS operations. OCR coordinates closely with the Office of Legislative Affairs at the 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure that USCIS issues and concerns 

are represented in DHS legislative strategies. OCR is responsible for ensuring that 

USCIS has a uniform congressional relations strategy that is consistent with USCIS 

core values. OCR implements the National Congressional Strategic Plan for more 

than 100 USCIS congressional liaisons nationwide. The plan provides guidance, 

standards, and best practices.

Within headquarters, the OCR functions are divided into two branches. The Operations Branch focuses primarily on handling 

congressional inquiries relating to specific 

cases, educating field liaisons and congressional staff, identifying trends and problems in 

immigration practice and procedures facilitating changes to policies and procedures as 

necessary. 

The Legislative Branch works with Congress 

and executive branch agency officials on immigration policy and legislation, including 

the preparation of testimony for hearings 

and briefings for Members of Congress and 

their staff. The Legislative Branch facilitates 

discussions on legislative issues, coordinates 

agency views, and provides technical drafting assistance on legislation to Members of 

Congress and staff. 
Office

Overv

i

ews

FY 2008 Annual Report

56

Domestic Operations Directorate

The Domestic Operations Directorate (DOMO) ensures that citizenship and immigration information, and decisions on immigration benefits, are provided to 

domestic customers in a timely, accurate, consistent, courteous and professional 

manner. DOMO manages the processing and adjudication of more than seven million applications per year and provides services to millions of its customers through 

in-person encounters at its field offices and via the USCIS call centers. 

The Domestic Operations Directorate consists of five divisions; the Office of Field 

Operations; Service Center Operations; Information Customer Service; Operations 

Planning Division; and the Policy and Regulation Management Division.

Field Operations manages four regional offices, 26 districts comprised of 90 field 

and support offices, 136 Application Support Centers and the National Benefits Center. DOMO’s field offices interview applicants for lawful permanent residence status 

and citizenship. 

Service Center Operations (SCOPS) manages four service centers that adjudicate 

applications and petitions that do not require face-to-face contact. SCOPS performs 

approximately 70% of all adjudications, and does file preparation for all immigration petitions and applications.

Information Customer Service coordinates and manages the USCIS telephone centers. They identify, plan, develop, and implement USCIS customer service initiatives, serving as the customer-service liaison for USCIS.

Operations Planning Division (OPD) provides 

program guidance and support to the Domestic Operations enterprise to ensure the 

effective adjudication of immigration benefits. 

OPD is responsible for the Staffing Analysis 

Model that is used to identity staffing levels 

required to support day-to-day operations. 

OPD also manages the monthly Integrated 

Multi-Annual Performance System reports 

that are used by field personnel to actively 

manage work.

The Policy and Regulation Management 

Division (PRM) coordinates and manages 

development of policy and regulations affecting domestic operations components. 
57

FY 2008 Annual Report

Office

Overv

i

ews

PRM consults with all affected components on crosscutting issues and coordinates 

with the Office of Policy and Strategy, Office of Chief Counsel, and the Office of 

the Executive Secretariat to ensure compliance with good guidance and rulemaking 

practices and procedures. Officers work closely with service center and field operations divisions to draft policy memorandums and regulations covering a wide range 

of immigration benefits, and to ensure that processes and procedures are in place to 

provide smooth delivery of high quality services and products.

Emergency Management and Safety

The Office of Emergency Management and Safety (OEMS) is charged with “Creating a Culture of Preparedness” at USCIS. OEMS provides the oversight, training, 

and management of the USCIS Emergency Preparedness, Continuity of Operations 

(COOP), Continuity of Government (COG), and Occupational Safety and Health 

(OSH) programs. OEMS controls and maintains the USCIS Alternate (continuity) 

Site and Emergency Management training facility in Harrisonburg VA, where USCIS 

headquarters components and offices carry out their respective Mission Essential 

Functions during emergencies or Continuity of Government (COG) situations. 

The Chief of OEMS is supported by a staff of 10 federal employees and contractors. 

OEMS provides training and coordination to more than 300 collateral duty safety 

officers and Emergency Management Coordinators across USCIS.

To ensure preparedness and continuity, 

OEMS provides coordination, support, assistance, and guidance to USCIS offices, directorates, managers, and supervisors in the 

development of COOP plans and Occupant 

Emergency Plans, and selection of alternative sites. The OSH Program also coordinates all activities and reporting under the 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration acts to protect USCIS employees 

and contractors. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

58

Equal Opportunity and Inclusion

The Office of Equal Opportunity and Inclusion 

(OEOI) helps USCIS ensure equal employment 

opportunities are afforded to USCIS employees and job applicants. There are two divisions 

within OEOI responsible: Division of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Complaints Resolution Division. 

The Division of Diversity and Inclusion focuses on helping USCIS identify barriers to equal 

employment opportunity in all phases of 

employment, from recruiting and hiring to 

training and promoting. This is accomplished 

through an active and regular review of both 

demographic statistics and USCIS policies, 

as well as through collaboration with other 

programs within USCIS on efforts such as 

recruiting, drafting, and implementing policies. 

The Division of Diversity and Inclusion also helps USCIS with the initiative to 

recruit and leverage individuals with disabilities, including disabled veterans. This 

is achieved by recruiting individuals with disabilities who are eligible for employment through special hiring authorities. This also helps USCIS ensure that disability accommodations are provided efficiently and appropriately by identifying and 

removing barriers for individuals with disabilities once hired. 

The Complaints Resolution Division manages Equal Employment Opportunity 

(EEO) complaints that arise, including the counseling mediation, investigation, and 

settlement of EEO complaints. Most of the adjudicatory functions of EEO complaints are performed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil 

Rights and Civil Liberties.

Executive Secretariat

The Office of the Executive Secretariat (Exec Sec) was established in 2006 within 

the USCIS Office of the Chief of Staff. Exec Sec’s main purpose is to ensure that 

internal and external executive correspondence and communications are efficient, 

purposeful, coordinated, and controlled. Working closely with its counterparts 

throughout the Department of Homeland Security, Exec Sec assures correct and 

timely production and transmission of official materials, and advocates for USCIS in 

Department-wide clearance processes. 

Office

Overv

i

ews
59

FY 2008 Annual Report

Office

Overv

i

ews

The Exec Sec directs and facilitates USCIS’ 

regulatory and directives management programs; administers an initiative to improve 

the written products of USCIS; establishes 

guidance for preparing and overseeing internal USCIS written products; and ensures 

that USCIS’ image is presented in a consistent, professional manner. 

In its role as the “Facilitator of Success,” 

the Exec Sec established and maintains a 

website that provides easy access to guidance on the wide range of issues. Within 

the Exec Sec, the Regulatory Management 

Division (RMD) helps edit, track and review compliance related to agency regulatory documents. RMD coordinates the 

updates to the USCIS Annual Regulatory 

Plan, and ensures compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act.

Human Capital and Training (HCT)

The Office of the Chief Human Capital and 

Training (HCT) provides strategic human 

capital management direction, services, and 

oversight. HCT ensures USCIS has the right 

people with the right skills through recruiting efforts, determines critical workforce 

skills and competency requirements, and 

provides leadership development and training. HCT has a front office and two divisions: 

Human Capital Management Division and 

Training and Career Development Division. 

The Human Capital Management Division 

(HCMD) addresses human resources policy, 

programs and talent management; workforce planning; performance and business 

systems; and work life, labor relations, and 

employee relations. The division develops 

and implements policy and guidance, and 

provides oversight of human resources 

operations to facilitate a high quality, high 
FY 2008 Annual Report

60

functioning USCIS workforce. HCMD supports management in planning, developing, organizing, and supervising USCIS staff to accomplish the agency mission. 

HCMD directs and oversees the shared service provider (Customs and Border Patrol 

Human Resources staff) to ensure customer interests, organizational needs and 

requirements are identified, understood, and fully met. HCMD establishes USCIS 

performance measures and tracks those measures to evaluate services received and 

to assess program effectiveness to assure customer satisfaction for human capital 

related areas. HCMD provides labor and employee relations programs to facilitate a 

cooperative work culture and support a high performing workforce. HCMD sets initiatives to accomplish USCIS hiring goals to support USCIS in achieving its mission 

and meeting production goals. 

The Training and Career Development Division (TCDD) manages USCIS Academy 

programs and operates the training center and the Academy business center. The 

division provides policy, guidance, and programs for training and career development to ensure USCIS employees are mission ready and successful in their current 

jobs while building the USCIS workforce needed for the future. TCDD manages the 

Academy’s learning programs and operations, determines employee training and 

career development requirements, and develops training to ensure organizational 

needs and requirements are identified, understood, and fully met.

Information Technology (OIT)

The Office of Information Technology 

(OIT) provides information technology (IT) 

leadership, technical expertise, and strategic 

vision necessary to enable USCIS to deliver 

effective, efficient, and secure immigration 

services. OIT leads USCIS in the design, development, delivery, and deployment of IT 

services and solutions that transform America’s immigration system. OIT additionally 

promotes a quality approach to achieving 

business effectiveness and efficiency in the 

use of information systems. 

The IT Strategic Programs Division ensures strategic and architectural alignment 

of the Office of Information Technology 

(OIT) activities and resources with USCIS 

mission requirements by means of goals, 

governance, policies and procedures, and 

intelligence analyses of USCIS data. 

Office

Overv

i

ews
61

FY 2008 Annual Report

The IT Service Engineering Division designs, develops, and maintains IT services in 

support of enterprise business requirements through the use of systems engineering best practices to sustain a center of engineering excellence. 

The IT Service Delivery Division ensures IT services are provided as required and 

agreed upon between the service provider (USCIS OIT) and the customer (USCIS 

IT Community). To ensure compliance, the IT Service Delivery Division oversees 

the process and activities of IT financial management (e.g. budget formulation and 

execution), service level management, IT provisioning, IT workforce management, 

and acquisition and contract administration functions. 

The IT Service Support Division manages and supports IT services that are appropriate to the business requirements of the USCIS. The division provides a comprehensive, consistent, and cohesive set of best practices for IT service management 

processes.

National Security and Records

Verification Directorate

The National Security and Records Verification Directorate (NRSV) is responsible 

for strengthening the effectiveness of USCIS’ national security efforts; enhancing 

the integrity of our country’s legal immigration system by deterring, detecting, and 

pursuing immigration-related fraud; and combating unauthorized employment in 

the workplace. NSRV is also modernizing the 

agency’s recordkeeping and records verification 

processes to provide accurate immigration-related information to partners and stakeholders who 

have a legitimate interest in that information. 

NSRV’s five strategic goals reflect its mission to: 

• Strengthen national security and public 

safety

• Enhance integrity of the legal immigration 

system

• Facilitate innovation

• Provide reliable information promptly

• Build partnerships.

NSRV is comprised of the Fraud Detection and 

National Security Division (FDNS), Records Division, Verification Division, National Records 

Center, and Information Technology Program 

Executive Office. 

Office

Overv

i

ews
FY 2008 Annual Report

62

Fraud Detection and National Security Division (FDNS enhances the integrity of 

the legal immigration system by identifying threats to national security and public 

safety, detecting and combating fraud, and removing other systemic vulnerabilitie. 

FDNS denies benefits to those who are not eligible by vetting applicants and beneficiaries whose initial security screening indicated a possible criminal, public safety, 

or national security concern.

The Records Division maintains U.S. immigration records which document individual persons entry into the United States to naturalization. The division also 

maintains information for genealogical research. The Records Division focuses on 

customer service, delivery, communications, partnerships, and accountability. 

The National Records Center (NRC) provides customers with timely access to 

information from the agency’s A-files and subsidiary data systems. NRC operations 

include records, information liaison, and case resolution. The NRC is also responsible for the USCIS Freedom of Information Act Program.

The Verification Division has two programs, E-Verify and the Systematic Alien 

Verification for Entitlements program. The programs enable government agencies 

to verify the immigration status of benefit-seeking applicants and allow participating employers to verify their new employees are authorized to work in the United 

States. 

Policy and Strategy

The Office of Policy and Strategy 

(OP&S) was established pursuant to the 

Homeland Security Act. OP&S’s legal 

mandates include:

• Providing national immigration 

policies and recommendations in 

consultation with district and field 

offices

• Performing research, evaluation 

and analysis on immigration services issues

• Developing and coordinating the 

Strategic Plan for USCIS

• Coordinating immigration policy 

issues with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters 

and affiliated agencies

Office

Overv

i

ews
63

FY 2008 Annual Report

The mission of OP&S underwent significant change in FY 2008 as OP&S gained 

responsibility for coordinating USCIS regulations. OP&S is comprised of seven divisions, each covering a defined policy or mission area. 

OP&S assists USCIS employees with all parts of the policy or regulatory development process (issue identification, policy options, analysis, research, regulatory development, and training on new regulatory changes) to ensure USCIS promulgates 

rulemakings and policy guidance that align with both the agency and DHS strategic 

priorities and goals.

OP&S routinely consults with relevant stakeholders within and outside of USCIS 

and DHS. In addition, OP&S conducts research, evaluations, and works closely with 

researchers in federal agencies, think-tanks, private bar associations, community 

based organizations, and academic institutions studying immigration and citizenship issues. 

OP&S continues to promote and advance new initiatives related to immigration, 

particularly those that are cross-cutting or interagency in nature. 

Privacy

The USCIS Privacy Office was established on 

July 9, 2008. The office’s central responsibilities 

include:

• Developing USCIS privacy policy

• Ensuring agency adherence to applicable 

privacy mandates in coordination with USCIS program offices and the Department of 

Homeland Security Privacy Office

• Conducting training for employees and 

contractors on privacy laws, regulations, 

and policy

• Providing advice and technical assistance in 

the development of privacy-related documentation
FY 2008 Annual Report

64

Refugee, Asylum, and InternationalOperations Directorate

The Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO) Directorate extends protection, 

citizenship, and other immigration benefits 

to eligible individuals. RAIO detects fraud, 

protects national security, and advances USCIS 

strategic priorities in the international arena. 

RAIO has 828 employees and comprises the 

three operational divisions. The Refugee Affairs Division is a headquarters-based operation whose officers’ travel to conduct refugee 

processing. The Asylum Division has eight 

domestic asylum offices. The International 

Operations Division has three overseas district offices (Mexico City, Bangkok, Rome) 

and 30 field offices. With a broad footprint 

extending from U.S. embassies and consulates to additional refugee processing locations, RAIO is the face of USCIS abroad.

RAIO officers conduct refugee and asylum interviews in the United States and in 

dozens of overseas locations, authorizes parole for individuals in emergent and 

humanitarian circumstances, and conducts a full range of other immigration benefit 

adjudications. RAIO officers also provide resettlement services to underprivileged 

individuals from Cuba and Haiti, reunite separated refugee family members, unite 

prospective adoptive parents with children who are in need of a home, and travel to 

overseas military bases to naturalize men and women as U.S. citizens who serve in 

the U.S. military. In furtherance of USCIS’ mission and United States interests, RAIO 

liaises with United States and foreign government, international organizations, civil 

society, and private entities worldwide. RAIO is vigilant in safeguarding the integrity of USCIS’ various programs by deterring and detecting fraud and threats to 

national security.

Security and Integrity

The USCIS Office of Security and Integrity (OSI) safeguards USCIS information 

and assets by providing guidance, training, and tools to supervisors, employees, 

and contractors. OSI also coordinates physical security at USCIS office locations and 

identifying threats through internal reviews and investigations.
65

FY 2008 Annual Report

OSI operates USCIS’ Command Center that 

provides situational awareness to USCIS senior leadership, operational managers, and 

other inter-agency components 24 hours a 

day, seven days a week. OSI staff conducts 

personnel security background investigations, suitability screenings, and grants 

security clearances for USCIS employees 

and contractors. 

OSI investigates allegations of employee 

misconduct related to waste, corruption, 

fraud, or mismanagement. OSI’s internal 

and external review functions proactively 

promote self-inspections and program 

compliance. OSI conducts program and 

operational reviews to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, quality, and integrity 

of agency programs, policies, and procedures. OSI also provides audit liaison 

support to all USCIS programs, including those conducted by the Government Accountability Office and the Department 

of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector 

General to help ensure the integrity and effectiveness of USCIS programs. 

With more than 300 federal employees and 

contractors employed by OSI, located in headquarters and field office locations nationwide, 

the office forms the core of a robust organizational element that provides a critical resource 

in promoting and enforcing internal security, 

integrity, and professional responsibility. 

Transformation Program Office

TPO is responsible for leading, managing, and 

facilitating the comprehensive transformation 

of the business processes, tools and technologies associated with the adjudication of 

benefits. 
FY 2008 Annual Report

66

TPO is vested with decision-making authority specifically related to the transformation of the benefits adjudication business process of USCIS. Responsibilities include: 

• Strategic and tactical planning

• Solution development & implementation

• Organizational change management

• Organizational and external communications

• Contract management and oversight

• Budget formulation, execution, and management 

TPO will manage multiple contracts in support of USCIS’ transformation: a Solutions Architect contract to assist with acquiring, integrating, and delivering services to transform business processes; a program support contractor; and federally 

funded research and development center to assist in administrative and program 

oversight functions. TPO may issue other contracts as needed to assist in implementation. 

The current benefits adjudications process is paper intensive and form-centric, 

making it difficult for USCIS to efficiently process benefits, combat identity fraud, 

and provide other government agencies with the information required to quickly 

identify criminals and possible terrorists. USCIS envisions a process based on a 

person-centric model, enabling customers and their representatives to become account holders who engage in electronic transactions. 

Office

Overv

i

ews