US Reduces: In fiscal year 2023, the United States made significant strides in reducing its immigration backlog, processing an unprecedented 10M cases, as reported by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This marks the first reduction in backlog in over a decade.
During FY 2023, USCIS received a record-breaking 10.9M filings and successfully completed over 10M pending cases, resulting in a notable reduction in overall backlogs.
US Reduces Immigration
The agency focused on expediting citizenship applications, processing more than 878K applications, including 12K for military members. This effort effectively eliminated the backlog for naturalization applications, with the median processing time decreasing from 10.5 to 6.1 months.
USCIS implemented technology solutions to improve customer experience, such as a self-service tool for online biometrics appointment rescheduling, which was utilized over thousands of times.
Additionally, new enterprise change of address capabilities facilitated over 430K online address changes, leading to an anticipated 31% reduction in USCIS Contact Centre phone inquiries and streamlining processes for users.
With the help of The Department of State, USCIS issued over 192K employment-based immigrant visas in the last fiscal year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
The agency also supported U.S. employers and noncitizen workers by an increment to the maximum validity period of Employment Authorization Documents to five years.
Moreover, USCIS clarified eligibility criteria for various immigration services, demonstrating a commitment to addressing industry needs and ensuring worker protections.
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