Immigration & Citizenship
Please note: If you are seeking information related to the new Uniting for Ukraine program, please click here. If you are already familiar with the program, have submitted Form I-134, have not yet received a response within 60 days and would like assistance from my office in helping you to better track your submission, please click here.
My office receives many requests for assistance related to immigration and citizenship applications. Common concerns include application delays, expiring documents, expedite requests, and case status updates at U.S. Embassies, the National Visa Center (NVC), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State.
In instances where it appears that something has gone wrong with an actively pending application, my office may be able to submit a congressional inquiry to alert the relevant agency to the potential processing error.
Please note that my office is unable to provide legal advice or assistance with filling out applications. If you wish to speak with an attorney, you may find one using the American Immigration Lawyers Association directory, located here.
To check the status of an individual application pending with the USCIS, click here. For status pending before the Department of State, click here. Please use these websites as your first stop for case status inquiries.
Understandably, many constituents are concerned with the extraordinarily long processing times at USCIS and the Department of State. Unfortunately, USCIS only accepts congressional inquiries about an application’s processing time if it was submitted prior to the “Receipt date for a case inquiry” listed on their processing times website, here. This website is updated approximately every two weeks.
USCIS will only accept requests for consideration of expedited processing for cases in which a constituent can show that their situation meets at least one of USCIS’s strict expedite criteria, outlined here. In order to be considered, USCIS requires that a constituent provide a statement explaining how a specific criteria is met, as well as supporting third-party documentation to prove that the statement is true. Please be sure to review all of the expedite guidelines closely.
Similarly, the Department of State will only accept congressional inquiries regarding processing times if a constituent has reason to believe that their case has fallen outside of the current normal processing times at that location. Additionally, they will only consider requests for expedited processing in emergency situations that warrant an individual’s application being processed ahead of other applicants in the same processing queue. Again, supporting documentation is needed to submit a request related to processing times or expedite requests.
If your application appears to have fallen outside of current normal processing times, meets the criteria for an emergency expedite request, or if you have another reason to believe that an error has been made in the processing of your case, I will be able to submit a congressional inquiry on your behalf.
