U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States. USCIS is funded primarily by immigration and naturalization benefit fees charged to applicants and petitioners. Fees collected from individuals or organizations filing immigration benefit requests are deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA). Congress created the IEFA in 1988, establishing the authority to recover the full cost of immigration benefit processing. This account represents approximately 95 percent of USCIS’ fiscal year (FY) 2016 total budget authority. The remaining budget authority comes from two other mandatory fee accounts and appropriated funding for the E-Verify program.

The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 requires that USCIS conduct biennial fee reviews for the IEFA. USCIS last adjusted its fees in November 2010. Results of the FY 2016/2017 fee review indicated that fees should be adjusted by a weighted average increase of 21 percent to ensure full cost recovery. These include the costs associated with fraud detection and national security; customer service and case processing; and providing services without charge to refugee and asylum applicants and to other customers eligible for fee waivers or exemptions.

The new fees, including a reduced naturalization fee option for certain low income applicants, are scheduled to take effect on December 23, 2016. Here is a list of the changes. 

The new fee schedule accounts for limited strategic investments, including targeted enhancements for refining and improving the delivery, security and integrity of the EB-5 visa program. The new fee schedule assumes no discretionary appropriations for Refugee, Asylum and International Operations; Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE); or the Office of Citizenship, including the Citizenship and Integration Grant program.   

Mission Statement

USCIS will secure America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system.

We are the 19,000 government employees and contractors of USCIS working at 223 offices across the world. Achieving our goals becomes possible when the different elements of our organization are engaged and acting as partners working toward a common outcome. USCIS’ strategic goals include:

• Strengthening the security and integrity of the immigration system.
• Providing effective customer-oriented immigration benefit and information services.
• Supporting immigrants’ integration and participation in American civic culture.
• Promoting flexible and sound immigration policies and programs.
• Strengthening the infrastructure supporting the USCIS mission.
• Operating as a high-performance organization that promotes a highly talented workforce and a dynamic work culture.

Core Values

Integrity

We shall always strive for the highest level of integrity in our dealings with our customers, our fellow employees and the citizens of the United States of America. We shall be ever mindful of the importance of the trust the American people have placed in us to administer the nation’s immigration system fairly, honestly and correctly.

Respect

We will demonstrate respect in all of our actions. We will ensure that everyone we affect will be treated with dignity and courtesy regardless of the outcome of the decision. We will model this principle in all of our activities, with each other, our customers and the public. Through our actions, this organization will become known as an example of respect, dignity and courtesy.

Ingenuity

As we meet the challenges to come, we will strive to find the most effective means to accomplish our goals. We will use ingenuity, resourcefulness, creativity and sound management principles to strive for world-class results. We will approach every challenge with a balance of enthusiasm and wisdom in our effort to fulfill our vision.

Vigilance

In this era of increased global threats and national security challenges, we will remain mindful of our obligation to provide immigration service in a manner that strengthens and fortifies the nation. We will exercise a holistic approach to Vigilance as we perform our mission. We will carefully administer every aspect of our immigration mission so that new immigrants and citizens can hold in high regard the privileges and advantages of lawful presence in the United States.

For more information on the history of our organization, see the Our History page.

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