On March 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services temporarily suspended in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and Application Support Centers (ASCs) to help slow the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). USCIS offices will reopen on April 7 unless the public closures are extended further. Employees in these offices are continuing to perform mission-essential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public.

USCIS will continue to provide limited emergency services. Please call the Contact Center for assistance with emergency services.

USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by the extended closure. USCIS asylum offices will send interview cancellation notices and automatically reschedule asylum interviews. When the interview is rescheduled, asylum applicants will receive a new interview notice with the new time, date and location of the interview. When USCIS again resumes normal operations, USCIS will automatically reschedule ASC appointments due to the office closure. You will receive a new appointment letter in the mail. Individuals who had InfoPass or other appointments must reschedule through the USCIS Contact Center once field offices are open to the public again. Please check to see if your field office has been reopened before reaching out to the USCIS Contact Center.   

Education and precautions are the strongest tools against infection. Get the latest facts by visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 website. Continue to practice good health habits, refrain from handshakes or hugs as greetings, and wash hands and clean surfaces appropriately.

USCIS will provide further updates as the situation develops and will continue to follow CDC guidance. Please also visit uscis.gov/coronavirus for updates.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 National Emergency announced by President Trump on March 13, 2020, we will accept all benefit forms and documents with reproduced original signatures, including the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, for submissions dated March 21, 2020, and beyond.  

USCIS already accepts various petitions, applications and other documents bearing an electronically reproduced original signature. This means that a document may be scanned, faxed, photocopied, or similarly reproduced provided that the copy must be of an original document containing an original handwritten signature, unless otherwise specified.[1] For forms that require an original “wet” signature, per form instructions, USCIS will accept electronically reproduced original signatures for the duration of the National Emergency. This temporary change only applies to signatures. All other form instructions should be followed when completing a form.

Individuals or entities that submit documents bearing an electronically reproduced original signature must also retain copies of the original documents containing the “wet” signature.  USCIS may, at any time, request the original documents, which if not produced, could negatively impact the adjudication of the immigration benefit.

Suspension of Routine Visa Services

• In response to worldwide challenges related to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Department of State is suspending routine visa services in most countries worldwide.  Embassies and consulates in these countries will cancel all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 18, 2020.  Check the website of the embassy or consulate for its current operating status.  As resources allow, embassies and consulates will continue to provide urgent and emergency visa services.
   
• These Embassies will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time.  Although all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments are cancelled, the MRV fee is valid and may be used for a visa appointment in the country where it was paid within one year of the date of payment.
   
• This does not affect the visa waiver program. 
   
• Services to U.S. citizens continue to be available. More information is available on the Embassy’s website.
   
• Applicants with an urgent matter and need to travel immediately should follow the guidance provided at the Embassy’s website to request an emergency appointment.

ICE says it will make only ‘mission critical’ arrests until the crisis passes.

To ensure the welfare and safety of the general public as well as officers and agents in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic response, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will temporarily adjust its enforcement posture beginning today, March 18, 2020. ICE's highest priorities are to promote life-saving and public safety activities.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) will focus enforcement on public safety risks and individuals subject to mandatory detention based on criminal grounds. For those individuals who do not fall into those categories, ERO will exercise discretion to delay enforcement actions until after the crisis or utilize alternatives to detention, as appropriate.

Homeland Security Investigations will continue to carry out mission critical criminal investigations and enforcement operations as determined necessary to maintain public safety and national security. Examples include investigations into child exploitation, gangs, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, human smuggling, and continued participation on the Joint Terrorism Task Force. This work will be conducted based on ability to coordinate and work with prosecutors from the Department of Justice and intake at both the U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Prisons.

Consistent with its sensitive locations policy, during the COVID-19 crisis, ICE will not carry out enforcement operations at or near health care facilities, such as hospitals, doctors' offices, accredited health clinics, and emergent or urgent care facilities, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. Individuals should not avoid seeking medical care because they fear civil immigration enforcement.

ICE does not conduct enforcement operations at medical facilities, except under extraordinary circumstances. Claims to the contrary are false and create unnecessary fear within communities. Individuals should continue to seek medical care.

The United States and Canada have mutually agreed to close their border to non-essential traffic to stem the flow of the virus, President Trump said Tuesday.

Effective March 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is suspending in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices and Application Support Centers (ASCs) to help slow the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This suspension of services will be effective until at least April 1. In the meantime, USCIS will provide limited emergency services. Please call the Contact Center for assistance with emergency services.

USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by this closure. USCIS asylum offices will send interview cancellation notices and automatically reschedule asylum interviews. When the interview is rescheduled, asylum applicants will receive a new interview notice with the new time, date and location of the interview. When USCIS again resumes normal operations, USCIS will automatically reschedule ASC appointments due to the office closure. You will receive a new appointment letter in the mail. Individuals who had InfoPass or other appointments must reschedule through the USCIS Contact Center once field offices are open to the public again. Please check to see if your field office has been reopened before reaching out to the USCIS Contact Center.   

Education and precautions are the strongest tools against infection. Get the latest facts by visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 website. Continue to practice good health habits, refrain from handshakes or hugs as greetings, and wash hands and clean surfaces appropriately.

USCIS will provide further updates as the situation develops and will continue to follow CDC guidance. Please also visit uscis.gov/coronavirus for updates.

Use the following link to access all current USCIS closings for immigration interviews and biometrics appointments.

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings

U.S. Mission India posts, in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, are cancelling immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments from March 16, 2020, onward.

Once Mission India resumes regular consular operations, appointments will be made available and you will be able to reschedule. Please see www.ustraveldocs.com/in  and in.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/ for further information.

According to the latest update from USCIS:

If you become ill for any reason, regardless of whether you were exposed to COVID-19, please do not come to appointments with any USCIS office. Please follow the instructions on your appointment notice to reschedule your appointment or interview if you:

• Have traveled internationally to any country outside the U.S. within 14 days of your appointment;
• Believe that you may have been exposed to COVID-19 (even if you have not travelled internationally); or
• Are experiencing flu-like symptoms (such as a runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat or fever).

Visit CoronaVirus.gov for a complete list of CDC travel health notices. 

We will help you reschedule your appointment without penalty when you are healthy. See this page for more information: If You Feel Sick, Please Consider Canceling and Rescheduling Your USCIS Appointment.

Learn about the USCIS Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and more about the Department of Homeland Security’s response.

USCIS and Department of Homeland Security telephone numbers are being used in an ogoing scam to obtain personally identifiable information.

The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (Ombudsman) is warning its stakeholders of reports that certain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) telephone numbers, including the Ombudsman’s main telephone number, have been used recently as part of a telephone spoofing scam targeting individuals throughout the country.

Spoofing is the deliberate falsifying of information transmitted to a caller ID display to disguise an identity.

The scammers use various tactics, such as the threat of identity theft, to elicit sensitive information. Very little is known at this time, but please be aware that any government office should never ask for sensitive information over the telephone, such as Social Security numbers or credit card information.

USCIS uses only the following information to verify a caller:

• Receipt Number.
• Petitioner, Beneficiary, or Applicant - Name.
• Petitioner, Beneficiary, or Applicant - Date of Birth.
• Petitioenr, Beneficiary, or Applicant - Address. 

NEVER talk to anyone calling you from any government office over the phone that has called you, unless you have first called their office and you are expecting an immigration officer to return your call.

Any legitimate request from DHS will be sent by normal mail to you and a duplicate copy to your attorney. 

Here’s How the Scam Works Accorinding to USCIS:

A number appears on your caller ID that may look like a legitimate government number. When you answer, the person on the phone poses as a USCIS or other government official or law enforcement officer. The scammer will say that there is a problem with your application or additional information is required to continue the immigration process. Then, they will ask for personal and sensitive details and may demand payment to fix problems. The scammer may tell you to make a money transfer or go to a store to purchase a money order, voucher or make some other type of money exchange, payment or withdrawal. They may threaten you with deportation or other negative consequences if you do not pay. If you receive a call like that, we urge you to hang up immediately.

USCIS will never ask for any form of payment over the phone or in an email. If USCIS needs payment, they will mail a letter on official stationery requesting payment. Do not give payment over the phone to anyone who claims to be a USCIS official.