Service citizenship and immigration USA (U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — USCIS) plans to significantly reduce its presence abroad.
According to an internal email, obtained by Reuters, the Agency decided to close overseas offices of the Department on issues of refugees and international operations (Refugee Asylum and International Operations).
The closure will occur over the next year, and some of the tasks of the offices are likely to be transferred to the State Department, told the news Agency of USCIS employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to them, the decision caught some officials by surprise.
USCIS Director Lee Francis Cissna today, March 12, sent to all employees of the Agency stating that the Agency is preparing to discuss, which will lead to the transfer of the majority of the international workload at the American office for internal processing, as well as to the embassies and U.S. consulates abroad.
«Change can be difficult and can cause confusion,» writes Cessna, but he says the Agency has pledged to carry out «more smooth transition».
In locations where USCIS has no overseas offices, the state Department already performs some of the duties of the immigration office, for example, grants a green card for permanent residents of the U.S. who lost them.
«The purpose of any such shift would be to increase resources USCIS, which then could be reallocated,» said the press Secretary of the service Jessica Collins Reuters.
The Agency will work closely with Gosdepartamenta and the Ministry of internal security, «so as not to interrupt the provision of immigration services to affected applicants and petitioners,» said Collins.
In the past USCIS had already closed some offices depending on the demand for their services. For example, in February, the service permanently closed the office in Moscow from-for «a significant reduction in workload».
