During last year’s NAFSA International Education Summit, one of the keynote speakers was from the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security specifically responsible for overseeing the USCIS. At the conference, this speaker introduced this "mysterious organization" that oversees USCIS. If you feel you are treated unfairly by the USCIS, you may file a to CIS Ombudsman.
In this article, we will talk about:
CIS Ombudsman, aka “The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman”, is an independent office in the Department of Homeland Security and is not part of USCIS. It acts as a liaison between individuals and the USCIS.
Created by Congress in the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) has approximately 40 federal employees.
Their mission is to:
CIS Ombudsman can help if your case was ignored or delayed by USCIS for a prolonged period. For example, if you have graduated and applied for OPT, but have not received an answer within a reasonable time frame, you can reach out to CIS Ombudsman for help.
Or, if you feel the USCIS officer mistreated your case or made mistakes during an RFE, with sufficient evidence provided, CIS Ombudsman will see the issue through and help with the reinforcement on proceeding with your case equitably.
In addition, if USCIS mailed your documents and your mail went missing, you can also reach out to CIS Ombudsman for help.
List of things CIS Ombudsman CAN DO:
Although it is the overseer of USCIS, CIS Ombudsman has its own limitations.
First, it cannot provide legal consultation. You still need to hire a lawyer by yourself if your case requires one.
Second, in extreme cases, such as receiving an eviction notice, you need to reach out to higher-level authorities. CIS Ombudsman can only provide suggestions to USCIS but holds no power over their final decisions. As mentioned before, it runs in parallel to USCIS, which means neither of them is the other’s boss.
Third, although CIS Ombudsman can help with delayed cases, your case must have a clear due date and your appeal must be within 30 days after the due date.
CIS Ombudsman was set to solve systematic problems, not occasional cases. If your case happens to touch upon a greater issue that involves more people, it will have a higher priority. If your case does not have a further implication but merely an individual situation, it may not get solved as quickly as you wish.
If you apply online, you’ll receive a confirmation email instantly. This indicates they received your case but does not mean they will choose to handle it. Usually, within 2 business days, you will receive another email to confirm whether certain assistants will be deployed to your case.
If they decide to provide aid to you, you’ll receive another email approximately 90 days after your request to inform you what you need to do next.
You can also reach out to them via email: cisombudsman@hq.dhs.gov to check on the progress of your case.
Learn more about CIS Ombudsman: CIS Ombudsman
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