A review of the missions and activities of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman of America (2017)

The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (Ombudsman) 2017 Annual Report covers calendar year 2016, as well as key developments in early 2017, and contains: An overview of the Ombudsman's mission and services, A review of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) programmatic and policy challenges during this reporting period, and A detailed discussion of pervasive problems, recommendations, and best practices in the humanitarian, employment, and family areas, as well as in customer service and process integrity. The Year in Review offers Congress and the public an opportunity to see the important casework the office handled in 2016 and how it often functions as the last resort for prospective immigrants whose applications or petitions are stuck in the system. As will be seen in the following pages, the demand for assistance has been steadily growing. In fact, requests to the office increased 25 percent between 2015 and 2016 and more than doubled since 2012. While this growth in requests is partly due to increasing awareness of the services that have been provided, it is also the result of an immigration system that is expanding, both in complexity and in the benefits it offers.