Due to the coronavirus, USCIS remains closed, and plans to open in May. (AFP / Getty Images)
Photo:
JASON REDMOND / AFP / Getty Images
The offices of the Immigration and Customs Service (USCIS) will continue to be closed for the remainder of April due to the coronavirus and will be open until May 4 to limit exposure to the pandemic to both employees and applicants for services.
During this quarantine period, he recommends five options they can use to advance their cases, or if they need any assistance:
- Ask Emma, the USCIS virtual hotline available 24 hours a day for questions about the migration processes.
- They invite you to create an account at USCIS. It is free and easy. It allows you to do paperwork online, follow up on your case and communicate electronically with this federal agency.
- Start gathering the documents like birth certificate you may need if you are preparing to apply for immigration benefits.
- Consider making an online request. Currently, eight applications can be made online such as a naturalization application, a petition for a family member, and the replacement of a green card.
You can find all this information on the site uscis.gov; in Spanish, in uscis.gov/es.
Those requiring immediate assistance should call the USCIS toll-free call center, 1-800-375-5283 or 1-800-767-1833 for the blind.
Immigration attorney Alex Gálvez said that all citizenship interviews, fingerprinting and citizenship ceremonies were postponed.
"Any new process if it can be done online, and renewals of work permits and DACA -Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals -".
The defender doubts very much that by May, the USCIS offices can be reopened to the public, considering the increase in cases of coronavirus in the region and the country.
Since March 18, USCIS has temporarily closed in-person services at its field offices, asylum and support request centers to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Workers continue to perform nonessential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public.
Just on March 18, Virginia Vázquez, 74, had her appointment for her citizenship interview at the USCIS offices in downtown Los Angeles. But days before, they called him twice from the USCIS, to let him know that his interview was canceled until May.
"The truth is that I felt a relief because I did not want to go and be exposed to getting sick, but I also did not want to miss my interviewSaid Virginia, who suffers from various health conditions and is being quarantined in her Pasadena apartment.
In an email message, USCIS informed those who have appointments for their interviews and naturalization ceremonies will be notified of the new date when operations return to normal and offices are opened to the public again.
