So you have filed an application or petition with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), you waited and waited, and not sure what is the status of your case. You want to find out what is happening with the case. We will discuss below what steps you can do to try to find information on the status and make requests.
Find Case Status on USCIS Website
USCIS offers a basic case status finder on its website. You can click here to go to its web page. You will fill in the USCIS receipt number and click the “CHECK STATUS” button. The website will provide you with the last action that USCIS has done with your case. It tells you things like it has received your application, or it has sent you a certain notice on a certain date. Other than that, you don’t get much information from the checker.
If you have waited a long time and it is beyond the window time that you should be waiting. You can try to make an online E-Request.
How to Make an Online E-Request with the USCIS
You can make an online e-Request by clicking here. When you go to the USCIS webpage, you can see there are several options. The options include:
- Case Outside Normal Processing Time
- Did Not Receive Notice by Mail
- Did Not Receive Card by Mail
- Did Not Receive Document by Mail
- Appointment Accommodations
- Typographic Error
You can choose one of the options depending on your situation. For the purpose of this article, assume that you have received your receipt from USCIS, but it has been pending too long. So you would like to find out the current status. In that case, you will click on the Case Outside Normal Processing Time.
After you click on the Case Outside Normal Processing Time, it will lead to a new webpage where you can enter your case information. Enter the case information to get a confirmation number from the website. Your inquiry will then be assigned waiting in line to be responded to by the USCIS.
Now, if both the above two methods do not get the information you want for you, you will have to call the USCIS contract center.
How To Make Inquiries with the USCIS Contact Center
The phone number of USCIS Contact Center is 800-375-5283.
As of the time this post is written, USCIS just recently updated its Contact Center phone-tree system. The Contact Center no longer uses numeric prompts and now uses speech-enabled entries via an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.
To make inquiries with the USCIS Contact Center, a caller must now first go through the IVR system before having live assistance. Simply saying “live agent”, “operator”, or “agent” will not directly connect to a Tier 1 officer. Instead, a caller must now first go through the IVR to see if the IVR can resolve their inquires.
We will discuss some tips to navigate the USCIS Contact Center, including how to check on the status of your case or to create an inquiry. We will also discuss how to reach a live person, and how to create an InfoPass appointment.
The USCIS Contact Center provides different levels of service to handle inquiries. There are two tiers of USCIS staff that you may talk to regarding your case depending on the issue and complexity.
Tier 1 staff are contract employees, which is the first level of live assistance. Tier 1 staff provides basic case-specific and general non-case-specific information. They may speak with applicants, petitioners, and attorneys with G-28 on record. More likely there will be a wait time for your call and the wait time depends on the call traffic and staff at the time.
Tier 2 staff are USCIS officers or supervisors. They may speak with applicants, petitioners, and attorneys with G-28 on record. The updated system makes applicants, petitioners, and legal representatives no longer are automatically transferred to Tier 2 upon request. Instead, the Tier 1 staff determined the level of seriousness of the inquiry and will assign it as either “urgent” or “regular.” If it is assigned as urgent, the caller will receive a call-back from Tier 2 staff within 48 hours. If it is assigned as regular, the caller will receive a call-back within 7 business days.
Tips of Making Requests with USCIS Contact Center
To Request an Infopass Appointment:
- First dial 1-800-375-5283
- Say “Infopass”
- The system places a queue to speak to an agent
- Speak to a live person
To Request an Expediate of Adjudication of Cases or Biometrics
- First dial 1-800-375-5283
- Say “expediate request” or “expediate biometric appointment”
- The system places a queue to speak to an agent
- Speak to a live person
Request to Reschedule an Interview or Biometrics
- First dial 1-800-375-5283
- Say “reschedule interview” or “reschedule biometric appointment”
- The system places a queue to speak to an agent
- Speak to a live person
Other Tips:
- By experience normally calls are easier to go through in early days of a week.
- It is best to not leave urgent inquiries in a Friday as it is close to weekend.
- It is a good idea to provide your cell phone number for USCIS staff to call back.
- It is better to set your phone’s settings to be not blocking ‘Unknown Callers’ because USCIS’s calls may be blocked by it.
