USCIS shifts immigration process to mandatory e-filing

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a new rule making online applications mandatory for immigration benefits such as green cards, citizenship, and asylum. Forms available for e-filing for at least 180 days will become online-only, with exemptions allowed on a case-by-case basis for a $25 fee.

Washington:  The US will soon make online applications mandatory for immigration benefits such as green card, citizenship, and asylum, among others, in a bid to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services, in a new rule published in the Federal Register on Monday, said it will now be mandatory to fill any form that has been available for e-filing for at least 180 days.

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It would also establish a process that allows the agency to make forms online-only after providing at least 60 days’ notice.

The rule could affect a wide range of immigration benefits, including green card applications and renewals, family-based petitions, citizenship requests, asylum claims, employment authorisation applications and Temporary Protected Status filings.

Applicants will generally submit filings through a USCIS online account by either by completing the form online; or uploading a PDF version of the completed form and supporting evidence.

The USCIS said the rule is intended to speed up its transition away from paper-based processing and reduce reliance on the Treasury Department’s lockbox service, which receives and processes mailed applications.

The agency said electronic filing would improve efficiency, reduce errors, and strengthen fraud detection and security screening by making immigration data easier to access and analyse.

Those unable to file online applications can request an exemption by filing a new form which will be reviewed by USCIS for granting a waiver on a case-by-case basis.

In such cases, applicants will have to pay USD 25 as filing charges. In fiscal year 2025, the USCIS processed more than 14 million benefit requests and the lockbox facilities handled approximately 453 million pages of paper submissions.

USCIS spent approximately USD 396 million operating lockbox intake systems and more than USD 10 million in postage costs alone.

DHS believes mandatory e-filing will reduce manual handling, data entry, shipping, storage, and scanning costs while accelerating adjudication workflows.