HOUSTON—Calling Infopass a customer service milestone,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) today formally opened the Internet-based appointment system
to residents of the Houston area. This launch is part of a national
effort to implement Infopass in all 22 USCIS District offices around
the country, including all 34 Sub-Offices by early September 2004. With
Infopass, the public can go on-line to schedule a date and time to meet
with an immigration officer, avoiding the need to wait in line. Infopass
first debuted in Miami last year and has eliminated the lines in that
office completely.
Traditionally, customers would begin lining up outside USCIS District
Offices at dawn to speak to an
Immigration Officer. USCIS Director Eduardo Aguirre predicts that Infopass
will ultimately mean the end of
the line to wait in line all together.
“This is another important stride for USCIS in our commitment
to offer customers world class service,”
Director Aguirre said. “We are using updated technology to improve
the experience for our customers by
enabling them to schedule an appointment that is convenient for them
on their own time.”
Infopass is now offered in 12 languages including: Arabic, Chinese,
Creole, French, Korean, Polish,
Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Russian, and Vietnamese. USCIS plans to
add additional languages in the
future.
“Now that we have Infopass, we are certain that our customers
will get the assistance they need,” said USCIS Director for the
Houston District office, Hipolito Acosta. “Infopass is a customer
friendly tool that will allow our customers to take control of their
own schedules.”
USCIS Customer Service Options Online
Infopass is one of several USCIS innovations designed to make immigration
services more convenient and
accessible for the general public. USCIS also offers E-Filing that allows
customers to go online to file for an
immigration benefit. E-Filing supports eight of the most frequently
used forms that account for more than
50% of applications filed each year. By the end of 2006, E-Filing will
support twelve forms that account for
over 90% of the applications filed yearly.
Customers may also go online to check the status of their
pending applications, and build a portfolio of up to 100 cases to check.
USCIS also offers customers e-mailed updates when the status of their
case changes.
Customers may access all USCIS Internet-based services on www.uscis.gov.
For any additional information
you can also call the National Customer Service center toll-free telephone
at 1-800-375-5283.
(08/20/2004)
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