USCIS to Close Offices to the Public Due to Coronavirus- What now?
The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the elevation of the outbreak’s status to a pandemic by the WHO has led many to advocate for social distancing in order to decrease the chances of infection.
As a result, many businesses and even government departments have closed their doors to the public to deal with this public health emergency.
In order to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has joined in this effort and has temporarily closed its offices to the public from March 18th until at least April 1st.
What does that even mean?
During this period of time, USCIS will be suspending in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and Application Support Centers (ASCs), with the exception of emergency services for limited situations.
For applicants or petitioners with interview appointments or naturalization ceremonies scheduled for dates during 3/18~4/1/2020, The dates will automatically be rescheduled once normal USCIS operations resume. USCIS will send out notice with detailed instructions.
Those with InfoPass appointments must reschedule through the USCIS Contact Center once field offices open to the public again.
For those with scheduled asylum interviews, USCIS asylum offices will send an interview cancellation notice and automatically reschedule the interview. A new interview notice will be sent with the new time, date, and location of the interview.
For paper/document submissions, USCIS would still process as usual.
What should I do if I am affected?
Despite these pressing times, please do not be discouraged.
While USCIS has cancelled face-to-face interactions, your appointments will still occur at a later time once this crisis is at an end.
You can think of this time as an opportunity for you to better prepare for your interviews and exams.
If you don’t receive the notice regarding your interview or appointment during the closure period, there are effective ways to communicate with the USCIS, and our legal team is experienced dealing with the ruthless system.
Our professional team of immigration lawyers would be happy to assist you and answer any questions. Please continue to follow our articles on Medium for any further information from USCIS.
Still got questions? Consult us today!