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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
Authorities and Procedures
December 20, 2021
Through legislation, Congress has specified the conditions under which non-U.S. nationals (aliens, as the
term is used in the Immigration and Nationality Act [INA]) may lawfully enter or remain in the United
States. Under this framework, aliens who satisfy applicable requirements may qualify for certain types of
immigration benefits, such as adjustment to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is tasked
with adjudicating immigration benefit applications. This Legal Sidebar provides a brief overview of
USCIS's authorities and procedures. (Two other DHS components, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement [ICE] and Customs and Border Protection [CBP]), are primarily responsible for the agency's
immigration enforcement activities, and their authorities are discussed in other CRS products.)
Background
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 established USCIS as the component within DHS responsible for
adjudicating immigration benefit requests. USCIS's powers derive from those originally exercised by the
former Immigration and Naturalization Service, which dissolved upon the creation of DHS. USCIS's
responsibilities include, among other things, the adjudication of immigrant visa petitions (e.g., family- or
employer-based petitions), applications to adjust to LPR status, affirmative asylum applications,
petitions for naturalization, and employment authorization applications. USCIS has the authority to
charge fees for these services, and, through regulations, the agency has set the required filing fees for
different types of benefit requests (subject to fee waivers and exemptions in some cases).
Different USCIS directorates perform that agency's adjudicatory functions relating to benefits. The
Service Center Operations adjudicates benefit requests at five regional service centers in cases where
applicant interviews are not required. Other benefit adjudications, many of which require personal
interviews, are handled by two other directorates. Refugee, Asylum and International Operations
adjudicates refugee status applications, humanitarian parole requests, and affirmative asylum
applications (i.e., applications made by persons not in removal proceedings). It also considers whether
aliens apprehended at the border or those who were previously removed are potentially eligible for
asylum or related protections from removal. Another directorate, Field Operations, adjudicates other types
of benefit requests through written correspondence and interviews, processes background security checks,
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10671
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govefad0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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