Adjustment of Status - I-485

Which Services Will Become Available When Offices Reopen?

Many US states are looking forward to opening up their economy as soon as possible, and USCIS is targeting 4th June for resuming its full-fledged operation. As per the reports, here are the activities which are going to resume after the 4th of June:

Naturalization Ceremonies

If you’ve applied and accepted for being naturalized after filing the Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, then you’ll be asked to attend an interview where you’ll answer certain questions and take the oath, known as Oath of Allegiance. This is known as the Naturalization Ceremony, and after attending it you’ll be a US citizen. Both types of ceremonies, Judicial and administrative, were canceled after the nation-wide lockdown. But it is expected to reopen soon after June 4. If your naturalization ceremony was postponed, you will get an email or notification from USCIS regarding your rescheduled ceremony. So, be prepared for it.

Biometrics Appointments

Biometric appointments are an important part of most immigration-related processes. It was an in-person affair and you had to remain physically present. You either visit an Embassy to provide your data or a USCIS office. But due to COVID-19, these types of appointments were suspended indefinitely. To keep the process flowing, USCIS was using fingerprint data from the existing database that it had. But since the offices will be reopening, biometrics appointments will take place as usual. These will be opened after July 4th and you will be called to submit your fingerprint data.

Citizenship and Visa Interviews

After you submit an application and it is accepted, the next step is an interview that is scheduled at a USCIS office. This can be either for verification or question-answer sessions supplementing the information you provided in the form. Status adjustment, waiver applicants, incarcerated petitioners are also required to attend the interviews. Post 4th of July, these will take place normally. But the speed at which processes took place is likely to slow down with urgent cases being prioritized. Cases where interviews are not necessary will either be passed or postponed to a later date, depending on the USCIS decision.

Asylum Interviews

For asylum seekers, Asylum interviews are an important step toward refugee status. After the screening is done and form filing is done, an interview at an asylum office in the US is scheduled. It is primarily a question-and-answer session and requires face-to-face and verbal communication. These interviews also require significant traveling. Due to the risk of contamination, these types of sessions were canceled. But they’re all set to resume after the 4th of July. Applicants who had already received legal aid will be called first.