New Changes to USCIS Ombudsman’s Office Online Case Assistance Request Form — Visa Lawyer Blog — May 6, 2024
If your case remains pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) beyond the posted processing times for your immigration benefit request, you may consider requesting assistance from the Ombudsman’s Office.
What is the USCIS Ombudsman?
The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) helps individuals and employers resolve difficulties they are experiencing with USCIS. The Ombudsman functions independently and is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Before an applicant can request for help from the Ombudsman, they must have contacted USCIS within the last 90 days and given the agency at least 60 days to resolve their problem. If a Congressional representative is already assisting you, the Ombudsman’s office cannot help you.
If USCIS does not resolve the issue (via submission of an e-request, or other communication method) the applicant can prepare and submit a case assistance request with the Office of the Ombudsman.
The most common issues the Ombudsman can assist with are:
- Cases involving an emergency or a hardship that falls under the USCIS expedite criteria
- Expedite requests approved by USCIS more than 2 months ago
- Typographical errors
- Improper rejections
- Cases involving U.S. military personnel and their families
- Aging out of eligibility
- Undelivered USCIS notices or decisions
- Transfers to the Department of State for approved petitions
What’s changing?
The Office of the Ombudsman has announced that it is testing a new format of the Form 7001, Request for Case Assistance, and has implemented new features for uploading documents and checking on the status of requests filed by applicants.
Among these changes, users will now be able to:
- Make use of a simpler, cleaner online DHS Form 7001 page along with useful information like Tips for Submitting a Case Assistance Request.
- Take advantage of user-friendly features with no more accordion sections. Applicants can track the progress of their request and see alerts about entering important information.
- Make use of a new tab where they can upload requested documents after submitting the DHS Form 7001.
- Make use of a new tab where they can check the status of their case assistance request after submission.
- The CIS Ombudsman Request Number will appear on the confirmation page after they submit the form.
To make use of the new and improved form, please click here.
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