U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Monday that applicants who have a pending affirmative asylum application with USCIS can now check the status of their applications online at uscis.gov/casestatus. Only asylum applicants with an application pending with USCIS will be able to use this new feature to check their case status online. It will not cover defensive asylum applicants whose cases are pending in immigration court.
“The new capability increases transparency and assures applicants that they have the most up-to-date and accurate information about their case, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “We strive to adjudicate all applications and petitions in a timely manner and are working to reduce the impact on processing times by aligning resources appropriately.”
Previously, asylum applicants could only check their case status through an asylum office in person or by phone, fax, or email. Non-governmental organizations and stakeholders within the legal community informed USCIS that asylum applicants have found this process is very difficult. Furthermore, giving asylum applicants the ability to check their case status online allows asylum office staff to better focus their resources on scheduling interviews and adjudicating pending cases.
USCIS announced Tuesday that applicants can now complete and file Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, and Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322 online.
“One of the major burdens to both benefit seekers and the agency’s adjudicators is the costly, time consuming, and cumbersome process of traditional paper filing,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “This addition to our online capabilities is yet another positive advancement toward a more efficient and convenient filing experience for everyone involved.”
Applicants can file Form N-600 to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship for themselves or their minor children if they:
- Were born abroad and are claiming U.S. citizenship at birth through their parents; or
- Automatically became a U.S. citizen after birth, but before they turned 18 years old.
Applicants can file Form N-600K if they regularly reside in a foreign country and want to claim U.S. citizenship based on their parents. Applicants must secure lawful admission to the U.S. to complete Form N-600K processing. Children of U.S. service members have separate requirements for naturalization under INA Section 322.
