U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released its preliminary fiscal year (FY) 2021 agency statistics and accomplishments. These preliminary statistics highlight the work accomplished by USCIS in FY 2021 to address processing delays and enact operational and policy changes.
Processing Highlights
USCIS continued flexibilities in response time to certain USCIS requests and notices.
237,000 employment-based Green Card applications were processed, this includes 122,000 immigrant visa numbers that the Department of State was unable to process in FY 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UCIS reduced the number of pending biometrics appointments from 1.4 million in January 2021 to 155,000 as of September 2021.
USCIS welcomed 855,000 new U.S. citizens and hosted more than 40,000 naturalization ceremonies.
USCIS completed approximately 39,000 affirmative asylum cases.
As of Sept. 30, 2021, USCIS has approved approximately 835,000 requests for initial DACA and over 2.3 million requests for renewal of DACA.
Online Filing Progress
myUSCIS online accounts grew from 6.1 million in FY 2020 to 9 million in FY 2021.
Approximately 1,210,700 applications were filed online, a 2.3% increase from FY 2020.
On July 21, 2021, USCIS publicly launched online filing for initial TPS registration applications for Burma, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
USCIS added the two forms for electronic filing: Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status and Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization for Temporary Protected Status applicants and F-1 students seeking optional practical training (OPT).
Increases in Data Transparency and Public Engagement
USCIS has created new quarterly reports for benefit programs.
USCIS launched a new webpage outlining key statistics around naturalization highlighting citizenship accomplishments.
USCIS held more than 2,000 virtual engagements with approximately 74,000 attendees.
USCIS hosted engagements in English, Spanish, and other languages including Arabic, Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Dari, and Urdu.
Be sure to follow Berardi Immigration Law’s social media channels for the latest immigration news!
