USCIS extends office closures to May 3

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that its temporary suspension of in-person services at field offices, asylum offices and application support centers will now continue through May 3, 2020. This is an extension of the office closures previously announced by USCIS in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, which had been anticipated to last until early April. According to the most recent press release, offices will start to reopen May 4 unless the public closures are extended further. Operations at USCIS offices that do not involve in-person contact with the public continue, but are limited to performing services that are deemed mission-essential as well as emergency services upon discretion.

Appointments originally scheduled for dates during the office closures will be automatically rescheduled when USCIS resumes normal operations. These include biometrics appointments, interviews, naturalization ceremonies and asylum appointments. Notices will be sent to applicants and petitioners with appointments affected by the temporary suspension of in-person services. New appointment notices will be sent by mail. InfoPass appointments are also canceled but in order to have it rescheduled, individuals must go through the USCIS Contact Center by calling 1-800-375-5283 to set up a new appointment upon the reopening of offices to the public.

Between now and at least May 3, USCIS in-person public engagements and outreach events are also postponed. Those with questions pertaining to these engagements are directed to contact public.engagement@uscis.dhs.gov.

 Applicants and petitioners should note that office closures have already been extended more than once – first effective March 18 to April 1, and an additional extension to April 7 was announced on March 25, 2020. Updates regarding USCIS services impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic can be found at uscis.gov/coronavirus.