USCIS Backlogs and Budgets | #MobilityMinute

In this Mobility Minute, Senior Associate Sara Mailander discusses the factors contributing to USCIS' significant backlog of pending applications—currently more than 5.2 million (of the 8.5 million total applications) that are beyond acceptable processing time—as well as the agency's request for additional public funding for fiscal year 2023 to continue addressing this ongoing backlog issue. While USCIS is primarily a fee-funded agency, its leadership has acknowledged the reality that fees alone are not sufficient to sustain successful and efficient operations. Further, being that the fiscal year 2023 appropriations are not yet guaranteed, Fragomen will be monitoring for proposed rules on new USCIS fees in the coming months.