On July 12, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced its expansion of myProgress to include Forms I-765 and I-131, crediting a desire to improve the customer experience.
This system, previously referred to as “personalized processing times,” provides applicants with access to personalized estimates of their wait time through an online account and includes major milestones on their case, including the final decision. To use the tool, applicants must sign up for an online USCIS account and select their pending application.
The USCIS provides the disclaimer that while these estimates are based on historical patterns of cases with similar details, the processing times are not a guarantee and cannot take into consideration all potential application processing delays.
In addition to the newly added forms, myProgress provides case specific information to N-400, I-90, and I-130 applicants and beneficiaries with a USCIS online account. If the individual e-filed or linked one of the applicable forms to an online account using an access code, the myProgress tab will be visible within their account, providing information regarding application status.
In particular, the myProgress tab displays the estimated wait time until a case decision, as well as a checkmark indicator adjacent to each of the following key milestones upon completion:
- Receipt of the application or petition
- Completion of the biometric services appointment, if required
- Case decision
Despite these welcome technological advances, applicants or their immigration attorney still must use the public “Check Case Processing Times” webpage to determine eligibility for filing an “Outside of Normal Processing Times” service request. However, hope remains for this to eventually be resolved as well. In its announcement, the USCIS indicated that it seeks to continue to improve the functionality of USCIS accounts, pledging that it will continue to make strides to add other benefit types to the myProgress system.
--This article was co-authored by Tieranny Cutler, independent contract attorney.
