Issues of Access, Transparency and Efficiency

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) maintains millions of historical records of significant value to genealogists, researchers, and historians. Access to these records is currently controlled by the fee-based USCIS Genealogy Program and/or the USCIS Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act (FOIA/PA) program.

In 2007, USCIS should have begun transfer of a copy of the MiDAS system, including the INS Master Index Soundex, to the National Archives (NARA)1. The transfer of this system would have laid the groundwork for the efficient and regular handover of records from USCIS to NARA. Prior to accepting a records transfer, NARA requires an agency to provide a serviceable index of names and/or file numbers. Until this long-overdue transfer of MiDAS is complete, NARA cannot accept a transfer of USCIS’ historic records. USCIS and NARA must work together to transfer the MiDAS system immediately.

In the meantime, fee-paying customers bear the brunt of USCIS’ mismanagement of the Genealogy Program, ranging from multi-year wait times to reports of lost records or files not found. In the three years since the 2019-2020 attempted fee hike, problems with the USCIS Genealogy Program have continued unabated. USCIS has done nothing to demonstrate to its customers that it has addressed issues related to access, transparency, or efficiency.

Access

USCIS does not provide adequate access to historical records and information.

  • The proposed fees – starting at $100, and going up to a whopping $340 for a single file – are beyond the means of most everyday Americans.
  • The proposed rule suggests that some requesters may receive documents faster, but only if the documents have been previously digitized. However, millions of documents held by USCIS exist only on paper, and it is often impossible to know whether or not the record of interest is on paper or digitized.
  • USCIS refers the majority of Genealogy Program Records Requests to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officers for processing. Many response letters received from the Genealogy Program are signed by FOIA staff. The Genealogy Program was created to unburden FOIA staff. If USCIS considers Genealogy Program requests to be FOIA requests, researchers should not pay any fees other than standard FOIA fees.
  • A USCIS Index Search must be conducted to obtain the file numbers for records that have been in NARA custody for decades – namely, the INS Subject & Policy Files. The proposed fees will result in customers being charged $100 to obtain a file number for a record already at NARA.

Transparency

USCIS does not provide accurate, complete, or timely information to the public about the Genealogy Program.

  • In 2021, USCIS implemented a new effort to provide cycle time transparency for many immigration and naturalization forms, yet completely overlooked the forms used by the Genealogy Program, despite repeated requests by advocates for them to be included. Even as wait times increase exponentially, USCIS offers no specific data on processing times for Index Searches and Records Requests, Genealogy Program fee costing, or Genealogy Program staffing numbers.
  • USCIS proposes steep increases in its two Genealogy Program fees, from $65 to $100; and from $65 to $240, but provides little to explain or justify exactly why. USCIS claims the fees are justified but provides no calculations on the average amount of labor it takes to complete a request.
  • USCIS provides no information nor data on why it takes 245 business days for an Index Search and 275 business days for a Records Request – the longest wait times in the Genealogy Program’s history.
  • USCIS cannot accurately determine how many staff work on the Genealogy program, noting “approximately 6 genealogy positions,”3 in the proposed rule. This suggests there are no dedicated staff who work full time for the Genealogy Program – a direct contradiction of their statement from 2020.4
  • USCIS misleads customers in its suggestion that 70% of requestors will save money on requests due to the proposed digital delivery method. Many requestors require copies of paper records for legal purposes, which would be subject to the higher Records Request fee. Moreover, requestors who currently pay $130 for an Index Search and subsequent Records Request receive documents whether they were previously digitized or on paper. Now, one paper Records Request would cost a total of $340.

Efficiency

USCIS does not provide quality service in searching for, locating, or releasing historical records.

  • The wait time for an Index Search now takes 7 times longer than in 2020. The wait time for record copies takes 5.5 times longer.5 Based on current numbers, an Index Search and Records Request can take more than 2 years to be obtained. USCIS offers no explanation of how the proposed rule and/or fee changes will be more efficient than before, nor more efficient than transferring the historical records and indices to the National Archives.
  • Despite announcing numerous efforts to reduce processing backlogs, USCIS fails to explain how it plans to reduce the Genealogy Program’s backlog – even after multiple requests to the Office of Public Engagement for information.
  • The Genealogy Program provides letters to individuals when a record is missing, claiming ongoing records reconciliation and auditing procedures – and yet can provide no data whatsoever on these auditing procedures or projects.
  • Visa Files and Registry Files, both subject to the proposed $340 total fee, became eligible for transfer to NARA in April 2019. USCIS is not abiding by the records schedules it agreed to, and does not seem to work effectively with NARA to solve the issue.
  • Alien Registration Forms, subject to the proposed $100 fee, exist on microfilm at NARA but remain unavailable because of a USCIS restriction.
  • A-Files of immigrants born more than 100 years ago should be at NARA, as per USCIS' 2009 records schedule. At least 56% of eligible A-files have not transferred to NARA, and will cost researchers between $240-340 to obtain.
Infographic about the proposed USCIS Genealogy Program fee hikes

1 The transfer should include the operational means by which to effectively search the data it contains. The MiDAS System schedule N1-566-06-002, see item 1(b). After the initial transfer, the NARA copy was supposed to receive periodic updates.
2 https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/accessioning/finding-aid.html
3 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-27066/p-1115 In the published 2020 Rule it stated that since the 2017 move to the NRC, "...dedicated USCIS genealogical staff process all genealogical records requests."
4 See https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-16389/p-828.
5 USCIS “Request Status,” https://www.uscis.gov/records/genealogy/genealogical-records-help/request-status, accessed 6 January 2023