Immigration

USCIS Speeds Up Processing of Naturalization Applications

The USCIS has announced that it plans to process more than one million naturalization cases in 2008, which is 36 percent more applications than were processed in 2007. To accommodate this goal, the USCIS plans to hire 3,000 new employees and to allocate more employees to offices receiving the most naturalization applications. The agency also plans to quadruple the funding for overtime and to use Asylum Office facilities and staff for naturalization interviews.

The USCIS currently projects it will take an average of thirteen to fifteen months to complete most naturalization cases.