April 19, 2023

Now Open: New USCIS Service Center

Dear Stakeholder,

On March 30, USCIS announced the opening of its new Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions, and Travel Documents (HART) Service Center, which will work primarily on humanitarian-based applications and petitions. HART will initially focus on the following forms:

• Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver
• Bona fide determinations (BFDs) for Form I-918, Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status
• Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition
• VAWA-based Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant

What This Means for You

• The new center does not change existing form instructions and customer service processes at USCIS. Please continue to follow form instructions and use existing customer service channels and email boxes to contact USCIS.
• Continue to send address changes for VAWA-based Forms I-360 and Forms I-918 BFDs to the Vermont Service Center.
• HART will process both digital and paper-based application and petitions.
• USCIS intends for HART to eventually be a completely virtual service center with no geographic physical location, operating across multiple time zones.
• HART staff will also focus on increased engagement with stakeholders, including quarterly local and national engagements, throughout fiscal year (FY) 2023 and beyond.

Why This Matters

We have regularly heard from stakeholders about their desire for consistency in adjudications, enhanced training for USCIS officers, and increased communication with USCIS on humanitarian cases. In our 2022 Annual Report to Congress, we also made recommendations on how to improve the affirmative asylum backlog and analyzed the successes and challenges of the U visa BFD process.

The HART Service Center is currently staffed with 150 positions, and over the next two fiscal years, USCIS will continue to hire experienced staff with the goal of reaching 95%-98% of the 480 authorized positions by the end of FY 2024.

USCIS has stated that it created this new service center in part due to feedback from community groups and stakeholders. We are pleased to see USCIS take this step to improve the quality and timeliness of the adjudication of humanitarian benefits. We will continue to raise stakeholder concerns with USCIS and welcome feedback on your experiences with the new HART Service Center.

More Information

For more details, you can join USCIS’ webinar overview of the new HART Service Center tomorrow, April 20 from 1-2:30 p.m. EDT. USCIS is currently hiring immigration services officers to serve at HART. For more information, please see the public job announcement available on USAJobs.

For information on how to contact USCIS about T, U, or VAWA cases, please see the “T, U, and VAWA Cases” section of our FAQpage.

The CIS Ombudsman is dedicated to assisting individuals and employers seeking to resolve problems with USCIS. For more information on our office, please visit dhs.gov/cisombudsman or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Please complete the CIS Ombudsman Customer Satisfaction Survey. We appreciate your feedback.

Resources

• Public Engagement
• Case Assistance
• Annual Report
• FAQs
• Immigration Resources

You are subscribed to updates from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman). 

Manage Subscriptions  |  Privacy Policy  |  Help