Early in the season of 2003, the various services and benefit functions that were part of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, or the INS, were placed underneath the direction of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It was then renamed the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which will be also now referred to as USCIS.

The USCIS has become in charge of administering all the functions of immigration and naturalization adjudication. As well, it is in charge of establishing the policies and priorities linked to immigration services.

One of the many various functions of the newly formed US Citizenship and Immigration Services, includes providing information to those who are enthusiastic about immigrating to the United States and becoming US citizens, along with providing resources to immigrants.

The USCIS oversees and manages all of the many functions which can be linked to immigration, including: processing of visa petitions by immigrants; making rulings on naturalization petitions; adjudicating applications for asylum and for refugees; arbitrating procedures and rulings which can be performed at the various service centers; handling all other adjudication requirements as required by the circumstances.

The department of US Citizenship and Immigration Services is made up of approximately fifteen thousand employees. Some are employees of the United States federal government and some are independent contractors.

Roughly speaking, this large staff calculates of 250 field offices and headquarters located across the globe. They serve the requirements of folks from all areas of the world who are enthusiastic about emigrating from their native countries to the United States.

The main responsibilities of the USCIS include providing resources for potential immigrants and for the various organizations that support and serve them. In the instance of immigrants, the USCIS primarily focuses their efforts on two key amounts of time within an immigrant's journey.

Enough time when an immigrant first becomes a lasting resident and the point of which he or she is preparing to formally begin the naturalization process, that may lead them toward integration to the US culture and society.

For the newly arrived immigrant, there's a vast level of information and resources offered at the state website of the department of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is often located at USCIS. On this website, there's a thorough guide that may be downloaded. It gives practical immigration information designed to help new immigrants easily transition to the everyday lifestyle of the US. Entry Clearance

This helpful guide is entitled "Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants," and it is available in eleven different languages. The guide also covers some basic US civics information which introduces the newest immigrants to the United States system of government. This really is information that they will need to learn to operate well in their new country.