US President Donald Trump has closed the office of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Lokpal, the agency that helped thousands of immigrants deal with intricate visas related issues.
Decisions, experts and lawyers are afraid, the direct impact on applicants for green cards, many from international students on F -1 visa and holders of H -1B visa -Indian migrants.
According to a report, CIS will be less accountable and transparent with closure Economic time,
Visa holders often turned to the Lokpal when the administrative delay threatened his legal status, Rajiv S. Khanna, an Arlington-based immigration lawyer, told The English Daily.
Mr. Khanna said that “F-1 and H-1B visa holders turned to CIS Ombudsman” when they faced bureaucracy obstacles in the USCIS. He noted the move “Their legal status and livelihood are threatened.”
Lokpal’s office and USCIS collaborated to organize workshops and provide guidelines on continuous concerns related to work and student visas.
According to the American Immigration Counsels Association (AILA), the Lokpal’s office processed about 30,000 requests in 2024, which provides assistance with the application disputes, errors and delays.
The elimination of CIS Ombudsman and two other immigration control agencies has expressed concern about the lack of channels available for complaints in a system that are already surrounded by irregularities and delay.
According to its officer WebsiteCIS Lokpal is accountable to DHS Deputy Secretary and has been appointed by DHS Secretary. CIS Ombudsman aims to assist people and employers, who arise when applying for USCIS immigration benefits.
They determine further patterns and locations where employers and individuals struggle with USCIS and suggest changes in administrative processes to improve them and reduce issues.
Its 2024 annual reportCIS Ombudsman said that the institution spent most of 2023 parts to reduce backlog and this processing time. This reduced the processing time and backlog of cases to 15 percent, despite that other priorities affected the ability to achieve their mission.
