Recently the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rolled out a new program it hopes will help improve delivery of some documents related to the immigration process. Obviously this could prove to be a significant upgrade for anybody in the local community who deals with the department in an official and time-sensitive capacity.
In a May 2 memo the USCIS said it had put in place what it calls a "Secure Mail Initiative" (SMI). The SMI will take advantage of the Priority Mail with delivery confirmation option within the U.S. Postal Services (USPS).
The USCIS has essentially partnered with the USPS in an effort to allow customers the ability to keep on top of the status of paperwork critical to travel and employment authorization.
Permanent Resident cards (green cards), Employment Authorization (EADs) and Advance Parole can all now be tracked through the SMI. Obviously timely receipt of green cards and EADs will be very important to some of our readers.
The USCIS highlighted two key benefits in its memo:
-Tracking the status of documents with USPS tracking information.
-Increases in the speed documents are received by the USCIS. The memo said that "on average, documents sent through USPS Priority Mail should arrive two to four business days sooner than with first-class mail."
A signature is not required for SMI delivery, so it will still be possible for a piece of mail to be lost - only the delivery of the package or envelope is recorded. But given that the USPS keeps a record of each delivery, the USPS's customer service can be utilized for inquiries.
The USCIS said that customers who receive an approval notice (Form I-797) should contact its Customer Service Center and request tracking information for their particular documents.They will then be given their most recent delivery status and a tracking number. Their document can then be monitored on the USPS's website, usps.com.
The USCIS said it began testing the SMI in a more limited capacity back in 2009. Starting that summer it used the service for some re-mailings and in situations where documents were returned as undeliverable.
Finally USCIS is implanting this important programs. In many situations, there are important rights which flow to clients upon receipt of documents. And from the firm's standpoint, we can tell you that attorneys many years later will struggle with the lack of evidence as to delivery dates of certain documents. This program can only be of value for it will also allow for SMI delivery of documents to USCIS as well.
