How to Check Your Immigration Application Status

Want to know how your immigration application is coming along? Now it’s easier than ever to check your immigration application status.

Last fall, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services redesigned their difficult-to-navigate website to make it easier for people to use. USCIS also changed the way applicants can access their immigration application status online.

In addition, USCIS launched E-Notification, a system of letting an applicant know that his or her application was accepted if it was filed at the USCIS Lockbox facilities in Chicago, Illinois; Phoenix, Arizona or Lewisville, Texas.

About E-Notification

If you are submitting immigration forms to one of the three Lockboxes, then all you need to do is submit Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance along with your application.

If you provide an e-mail address and a cell phone number on the G-1145, you will receive an e-mail and a text message from USCIS with your receipt number. You will receive your official receipt in the mail via the US Postal Service.

Many forms are filed at the Lockbox locations, meaning many applicants will be able to be notified when their immigration application or petition has been officially accepted by USCIS.

Applications and petitions filed at the Lockboxes include:

• Citizenship and naturalization forms
• Family-based immigration forms
• Adoption-based immigration forms
• Adjustment of status forms
• Employment authorization forms
• Travel document/advance parole forms
• Temporary Protective Status forms
• Card replacement forms

Submitting Form G-1145 only lets you know when your petition has been accepted. For further information on your immigration application status, you need My Case Status.

About My Case Status

My Case Status combines up-to-date information about the status of your immigration application with current application processing times, so you can estimate how long your application might take to get approved.

You can create a secure account with a username and password to check your case status quickly and easily. Once you are registered, you can sign up for automatic e-mail and text message updates every time your application status changes.

My Case Status also tells you how the current application processing step relates to the overall immigration application process, so you have a better understanding of the USCIS system.

Other Ways to Check Your Immigration Application Status

If you have questions about your application status, you can also call the USCIS National Customer Service Center, make an InfoPass appointment or, if you filed with a USCIS Field Office, write a letter to the office for an update.

But with the new e-mail and text message updates, it’s clear that checking your immigration application status has never been easier!

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