Customer Identify Verification (CIV) to begin at USCIS
On May 6, 2013, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will implement Customer Identify Verification (CIV) in its field offices. Under this new procedure, individuals appearing at the USCIS field office for an interview or to be issued evidence of immigration benefit such as temporary travel documents, parole authorizations, temporary extensions of Form I-90, and temporary I-551 stamps on passports or on I-94 cards, will be required to submit biometric data. After identity verification is satisfactorily completed, individuals will proceed to their interview or be issued their immigration documents. An individual visiting the US CIS field offices for unrelated purpose, such as Infopass appointment or guest of an applicant, are exempt from CIV.
Under this new process, USCIS field office staff will take two fingerprints and a photograph of the individual and input this information into the United States Visit and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology’s (US-VISIT’s) Secondary Inspections Tool (SIT). SIT is a web-based application that processes, displays, and retrieves biometric and biographic data.
The requirement of taking biometrics data is nothing new since USCIS already requires an applicant of an immigrant or naturalization benefit to visit one of their Application Support Centers to provide biometrics. The new requirement of CIV will allow USCIS to re-verify the identity of the individual appearing in front of it and would help them both defend against threats to national security and protect customers from identify fraud.
Our law firm is able to provide advice and assistance to those who need assistance with their immigration matters.