Citizenship, green card applications seeing lengthier wait times, lawyers say

Alkamalee Jabbar who is originally from Sri Lanka, was one of more than 700,000 immigrants are waiting on their applications to become U.S. citizens, a process that in many parts of the country now takes a year or more. | AP photo

WASHINGTON — Immigration lawyers are blasting delays in the U.S. government’s handling of applications for citizenship, green cards and other immigration benefits.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association says the wait times nearly doubled over a four-year period while the number of immigration applications rose only slightly.

The lawyers say U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is shifting its focus away from serving immigrant applicants and toward immigration enforcement. They are asking for more congressional oversight.

A spokesman for the federal agency says many factors play into processing times, but longer waits are often due to higher application rates.

But the lawyers point to a 2018 report by the Department of Homeland Security showing the net backlog of cases at USCIS doubled during the 2017 fiscal year while the agency saw a 4 percent increase in applications.