USCIS Improves Delivery of Immigration Documents through Secure Mail Initiative

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has fully implemented the Secure Mail Initiative (SMI), which uses U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation to deliver certain immigration documents in a safe, secure and timely manner.

Made possible by a partnership between USCIS and the USPS, the SMI enables USCIS to confirm delivery of permanent resident cards and documents pertaining to travel and employment authorization. With USPS tracking information, USCIS customers can easily stay up-to-date on the delivery status of their documents and USCIS can confirm that these essential documents were delivered to the proper address.

SMI provides USCIS customers many benefits, including:

• The ability to track the status of their documents with USPS tracking information
• Quicker delivery—on average, documents sent through USPS Priority Mail should arrive two to four business days sooner than with first-class mail

Customers who receive notices of approval can contact USCIS’s Customer Service Center at 800-375-5283 to request tracking information for their documents. USCIS customer service representatives will provide customers with their USPS tracking number and current USPS delivery status.

Customers should wait at least two weeks after getting their approval notice before calling for information regarding their cases. When requesting tracking information, customers must also provide information from the receipt notice they received when they submitted their initial application. After receiving the tracking number from the USCIS Customer Service Center, customers can track the delivery status by visiting the Postal Service website at www.usps.com and entering the USPS tracking number into the Track & Confirm field.

SMI was one of several enhancements resulting from USCIS’s 2007 final fee schedule. USCIS first piloted the initiative in July 2008, delivering all re-entry permits and refugee travel documents using USPS Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. USCIS has also used SMI processes since July 2009 for re-mailing all permanent residence cards, as well as employment authorization and travel documents returned by the USPS to USCIS as undeliverable.