[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 34 (Friday, February 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8688-8689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4344]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service
[INS No. 1895-97]


Direct Mail Program for the New Orleans District Office and the 
Louisville and Memphis Suboffices; Form N-400

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service (INS or Service) is expanding its Direct Mail Program to 
include the New Orleans District Office and the Louisville and Memphis 
Suboffices on

[[Page 8689]]

the list of direct mail sites for filing Form N-400, Application for 
Naturalization. Applicants residing within these districts and 
suboffices will mail their Form N-400 directly to the designated INS 
Service Center for processing. This expansion is intended to improve 
INS service to the public by reducing processing times for Form N-400, 
limiting in-person visits to local offices, and improving the quality 
of case status information provided to the public.

DATES: This notice is effective February 20, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Susan Arroyo, Adjudications Officer, Immigration and Naturalization 
Service, Office of Naturalization Operations, 801 I Street, NW., Room 
935E, Washington, DC 20536, telephone, (202) 514-8247.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Direct Mail Program, certain 
applicants and petitioners for immigration benefits mail applications 
and petitions directly to an INS service center for processing instead 
of submitting them to a local INS office. The purposes and strategy of 
the Direct Mail Program have been discussed in previous rulemaking and 
notices (see, e.g., 59 FR 33903 and 59 FR 33985).
    The Service is continuing expansion of the Direct Mail Program as 
applied to Form N-400 by adding the New Orleans District Office, and 
the Louisville and Memphis Suboffices, as Direct Mail sites.

Where To File

    Effective February 20, 1998, applicants for naturalization residing 
within the jurisdiction of the New Orleans District Office and the 
Louisville and Memphis Suboffices must mail the Form N-400, Application 
for Naturalization, directly to the Texas Service Center at the 
following address; USINS Texas Service Center, Attention: N-400 Unit, 
P.O. Box 851204, Mesquite, Texas 75185-1204.

Transition

    During the first 60 days following the effective date of this 
notice, the New Orleans District Office and the Louisville and Memphis 
Suboffices will forward in a timely fashion to the Texas Service Center 
any Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, which has been 
inadvertently filed with the respective district or suboffice. 
Applicants will be provided a notice at the time of filing at the 
district or suboffice advising them their application is being 
forwarded to the service center for initial processing. The applicant 
will receive written notification from their respective district or 
suboffice of the date, place, and time of their interview for 
naturalization. When applications are forwarded from the district or 
suboffices, they will be receipted and filed when they arrive at the 
service center. After the 60-day transition period, applicants 
attempting to file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, at the 
offices listed above will be directed to mail their application 
directly to the Texas Service Center for processing.

    Dated: February 18, 1998.
Doris Meissner,
Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service.
[FR Doc. 98-4344 Filed 2-19-98; 8:45 am]
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