[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 73 (Monday, April 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20398-20400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07987]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[CIS No. 2684-21; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2021-0004]
RIN 1615-ZB87


Identifying Barriers Across U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services (USCIS) Benefits and Services; Request for Public Input

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS.

ACTION: Request for public input.

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SUMMARY:  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking comments 
from the public on how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
(USCIS) can reduce administrative and other barriers and burdens within 
its regulations and policies, including those that prevent foreign 
citizens from easily obtaining access to immigration services and 
benefits. This effort will help DHS identify process improvements for 
USCIS, with benefits for state, local, and tribal governments, for 
businesses (including small businesses and startups), for educational 
institutions of all kinds, for nonprofits, and for individuals.

DATES: Written comments are requested on or before April 19, 2021. 
Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number USCIS-
2021-0004, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Comments submitted in a manner other than the one listed above, 
including emails or letters sent to DHS or USCIS officials, may not be 
reviewed by DHS. Please note that DHS and USCIS cannot accept any 
comments that are hand delivered or couriered. In addition, USCIS 
cannot accept comments contained on any form of digital media storage 
devices, such as CDs/DVDs and USB drives. Due to COVID-19, USCIS is 
also not accepting mailed comments at this time. If you cannot submit 
your comment by using http://www.regulations.gov, please contact 
Samantha Deshommes, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of 
Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 
Department of Homeland Security, by telephone at 240-721-3000 for 
alternate instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samantha Deshommes, Regulatory 
Coordination Division Chief, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS, 5900 Capital Gateway Drive, 
Camp Springs, MD 20746; telephone 240-721-3000 (this is not a toll-free 
number). Individuals with hearing or speech impairments may access the 
telephone numbers above via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 
Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation

    Interested persons are invited to comment on this notice by 
submitting written data, views, or arguments using the method 
identified in the ADDRESSES section.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov including any personal 
information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

II. Background

    On February 2, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (E.O.) 
14012, ``Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and 
Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.'' 
\1\ In E.O. 14012, President Biden announced his objective to encourage 
``full participation by immigrants'' and directed responsible Federal 
agencies to identify strategies that promote ``integration, inclusion, 
and citizenship'' and ``identify barriers that impede access to 
immigration benefits and fair, efficient adjudications of these 
benefits.'' Executive Order 13707, ``Using Behavioral Science Insights 
to Better Serve the American People'' (Sept. 18, 2015), states that 
``the Federal Government should design its policies and programs to 
reflect our best understanding of how people engage with, participate 
in, use, and respond to those policies and programs.'' \2\ President 
Biden's Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific 
Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking (Jan. 27, 2021), refers to 
Executive Order 13707 and calls for ``the evidence-based and iterative 
development and the equitable delivery of policies, programs, and 
agency operations,'' including approaches ``that may be informed by the 
social and behavioral sciences and data science.'' \3\
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    \1\ ``Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and 
Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans,'' 
86 FR 8277 (Feb. 5, 2021).
    \2\ ``Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve the 
American People,'' 80 FR 56365 (Sept. 18, 2015).
    \3\ ``Restoring Trust in Government through Scientific Integrity 
and Evidence-Based Policymaking,'' 86 FR 8845 (Feb. 10, 2021).
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    To achieve President Biden's objectives, DHS is soliciting public 
input to better understand and identify administrative barriers and 
burdens (including paperwork requirements, waiting time, and other 
obstacles) that impair the functions of the USCIS process and 
unnecessarily impede access to USCIS immigration benefits. The relevant 
burdens might be imposed on state, local, and tribal governments; 
businesses, including small businesses and startups; educational 
institutions; nonprofits; households; and individuals. DHS is also 
seeking input to help identify current USCIS processes or those 
previously in place that promote equity and inclusion and learn how 
USCIS might leverage and incorporate those successes and lessons 
learned in other immigration benefits and adjudication processes.
    Independent of the current Request for Public Input, DHS 
continually evaluates its regulatory program for rules that are 
candidates for retrospective review. DHS does so through legally 
mandated retrospective review requirements (for example, Unified Agenda 
of Planned Regulatory Actions reviews and reviews under section 610 of 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 610) and through other 
informal and long-established mechanisms (for example, use of Advisory 
Councils, feedback from DHS field personnel, input from internal 
working groups, and outreach to regulated entities). Today's notice is 
separate from these existing DHS retrospective review efforts.

III. Request for Input

A. Importance of Public Feedback

    To achieve the objectives outlined in E.O. 14012, E.O. 13707, and 
the Presidential Memorandum on Restoring

[[Page 20399]]

Trust in Government through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based 
Policymaking, it is critical that public input helps drive process 
improvements in strategies, processes, and planning. Because the 
impacts and effects of immigration benefits tend to be widely dispersed 
in society, members of the public--especially regulated stakeholders 
and those that typically participate in USCIS rulemakings--are likely 
to have useful information, data, and perspectives on the benefits and 
burdens of our existing processes. When processes are especially 
burdensome, members of the public may have unique knowledge. Given that 
unique knowledge, a primary factor that will improve the USCIS 
immigration process is public feedback.

B. Maximizing the Value of Public Feedback

    This notice contains a list of questions, the answers to which will 
assist DHS in identifying potential USCIS immigration processes that 
may benefit from DHS review with the goal of reducing burdens on the 
public, saving costs for both the public and USCIS, increasing 
navigability, saving time, reducing confusion and frustration, 
promoting simplification, improving efficiency, and/or removing 
barriers that unnecessarily impede access to immigration benefits. DHS 
encourages public comment on these questions and seeks any other 
information or data commenters believe are relevant to this notice. The 
type of feedback that is most useful to DHS will identify specific 
regulations and/or processes, and include actionable information and/or 
data and/or provide viable alternatives, that meet statutory 
obligations and regulatory objectives and requirements. Public feedback 
that simply states that a stakeholder feels strongly that USCIS should 
change its processes but does not contain specific information on what 
change should be considered or how a proposed change will reduce 
barriers, or otherwise improve existing processes, is less useful to 
USCIS.
    We highlight a few of those points here, noting that comments that 
will be most useful to DHS are those that are guided by the below 
principles. Commenters should consider these principles as they answer 
and respond to the questions in this notice:
     Commenters should identify, with specificity, the 
regulation or immigration process at issue, providing the Code of 
Federal Regulation (CFR) and/or USCIS Policy Manual citation where 
available or applicable. (If a new regulation is being suggested 
addressing a subject matter that is not currently codified in 
regulations, it should be identified with as much specificity as 
possible and with references to the program/process and statutory 
authority.)
     Commenters should provide, in as much detail as possible, 
an explanation why a USCIS regulation, form or information collection, 
or immigration process should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or 
repealed, as well as specific suggestions about how USCIS can better 
achieve its regulatory objectives and reduce unnecessary burdens on 
public institutions, the private sector, households, individuals, or 
other stakeholders.
     To the extent feasible, commenters should provide specific 
data that document the costs, burdens, and benefits of existing 
requirements and/or how proposed changes would reduce costs and 
burdens, and/or increase benefits to USCIS or the public. Commenters 
might also address how USCIS can best obtain and consider accurate, 
objective information and data about existing regulations, processes 
and procedures, and whether there are existing sources of data that 
USCIS can use to evaluate the post-promulgation effects of DHS 
regulations USCIS administers over time to help identify inefficiencies 
and actually or potentially unwarranted barriers to those interacting 
with or affected by USCIS.
     Comments should emphasize any burdensome processes that 
have been in effect for enough time to warrant a fair evaluation, in 
most cases for more than one year.
     Comments that reiterate substantive issues already raised 
in public comments submitted on recently issued rules will be less 
useful, unless they provide new information--by, for example, pointing 
to new studies or data, or offering novel alternatives.

C. List of Questions for Commenters

    The below non-exhaustive list of questions is meant to assist 
members of the public in formulating comments, and is not intended to 
restrict the feedback that members of the public may provide:
    (1) Are there any regulations; policies; precedents or adopted 
decisions; adjudicatory practices; forms, form instructions, or 
information collections; or other USCIS procedures or requirements that 
you consider to be unjustified or excessive barriers that impede easy 
access to legally authorized immigration benefits and fair, efficient 
adjudications of these benefits? Please provide specific examples 
identifying the specific program or subject matter (for example, 
adjustment of status, naturalization, H-1B nonimmigrant status, refugee 
status, asylum, parole).
    (a) With respect to the identified regulations; policies; 
precedents or adopted decisions; adjudicatory practices; forms, form 
instructions, or information collections; or other USCIS procedures or 
requirements that you have identified as potential barriers, are the 
barriers you perceive created by duplication, overlap, or inconsistency 
of requirements? If so, please specify.
    (2) Are there any USCIS regulations or processes that are not 
tailored to impose the least burden on society, consistent with 
achieving the regulatory objectives?
    (3) Are there USCIS regulations or processes that disproportionally 
burden disadvantaged, vulnerable, or marginalized communities? If so, 
please specify the regulation and/or process, to include any applicable 
CFR and/or USCIS Policy Manual citation, providing a description of the 
specific burden to the relevant communities.
    (4) Are there USCIS regulations or processes that disproportionally 
burden a specific industry or sector of the economy, geographic 
location within the US, or government type (e.g. a specific tribal or 
territorial government or a specific local government)?
    (5) What aspects of the immigrant and nonimmigrant perspectives or 
experiences should USCIS be aware of that could better inform our 
qualitative and quantitative analyses when identifying actually or 
potentially excessive administrative burdens, or when evaluating 
regulatory impacts in general?
    (6) Are there existing sources of data that USCIS can use to 
evaluate the post-promulgation effects of regulations and 
administrative burdens over time?
    (7) Are there instances where the costs of USCIS regulations to the 
public far surpass the benefits, for reasons that were not anticipated 
or discussed during the rulemaking process?
    (8) Are there instances where the administrative burdens imposed in 
USCIS regulations are not cost-effective, in the sense that a different 
approach would achieve regulatory goals with significantly lower 
burdens?
    (9) Are there instances where current regulations may have added 
unintended or unanticipated costs, or imposed unintended or 
unanticipated administrative barriers, and in which those costs and 
barriers may not have been adequately considered in previous 
assessments of the regulation's direct costs?
    (10) Are there USCIS regulations that are still necessary, but have 
not

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operated as well as expected, such that a modified approach is 
justified to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens? For example, 
are there current regulations, policies, or procedures, specifically 
related to citizenship and naturalization, family-based immigration 
(including intercountry adoptions), educational opportunities in the 
United States, employment-based immigrant/nonimmigrant programs, 
adjustment of status, or humanitarian programs that could be 
modernized, streamlined, or otherwise improved?
    (11) Is there information you believe USCIS currently collects that 
it does not need or that USCIS does not use effectively to achieve 
regulatory objectives?
    (12) Are there data-sharing activities in which individual DHS 
components (for example, USCIS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
and/or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) should engage, so that 
repetitive collections of the same data do not occur from one component 
to the next?
    (13) Are there data-sharing activities in which DHS components 
should engage with other Federal Government agencies (such as the 
Departments of State, Justice, Labor, or Health and Human Services) so 
that repetitive collections of the same data do not occur from one 
agency to the next?
    (14) Are there areas where DHS components' regulations (including 
those of USCIS) create duplicative, conflicting, or difficult to 
navigate situations for individuals also navigating regulatory 
requirements of another Federal Government agency (such as those from 
the Departments of State, Justice, Labor, or Health and Human 
Services), such that consideration of greater cooperation or 
coordination would be warranted?
    (15) Are there regulations or forms that have been overtaken by 
technological developments or that should be amended as part of USCIS' 
eProcessing initiative?\4\
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    \4\ USCIS' eProcessing initiative aims to increase public 
availability to digital services and forms across USCIS benefits and 
better integrate existing USCIS systems for filing, storage, and 
adjudication; see Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, 
U.S. Dep't of Homeland Security, ``Annual Report 2019,'' pages 62-
69, (July 12, 2019), https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/cisomb/cisomb_2019-annual-report-to-congress.pdf (last 
viewed Feb. 23, 2021); see also U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Servs., U.S. Dep't of Homeland Security, ``USCIS Accelerates 
Transition to Digital Immigration Processing'' (May 22, 2019), 
https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-accelerates-transition-to-digital-immigration-processing (last viewed Feb. 24, 
2021).
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    (16) Are there new technologies that USCIS should consider 
leveraging to modify, streamline, or do away with existing regulatory 
or form requirements?
    (17) Are there ``bright spots,'' in the form of existing USCIS 
regulations and/or processes--or processes previously in place--that 
are not burdensome, and that you recommend DHS/USCIS look to as 
examples it can emulate in other program areas?

IV. Review of Public Feedback

    DHS will use the public's feedback to help initiate strategic 
plans, consider reforms, and execute reports pursuant to President 
Biden's requests of DHS outlined in E.O. 14012. DHS will also use the 
public's feedback to consider reduction of administrative burdens more 
broadly. This notice is issued solely for information and program-
planning purposes. Public input provided in response to this notice 
does not bind DHS to any further actions, to include publishing a 
formal response or agreement to initiate a recommended change. DHS will 
consider the feedback and make changes or process improvements at its 
sole discretion. Commenting on this notice is not a substitute for 
commenting on other ongoing DHS rulemaking efforts. To be considered as 
part of a specific rulemaking effort, comments on DHS rules must be 
received during the comment period identified in the relevant rule 
published in the Federal Register, and in the manner specified therein. 
Finally, comments submitted in response to this notice will not be 
considered as petitions for rulemaking submitted pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
553(e) unless they comply with DHS regulations at 6 CFR part 3, 
Petitions for Rulemaking.

Tracy L. Renaud,
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director, U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2021-07987 Filed 4-16-21; 8:45 am]
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