Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 40 (Monday, March 3, 2025)

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 40 (Monday, March 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11054-11056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03436]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[OMB Control Number 1615-NEW]

Agency Information Collection Activities; New Collection: Generic
Clearance for the Collection of Certain Information on Immigration
Forms

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of
Homeland Security.

ACTION: 60-Day notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites the general public and other
Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed new collection of
information. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal
Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information
collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e.,
the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond),
the estimated cost to the respondent, and the actual information
collection instruments. This collection of information is necessary to
comply with section 2 of the Executive order (E.O.) entitled
``Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other
National Security and Public Safety Threats'' to establish enhanced
screening and vetting standards and procedures to enable USCIS to
assess an alien's eligibility to receive an immigration-related
benefit. This data collection also is used to help validate an
applicant's identity and to determine whether such grant of a benefit
poses a security or public-safety risk to the United States.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until
May 2, 2025.

ADDRESSES: All submissions received must include the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1615-NEW in the body of the
letter, the agency name and Docket ID USCIS-2025-0002. Submit comments
via the Federal eRulemaking Portal website at https://www.regulations.gov under e-Docket ID number USCIS-2025-0002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy,
Regulatory Coordination Division, Samantha Deshommes, Chief, telephone
number (240) 721-3000 (This is not a toll-free number. Comments are not
accepted via telephone message). Please note contact information
provided here is solely for questions regarding this notice. It is not
for individual case status inquiries. Applicants seeking information
about the status of their individual cases can check Case Status
Online, available at the USCIS website at https://www.uscis.gov, or
call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments

You may access the information collection instrument with
instructions or additional information by visiting the Federal
eRulemaking Portal site at: https://www.regulations.gov and entering
USCIS-2025-0002 in the search box. Comments must be submitted in
English, or an English translation must be provided. All submissions
will be posted, without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
https://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information
you provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public.
You may wish to consider limiting the amount of personal information
that you provide in any voluntary submission you make to DHS. DHS may
withhold information provided in comments from public viewing that it
determines may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive. For
additional information,

[[Page 11055]]

please read the Privacy Act notice that is available via the link in
the footer of https://www.regulations.gov.
Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected
agencies should address one or more of the following four points:
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.

Background

E.O. 14161, ``Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists
and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,'' directs
implementation of uniform vetting standards and necessitates the
collection of all information necessary for a rigorous vetting and
screening of all grounds of inadmissibility or bases for the denial of
immigration-related benefits. See 90 FR 8451 (Jan. 20, 2025). Execution
of the E.O. requires U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
to collect standard data on immigration forms and/or information
collection systems. This data will be collected from certain
populations of individuals on applications for immigration-related
benefits and is necessary for the enhanced identity verification,
vetting, and national security screening and inspection conducted by
USCIS and required under the E.O.
This collection of information is necessary to comply with section
2 of the E.O. to establish screening and vetting standards and
procedures to enable USCIS to assess an alien's eligibility to receive
an immigration-related benefit from USCIS. This data collection is also
used to validate an applicant's identity and to help determine whether
such grant of a benefit poses a security or public-safety threat to the
United States.
USCIS will collect biographic information on immigration
information collection instruments and systems. USCIS will update its
forms and systems to collect additional information from individuals
who seek admissibility or other benefits when that information is not
already collected.

New Information To Be Collected

U.S. Government departments and agencies involved in screening and
vetting, to include USCIS, identified 24 data elements that would
constitute a new baseline threshold of data to be collected for
identity verification and national security vetting. For USCIS, these
data elements will be added to certain immigration benefit request
forms where the information is not already collected. The 24 core data
elements are as follows:
The following seven (7) data elements are biographic identifiers
used to help USCIS confirm both an individual's identity as it relates
to the submitted application and to other records. These biographic
identifiers are also used by USCIS and screening partners to help
confirm or disprove an association between an applicant and information
of interest and the strength of that association in the context of the
underlying information.

1. Name
2. Alias(es)
3. Sex
4. Date of Birth
5. City/State/Province and Country of Birth
6. Country/Countries of Citizenship
7. Country of Residence

The following data elements are a unique numeric identifier issued
to a single individual that USCIS uses to help confirm both a person's
identity and for DHS records. They are also used by USCIS and screening
partners to help find, confirm, or disprove an association between an
applicant, the strength of that association, or to provide other
information about the individual that may be important in the
adjudication. Applicants will be asked to provide current passport/
travel/national identity document information, country of issuance,
issue date, and expiration date, as applicable. Other USCIS forms
request more information on passports or travel documents to include
expired documents and passports containing a U.S. visa. The questions
related to passport information are requested depending on benefit
eligibility and national security needs. If additional information is
needed for this data element, USCIS will revise the applicable OMB
approved information collection under the form's control number and not
add the additional questions using this generic approval.

8. Passport/Travel Document or National ID
1. Country of issuance
2. Issue date
3. Expiration date

The following 16 data elements are used by USCIS (1) to provide
official correspondence to an applicant, and/or (2) as secondary data
elements to help confirm a subject's identity as it relates to the
submitted application and to other records, and/or (3) to, internally
and with screening partners, help confirm or disprove an association
between an applicant and information of interest, and the strength of
that association in the context of the underlying information.

9. Telephone Number(s) used in the last five (5) years, including dates
used
10. Email address(es) used in the last ten (10) years
11. U.S. Address: Residence or Destination, city, street
12. U.S. Address: Residence or Destination, state/province
13. Foreign Address city, street
14. Foreign Address state/province
15. U.S. Point of Contact Name, if applicant is located outside of the
United States
16. U.S. Point of Contact Telephone Number, if applicant is located
outside of the United States
17. U.S. Point of Contact Email, if applicant is located outside of the
United States
18. Family Member Names (parent, spouse, siblings, and children)
19. Family Member Telephone Numbers (parent, spouse, siblings, and
children) used from the last five (5) years
20. Family Member Date(s) of Birth
21. Family Member Place(s) of Birth
22. Family Member Residence(s)
23. Business Telephone Number(s) from the last five (5) years
24. Business Email Address(es) from the last ten (10) years

Programs Affected, OMB Control Numbers

OMB No. 1615-0052--Form N-400, Application for Naturalization
OMB No. 1615-0013--Form I-131, Application for Travel Document
OMB No. 1615-0017--Form I-192, Application for Advance
Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant
OMB No. 1615-0023--Form I-485, Application to Register
Permanent Residence or Adjust status
OMB No. 1615-0067--Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for
Withholding of Removal
OMB No. 1615-0068--Form I-590, Registration for Classification
as Refugee

[[Page 11056]]

OMB No. 1615-0037--Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative
Petition
OMB No. 1615-0038 -Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions
on Residence
OMB No. 1615-0045--Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to
Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status

Applicant information is collected to maintain a record of persons
applying for specific immigration benefits, and to help determine
whether these applicants are eligible to receive the benefits for which
they are applying. The information provided through USCIS forms is also
analyzed--along with other information that the Secretary of Homeland
Security determines is necessary, including information about other
persons included on the USCIS forms--against various security and law
enforcement databases to identify those applicants who may pose a
security or public-safety risk to the United States.

Overview of This Information Collection

(1) Type of Information Collection: New Collection.
(2) Title of the Form/Collection: Generic Clearance for the
Collection of Certain Information on Immigration Forms.
(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the
DHS sponsoring the collection: GC-2025-0002; USCIS.
(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as
well as a brief abstract: Primary: Individuals or households. E.O.
14161, ``Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other
National Security and Public Safety Threats,'' directs implementation
of uniform vetting standards and necessitates collection of all
information necessary for a rigorous vetting and screening of all
grounds of inadmissibility or bases for the denial of immigration-
related benefits. Execution of the E.O. requires U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) to collect standard data on immigration
forms and/or information collection systems. This data will be
collected from certain populations of individuals on applications for
immigration-related benefits and is necessary for the enhanced identity
verification, vetting and national security screening, and inspection
conducted by USCIS and required under the E.O.
(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond:
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection N-400 is 909,700 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 0.77 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-131 is 1,073,059 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 0.77 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-192 is 68,050 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 0.78 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-485 is 1,060,585 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 0.73 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-589 is 203,379 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 0.93 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-590 is 106,200 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 0.77 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-730 is 13,000 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 1.27 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-751 is 140,000 and the estimated hour burden
per response is 0.77 hour.
The estimated total number of respondents for the
information collection I-829 is 1,010 and the estimated hour burden per
response is 0.80 hour.
(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated
with the collection: The total estimated annual hour burden associated
with this collection is 2,750,064 hours.
(7) An estimate of the total public burden (in cost) associated
with the collection: The estimated total annual cost burden associated
with this collection of information is $0. No additional costs to the
public are anticipated due to this action. Any costs to the respondents
associated with the specific form filed are captured in those approved
collections.

Dated: February 26, 2025.
Jerry L. Rigdon,
Acting Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and
Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of
Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2025-03436 Filed 2-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-97-P