United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2006-03-31 monographic deposited born digital 29 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-375 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375 P0b002ee18037182d 000590112 f:d06375 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375 GAO-06-375 Electronic records Electronic records management Immigration Information management Office automation Paperwork reduction Performance measures Program evaluation Program management Records management Integrated Digitization Document Management Program Other Written Product A50563 The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) relies on about 55 million paper-based files to adjudicate applications for immigration status and other benefits. Ensuring the currency and availability of these manual files, referred to as alien files, or A-Files, is a major challenge. To address this challenge, USCIS has initiated efforts, both long and near term, to automate the A-Files. The long-term effort is now being re-examined within the context of a larger USCIS organizational transformation initiative. In the near term, USCIS has begun a digitization program, which it estimates will cost about $190 million over an 8-year period to electronically scan existing paper files and store and share the scanned images. GAO was asked to determine whether USCIS was effectively managing its A-Files automation efforts. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375.pdf GAO-06-375 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-375 Other Written Product GAO-06-375; Information Technology: Near-Term Effort to Automate Paper-Based Immigration Files Needs Planning Improvements; Electronic records Electronic records management Immigration Information management Office automation Paperwork reduction Performance measures Program evaluation Program management Records management Integrated Digitization Document Management Program