U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Summary
Created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and operating since March 1, 2003, USCIS ran on $6.93 billion in FY2025 budget authority and 23,599 full-time-equivalent staff -- $20.29 per U.S. resident -- but 95.9% of that money comes from the fees applicants and petitioners pay directly, not general tax revenue.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
adjudicates almost every legal immigration status in the country. In fiscal 2023 it naturalized 878,460 new citizens⧉ at ceremonies nationwide. It also runs E-Verify: in fiscal 2024, employers ran 44.3 million E-Verify cases⧉ across 1.28 million enrolled employers⧉ to confirm new hires can legally work in the United States.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress enacted $6.93 billion in total FY2025 budget authority for USCIS⧉, funding 23,599 full-time-equivalent staff⧉. Almost none of it is general tax revenue: just $281.1 million, about 4%, is discretionary appropriation⧉ for E-Verify and integration grants, while $6.65 billion, about 96%, is mandatory spending authority drawn from fees⧉ that applicants and petitioners pay directly, through the Immigration Examinations Fee Account, the H-1B petitioner account, the Fraud Prevention and Detection Account, and the EB-5 Integrity Fund. Divided across the nation's 341.8 million residents⧉, that is $20.29 per person -- but the taxpayer-funded slice alone is $0.82.
View data as table
| Immigration Examinations Fee Account | 6,560.6 | fee-funded |
|---|---|---|
| Operations and Support | 271.1 | discretionary |
| Fraud Prevention and Detection Account | 63.9 | fee-funded |
| H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Account | 20 | fee-funded |
| EB-5 Integrity Fund | 8.9 | fee-funded |
| Federal Assistance | 10 | discretionary |
Why is it good for society?
The mechanism is screening before approval, not after. 's own Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate reviewed 176,308 referrals in fiscal 2024⧉, confirming 20,696 fraud cases and 4,916 public-safety cases⧉ -- benefit requests a rubber-stamp process would have approved. And because roughly 96% of the money comes from applicants and employers rather than general revenue, the immigration system scales with its own caseload instead of competing against schools or highways for the same appropriated dollar.
- 's FY2025 budget ($6.93B, 23,599 ) is 95.9% fee-funded -- only $281.1 million of it is discretionary appropriation from general tax revenue, so the cost to the average taxpayer ($0.82/resident) is far smaller than the total cost per resident ($20.29) suggests.
- 's own fraud-screening directorate confirmed 20,696 fraud cases and 4,916 public-safety cases among 176,308 referrals in fiscal 2024 -- the concrete, countable version of what 'combating fraud' means inside the benefits process, alongside 878,460 naturalizations and 44.3 million E-Verify checks.
Your handles.* Check a pending case with your receipt number through Case Status Online, or manage filings through a USCIS online account. Reach the Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833), Monday-Friday 8am-8pm Eastern.
Sources(5) ▾
- Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (U.S. Code, codifying the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-296, Title IV, Subtitle E, § 451), 6 U.S.C. § 271 -- Establishment of Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (2002-11-25) — The codified text of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 provision establishing the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services ('s statutory name) inside -- the founding statute and the effective-date link to the March 1, 2003 transfer of INS functions. uscode.house.gov · original document
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Our History (2026) — 's own history page: confirms it assumed the INS's immigration-service functions on March 1, 2003, splitting benefits administration from enforcement (which went to and ). uscis.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security / U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services -- Fiscal Year 2026 Congressional Budget Justification (2025-06-13) — 's own congressional budget justification: the Comparison of Budget Authority and Request table (positions, , and dollar amounts by account for FY2024 enacted / FY2025 full-year CR / FY2026 request), the E-Verify workload table, and the Fraud Detection Referrals Processed table used throughout this entry. uscis.gov · original document
- Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Naturalizations: 2023 (Annual Flow Report) (2025-07) — 's own statistics office reporting the exact count and characteristics of persons naturalized in fiscal 2023 -- the most recent detailed annual flow report published as of this entry. ohss.dhs.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (2026-01-27) — Census Bureau press release announcing the Vintage 2025 population estimates -- the source for the per-resident denominator, dated to the same July 2025 reference point used across the good-citizen series. census.gov · original document
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was created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002⧉, which established a "Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services" inside the new Department of Homeland Security. The transfer took effect March 1, 2003⧉, the day split the old Immigration and Naturalization Service in two: enforcement went to and , and kept the benefits side -- deciding who becomes a citizen, who gets a green card, who is granted asylum, and who is authorized to work.