U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today released the Fiscal Year 2018 Statistical Annual Report (PDF, 4.48 MB), which provides statistical information on the most popular and widely-used benefits and programs administered by the agency. The report also provides insight into the nature and scope of USCIS’ work, which involves adjudicating millions of applications and petitions for immigration benefits annually.
“The 2018 USCIS Statistical Annual Report represents a key piece in our continued commitment to provide improved awareness of the nature and scope of work accomplished by the dedicated men and women of USCIS,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “Following a long absence, we are again publishing an annual report, emphasizing our promise of full transparency and accountability to the American people.”
“In the last fiscal year, USCIS adjudicated more than eight million requests for immigration benefits, which is a 28 percent increase over the last five fiscal years,” added Director Cissna. “USCIS also helped make the American dream become a reality for 757,000 new citizens, a five year high in new oaths of citizenship. The annual report also showcases the work our agency does to protect the integrity of our nation’s immigration through fraud detection, national security vetting, and administering E-Verify, a web-based system used to protect jobs for legal workers. We are proud of the good work accomplished by our dedicated staff to fairly and efficiently administer our nation’s legal immigration system, protect the homeland, and honor our values.”
Topics within the annual report were chosen based on statistics and information most frequently requested by the media, Congress, interested parties, and the public, as well as data accessed by searches on our website.
This release marks the first time USCIS has published an annual report in roughly a decade, and it came to fruition based on an employee suggestion. At an internal agency town hall, an employee recalled to Director Cissna that USCIS had previously produced an annual report and asked the director to consider bringing back the practice.