U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is celebrating its one-year anniversary and has put out a release outlining its accomplishments and goals for the future.

The e-filing feature started by the agency in May 2003 has helped USCIS process more than 127,000 applications of the 6 million processed last year.  The agency naturalized more than 8,000 military service members and posthumously naturalized 16 service members who died in service during the war in Iraq.  In the past year, USCIS has also initiated a national line reduction program, including an internet-based appointment system called InfoPass.

In an effort to reduce backlogs, USCIS this year implemented new goals that will enable more than a dozen of the 33 district offices to achieve six-month processing targets by the end of FY 2004.  Additionally, the asylum backlog has been reduced by nearly 47,500 cases and the Child Citizenship Act has been implemented to provide for the automatic citizenship for certain children upon entry to the U.S. or upon adjustment of status.

According to the release, during the next year USCIS intends to initiate a Backlog Reduction Plan as well as a Genealogical Research Program for immigrants who arrived after 1906.  The agency intends to expand e-filing opportunities to corporate customers by making E-filing available for both nonimmigrant and immigrant employment-based petitions.  There are plans for four additional pilot projects to streamline processing of four different application processes.  USICS also plans to create a new identity check system that will allow USCIS to check the information stored in IBIS, FBI and CIA systems simultaneously.