The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (
USCIS) is the federal agency assigned in overseeing the lawful immigration of foreign nationals who are temporarily or permanently settling in the United States and is responsible for granting or denying immigration benefits to those individuals.
The
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was established on March 1, 2003 and is under purview of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Before that date, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was responsible for all things related with immigration, including administrative and investigative functions.