The Coronavirus pandemic continues to affect all parts of the country including United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for administering the country’s immigration system.

The pandemic has led to a large drop in the amount of applications submitted by immigrants for lawful permanent resident status, naturalization, as well as other programs. The budget that USCIS uses to operate is derived from the filing fees for these types of applications.

USCIS is now seeking $1.2 billion from Congress as well as planning to implement fee increases in order to continue its operations. Per the New York Times, USCIS “receipts could plummet by more than 60 percent by the close of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.”

A spokesman for the agency has stated that USCIS “would be unable to fund its operations in a matter of months.” In addition to the $1.2 billion dollars sought from Congress, “The agency plans to impose a 10 percent ‘surcharge’ on applications, on top of previously proposed increases, that it is expecting to implement in the coming months.”

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, USCIS had already experienced a dramatic drop in applications due to the current admiration’s goal of decreasing immigration to the United States. Per CNN, “Between the end of fiscal years 2017 and 2019, USCIS received nearly 900,000 fewer petitions, according to Pierce, who added that the decrease was largely driven by the administration’s own decisions, such as ending Temporary Protected Status for nationals of several countries or drastically decreasing the number of refugees admitted to the United States.”

Due to the pandemic, USCIS suspended all in-person appointments and interviews on March 18, 2020. USCIS plans to reopen on June 4, 2020 at this time. However, whether the date will change remains to be seen as the coronavirus pandemic continues to plague the country.