Significant Guidance

This page provides access to significant and economically significant guidance documents issued by USCIS and those issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service that apply to USCIS, as required by Executive Order 13422, Further Amendment to Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review (72 FR 2763, published January 23, 2007) and the Office of Management and Budget's Good Guidance Bulletin (GGP) (72 FR 3432, published January 25, 2007).

Public Comment on Significant Guidance Documents

USCIS will post significant guidance documents on the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website at www.regulations.gov. This site will provide a public forum for submission of comments and for requests to amend or issue significant guidance documents. To submit comments on significant guidance documents, please follow the instructions on the FDMS website using the docket number associated with the significant guidance document (as indicated below).

Guidance documents represent the current thinking of USCIS on a topic. They do not create or confer any rights for or on any person and do not operate to bind USCIS or the public.

Feedback or Complaints

Members of the public who have feedback or complaints regarding significant guidance documents should contact USCIS. If you have a complaint regarding a USCIS significant guidance document or believe a USCIS employee is not following the guidance requirements of Executive Order 13422 or OMB's GGP Bulletin, please contact USCIS.Significant.Guidance@dhs.gov. In order to ensure proper processing of your comment, please include the words "SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE: [Insert name of significant guidance document]" in the subject line of your email message. Please note: Under the Privacy Act, we cannot provide any information about a pending application or petition for benefits, or answer any case-specific questions. If you have been instructed to send USCIS written communications, or to contact USCIS regarding a case, sending an e-mail to this address will not satisfy those instructions.

If the issue is not resolved, please contact the Department's Office of the General Counsel, Regulatory Affairs at SignificantGuidance@dhs.gov. In order to ensure proper processing of your comment, please include the words "SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE: [Insert name of significant guidance document]" in the subject line of your email message. Public comments under these procedures are for the benefit of the agency and do not require formal response by the agency.

USCIS will review requests, complaints and questions to determine whether any action is warranted and, if so, what action. USCIS will determine whether it needs to take any action based on the nature and timeliness of the information submitted, the significance of any modifications requested, the magnitude of any modifications requested, and the resource requirements for any modifications requested.