The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) yesterday published the first in series of regulations designed to facilitate electronic filing and handling of USCIS immigration benefit requests in the next few years. The regulation is an important step toward modernizing USCIS filing system to handle the more than 6 million immigration benefit applications submitted annually.

According to this regulation, USCIS will roll out a secure, customer-friendly online account system that will enable and encourage customers to submit benefit requests and supporting documents electronically. This new Web-based system will greatly simplify the process of applying for immigration benefits. It will assign new customers a unique account which will enable them to access case status information, respond to USCIS requests for additional information, update certain personal information, and receive timely decisions and other communications from USCIS.

The new regulation revises more than 50 parts of DHS regulations contained in Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The regulation eliminates references to outdated USCIS benefit request forms and descriptions of paper-based procedures. In addition, the regulation removes numerous obsolete provisions of the regulations.