Local USCIS Office in Charleston, South Carolina
More than 4,600 green card recipients lived in South Carolina in 2019 (Statista). The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the federal agency responsible for non-asylum related immigration. The agency has its field offices in various parts of the country. These offices process local applications and also perform other duties such as citizenship events.
The USCIS also has a strong online presence. In fact, the official website of the agency is the main source of information when you’re looking to learn about immigration or want to follow your case. The field offices supplement the information already available on this site.
The Charleston Field Office
The USCIS has divided the country into four regions: Western, Southeast, Central, and Northeast. Each region has several Districts and each District has multiple field offices. The Charleston office is in the Southeast Region and Atlanta District and the following address:
Charleston (CHL) 1821 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard Charleston, SC 29407
The office serves the state of South Carolina.
Case Processing Times
The USCIS site is your main source of information related to case processing. It has a tool that allows you to search processing times based on your office location and form type. Here are the times for three different forms at the Charleston office:
- Naturalization (N-400): 12 to 17.5 months
- Certificate of Citizenship (N-600): 6.5 to 14.5 months
- Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322 (N-600K): 10 to 22.5 months
If you’re looking to submit your form, you can do so online for a number of applications, including the N-400, N-600, I-90, etc. To submit your application online, you’ll need to first create a USCIS account. Here are the tips and steps for creating this account:
- The federal agency urges you to create an individual account instead of a shared account
- You can create an account by simply providing your email address
- Within 10 minutes of signing up, the agency will send you a confirmation email
- From the confirmation email, you can continue creating your account and reviewing the terms of use of the agency
- In the next step, you create your password and choose how you will receive a verification code. The USCIS also provides you with a backup verification code in case you forget the first one
- In the final step, you select five passwords reset questions and your account type. As an applicant, you should select the “I am an applicant, petitioner, or requestor” option
- After you successfully create your account, the agency will send you a confirmation of this fact to the provided email
- More information on account creation is available here.
The USCIS has a separate tool for checking the progress of your case as well. You can use this tool by providing your 13-character receipt number. The tool will provide you the same information you get by calling the agency.
Filing Fees
Besides submitting your application, you can also pay your filing fees online. If you need to pay for biometrics then make sure that you include this with your filing fee. For online forms, the system will help you in paying online. If you want to file by mail and pay with a credit card, you’ll have to submit a credit card transaction form (G-1450). Note that filing and biometrics fees are nonrefundable.