Press Releases

DOVER, DE - Today, Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) announced the full reopening of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Application Support Center (ASC) in Dover, Delaware. ASC’s across the country provide appointments and support for H4-Visas, citizenship applications and more. Delaware has one ASC located in Dover which had been operating at limited capacity since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in large backlogs of applications. Since November of last year, the facility has only been open and operating for 8 hours a week – the only facility in the country operating on such limited hours. The facility will return to a normal 40-hour work week beginning May 3^rd.

“Today, I'm pleased to announce that Delaware’s only Application Support Center will resume its 40-hour work week on May 3^rd. It had come to my office’s attention that an extreme delay of applications was beginning to build at the Dover facility due to staffing shortages and the office only being open for 8 hours a week,” said Blunt Rochester. “Those problems were compounded by a hiring freeze implemented in February of 2020 that prevented the office from getting fully staffed and ultimately led to adverse consequences for many visa holders and citizenship applicants. Delawareans were losing their jobs, drivers licenses, and were enduring incredible hardship in an already difficult time. After hearing from my constituents about the challenges they were facing and coming to realize that Dover was the only Application Support Center in the country operating on such limited hours, I reached out to the White House to ask for the Biden Administration’s help. I want to thank the Administration and the Department of Homeland Security for their work in fully reopening this facility and beginning to process the backlog.”

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