2.1 Defining Customer Service for Adjudications.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is committed to providing excellent customer service. USCIS applicants have a clear set of expectations regarding customer service in the area of adjudications. \ 1

· Courteous and Professional Service . Applicants want USCIS staff to listen to their concerns and treat them with respect.

· Fair and Consistent Treatment . Applicants want their experience with USCIS to be uniform regardless of location.

· Timely Service . Applicants want their applications for benefits to be processed in a reasonable time frame. They also want to get information or answers to inquiries without having to wait too long.

· Accessible Information . Applicants want information to be readily accessible, particularly information on what to expect of the process and information about the status of their applications.

· Accurate/Helpful Information . Applicants place a high priority on consistent up-to-date information upon which they can rely.

To meet these expectations, when interacting with applicants you should be:

· Courteous,

· Professional, and

· Knowledgeable.

This chapter provides you with information that will help you meet these goals. Specifically, this chapter will first provide some background information by:

· Describing the role of adjudicators in providing customer service,

· Describing our customers, and

· Discussing customer service in a multi-cultural environment.

The chapter will then describe the core elements that will guide your interactions with applicants:

· Courtesy

· Professionalism

· Knowledge

While these elements establish a baseline for excellent service, we recognize that some interactions may be particularly challenging. With this in mind, the chapter will discuss how to interact courteously, professionally and knowledgeably with:

· Applicants with disabilities, and

· Applicants who are upset.

While this chapter offers many suggestions, each interaction with an applicant will be different. With this in mind, these suggestions were not designed to function as a "script" for handling every possible scenario you may face. Use the suggestions in this chapter as a starting point, and adapt them to the specific situations you encounter.