How to Apply

USCIS was created with the dual mandate of securing the integrity of our national immigration system and supporting our proud tradition as a nation of immigrants. Working at USCIS will provide you opportunities to both build your career and contribute to our mission.

Eligibility

Before receiving a job offer, candidates must complete a thorough interview process. This ensures that new employees have the knowledge, skills and ability to succeed on our growing team. In order to be considered for a position at USCIS, you must:

• Be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Submit a resume that includes work experience, job title (series and grade if federal job), employer's name and address, month and year of starting and ending dates, hours worked per week, and salary.
• Complete and successfully submit an online questionnaire and resume.
• Provide unofficial or official transcripts from an accredited institution if qualifying based on education. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above requirements if you submit documentation comparable to the education received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. Accreditation can be verified by clicking the "U.S. Department of Education Database" link to the right.
• Successfully complete a background investigation.
• Submit to a drug test and receive a negative result before you are appointed to a position.
• Male applicants born in 1960 or later must complete a Statement of Selective Service Registration.

There is also a residency requirement for all applicants not currently employed by USCIS. Candidates must have, for 3 of the last 5 years immediately prior to applying for this position(s);

• Resided in the United States; OR
• Worked for the United States Government as an employee overseas in a Federal or Military capacity; OR
• Been a dependent of a U.S. Federal or Military employee serving overseas.

Exceptions may be granted to applicants if they can provide complete state-side coverage information required to make a suitability/security determination. Examples of state-side coverage information include:

• The state-side address of the company headquarters where the applicant's personnel file is located.
• The state-side address of the Professor in charge of the applicant's "Study Abroad" program.
• The church records for the applicant's overseas church missions, and/or the state-side addresses of anyone who worked or studied with the applicant while overseas.

Veterans Preference 

In order to receive preference eligible veterans must meet the minimum qualification requirements. In addition, when applying for federal careers, eligible veterans should claim preference on their application or resume. Veterans claiming 10-point preference must complete form SF-15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference and the proof documents to support this claim. If you are a veteran with preference eligibility and you are claiming 5-point veterans' preference, you must attach a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility. If you are claiming 10-point veterans' preference, you must attach an SF-15, "Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference" plus the proof required by that form.  If you are still on active duty, you may submit a statement of service from your unit, which states the date you entered active duty, the date you are separating, and the campaign medals you have received. For more information on Veterans Preference, please visit the "VetsInfo" link to the right.

Preference eligibles will be considered under the following authorities:

• Five-point preference is given to those honorably separated veterans (this means an honorable or general discharge) who served on active duty (not active duty for training) in the Armed Forces:
  • During any war (this means a war declared by Congress, the last of which was World War II);
  • During the period April 28, 1952, through July 1, 1955;
  • For more than 180 consecutive days, any part of which occurred after January 31, 1955, and before October 15, 1976;
  • During the Gulf War period beginning August 2, 1990, and ending January 2, 1992; or
  • For more than 180 consecutive days, any part of which occurred during the period beginning September 11, 2001, and ending on the date prescribed by Presidential proclamation or by law as the last day of Operation Iraqi Freedom; or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign medal has been authorized, such as El Salvador, Lebanon, Granada, Panama, Southwest Asia, Somalia, and Haiti.
  • Medal holders and Gulf War veterans who originally enlisted after September 7, 1980, or entered on active duty on or after October 14, 1982, without having previously completed 24 months of continuous active duty, must have served continuously for 24 months or the full period called or ordered to active duty. 
  • Effective on October 1, 1980, military retirees at or above the rank of major or equivalent, are not entitled to preference unless they qualify as disabled veterans. Note: Reservists who are retired from the Reserves but are not receiving retired pay are not considered "retired military" for purposes of Veterans' preference.

• Ten-point preference is given to those honorably separated veterans who:

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) / Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plans (ICTAP) Eligibles

Career seekers who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must:

• Be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection.
  • To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 85 or above on the rating criteria for this position.
  • For those instances where the best qualified lists include applicants with scores less than 85, the well-qualified score becomes the lowest score on the best qualified list.
• Submit proof of eligibility if applying for consideration under a priority selection program (e.g., CTAP/ICTAP) or a special appointing authority. 
  • CTAP and ICTAP eligibles must submit one of the following as proof of eligibility for the special selection priority: a separation notice; a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) or equivalent that documents separation;
  • An agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated;
  • An OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; OR
  • A Military Department or National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456.

Step-by-Step Application Process

IMPORTANT NOTE: We do not use USAJOBS resume builder for submitting resumes. Your USAJOBS resume will not automatically be uploaded to USAStaffing. Therefore, please ensure you use the "How to Apply" tab or section in this vacancy announcement for step-by-step instructions on how to submit your resume, supporting documentation, and complete the occupational questionnaire. Failure to follow the "How to Apply" instructions will result in loss of consideration.

Our employees say that the time and effort spent on the application process ultimately pays off. To considered for this position, you must complete an application package that includes an assessment questionnaire, resume, and any applicable supporting documentation. Creation of this package includes the completion of the assessment questionnaire and upload your documentation in the newly created Application Manager.

A few notes about Application Manager:

• Initially, the Application Manager requires you to create an account. Once your account is created, Application Manager provides a site where you can track the status of jobs you have applied to at Citizenship and Immigration Services; uploaded documentation; view/print copies of notification letters; or print a copy of your questionnaire.
• Application Manager has a navigation box that appears on the left side of the screen whenever you are working on an Application Package. The items listed in the navigation box are pages you need to visit, and represent steps you need to complete, in order for your Application Package to reach the status of "Complete."
• You can "Save" an incomplete application and return to finish the process at a later date provided the announcement has not closed. You must submit your application package (your assessment questionnaire and documentation) before the closing date posted on the vacancy announcement.

• Note: If you start a questionnaire please be sure complete it in its entirety before "Submitting." An incomplete questionnaire will affect your rating or may result in your application being rated ineligible. You may complete the assessment questionnaire more than once, but your rating will be based on the most recent submission.
• To verify uploaded documents have been processed, please wait one hour to ensure they have cleared the virus scan.
• You can verify that your uploaded documents are attached to your application by checking the Details tab of your Application Manager account for this vacancy announcement.
• Your documents will display under the Details tab in the Document area. If you have documents in your Application Manager account from a previous vacancy announcement they can be opened, copied and saved then reused as an upload file for this vacancy. Uploading your documents will speed the processing of your application for this announcement.

To Start A New Assessment Questionnaire in Application Manager:

If you already have Application Manager account access:

• Log in with your User ID and Password to complete the Assessment Questionnaire.
• Log into your account and locate the vacancy on the "My Application Packages" page.
• Click on the six digit Vacancy ID number of the application that you want to complete. The page will refresh and display your Application Package Status.
• Select the "Complete Application Package" button, which will take you to the assessment questionnaire. As you complete each page of the questionnaire click the "Next" button. 
• Once you have completed the assessment questionnaire the "Upload Documents" page will display. Follow the procedures outlined on the upload documents page. You will receive an "Upload Successful" acknowledgement each time you attach a document file. Once you have uploaded all of your documentation and the file is displayed in the table, select the "Next" button.
• Click the "Submit My Answers" button to complete the application package. You will receive a confirmation that your submission was successful. You have the option to view or print a copy of your assessment questionnaire and responses by clicking the View/Print My Answers link.

To Save An Incomplete Assessment Questionnaire in Application Manager: 

• Scroll to the top or bottom of the page.
• Click the "Save" button. When the page refreshes, click the "Logout" button.

To Return To A Saved/Incomplete Assessment Questionnaire in Application Manager:

• Click this link to Return To Application Manager:
• Log into your account and locate the vacancy on the "My Application Packages" page.
• Click on the six digit Vacancy ID number of the application that you want to complete. The page will refresh and display your Application Package Status.
• Select the "Complete Application Package" button, which will take you to the assessment questionnaire. As you complete each page of the questionnaire click the "Next" button. 
• Once you have completed the assessment questionnaire the "Upload Documents" page will display. Follow the procedures outlined on the upload documents page. You will receive an "Upload Successful" acknowledgement each time you attach a document file. Once you have uploaded all of your documentation and the file is displayed in the table, select the "Next" button.
• Click the "Submit My Answers" button to complete the application package. You will receive a confirmation that your submission was successful. You have the option to view or print a copy of your assessment questionnaire and responses by clicking the View/Print My Answers link.

To Fax a Resume or Supporting Documents:

• Faxed documents will take 2-3 business days to process.
• If you upload your documents using Application Manager, DO NOT FAX the same documents.
• In the Application Manager, print the pre-populated cover page on the upload documents screen of Application Manager. Or, you may print a copy of the cover page by selecting the "United States Government Application Cover Page" link to the right.
• When faxing documents, follow the procedures outlined below:  
  • Include the 8-character Vacancy Identification Number MB278808.
  • Provide your Social Security Number and full name in the spaces provided or we will not be able to associate your document(s) with the rest of your application.
  • You may submit multiple documents for the same vacancy announcement using one cover page.

• Fax your cover page and supporting documents to 1-478-757-3144.
• Faxed documents submitted with missing information will not be processed.
• The following will prevent your documents from being processed: 
  • Not using the special cover page mentioned above.
  • Missing, incomplete, or invalid Vacancy Identification Number
  • Missing or incomplete Social Security Number or name

 Benefits

USCIS offers a number of exceptional benefits to its employees. These benefits include, but are not limited to: health care, life insurance, flexible spending and dependent care accounts, annual and sick leave, long-term care insurance, and retirement savings plans, and transit subsidies. For more information about these benefits, please see the "Understanding Pay and Benefits" link to the right.

 Additional Information

• All the information you provide may be verified by a review of the work experience and/or education as shown on your application forms, by checking references and through other means, such as the interview process.  This verification could occur at any stage of the application process.  Any exaggeration of your experience, false statements, or attempts to conceal information may be grounds for rating you ineligible, not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work.  
• Promotion Potential: When promotion potential is shown, the agency is not making a commitment and is not obligated to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval.
• If this is a supervisory position, under provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act, first time supervisors and/or managers will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period. You may also be required to complete an appropriate supervisory training course within the one year of assignment to this position.
• All agency employees are required to participate in Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer for salary payments.
• Your application and all supporting documentation must be received by 12:00 midnight (Eastern Time) on the closing date (Wednesday, September 02, 2009).  Note that you will be allowed to apply more than once but the last application is the only one that will be used.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER