Immigrants will have a new place to turn for help as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would open a new office in Long Island City.
Congressmember Carolyn Maloney joined USCIS New York District Director Andrea Quarantillo on Tuesday, August 25 to announce the opening of the new office, which will occupy two floors in a repurposed warehouse building at 27-35 Jackson Avenue.
“It’s fitting that Queens, one of the most diverse communities on Earth, will soon have an immigration office to call its own,” Maloney said. “The Long Island City field office will give Queens immigrants access to the services they need, without having to drive to Garden City or take a long subway ride to lower Manhattan.”
The new, full-service facility in Long Island City will be able to serve approximately 300 customers a day. The facility will feature hi-tech, innovative customer service tools such as Infopass – a convenient, Internet-based system that allows customers to schedule appointments.
The new 48,000-square-foot facility will also feature a spacious waiting area, private offices for conducting interviews and a room for hosting naturalization ceremonies and other public events. It also includes energy-efficient systems that comply with the federal greening policies, including new windows and more efficient heating and air conditioning systems.
“We are pleased to demonstrate that transformation by improving our accessibility to the immigrant communities of New York City,” Quarantillo said. “Queens has one of the largest immigration populations in New York, so we’re excited to have a home base in the borough and we are committed to offering world-class service to the Queens community.”
