Last week, I attended a webinar offered by the USCIS to
demonstrate their new ELIS
(Electronic Immigration System).
Currently the ELIS system is set up only for the Application
to Extend or Change Nonimmigrant Status, currently known as I-539. (However, USCIS wants to move away from using
these form numbers; I will provide more information about this subject in a
subsequent post regarding USCIS' plans for "transformation.")
At the beginning of the demo session, I was surprised that a
applicant for USCIS benefits is allowed to use only one name. I suppose my Western bias is showing, but is having a mononym really that common in the rest of the world? (Evidently so in Java and Indonesia, at least.)
ELIS walks the applicant through each question on the
application, step-by-step, and supplies necessary information as the applicant
proceeds. There is a sidebar on the left that shows
which section of the application you are completing at the moment, and you can
move around between sections. I will
share a few screenshots from the demo below:
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| About You - basic info. |
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| About You - add as many forms of ID that you want. |
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| Instructions and tips are offered throughout the process. |
If you need to explain or qualify your answers in any section of the application, you can click "Add Additional Page Information" to provide any supplemental information:
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| Add supplemental info as desired. |
As you can see in the "Tips" column in the next screenshot, if you answer "Yes" to any red-flag eligibility question, you will be prompted to supply additional information:
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| See "Tips" to the right. |
The applicant is also prompted to supply the requisite documentation:
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| More help for the user. |
The supporting documents are uploaded directly to the ELIS system from the applicant's computer in any of the following file formats: *.bmp, *.doc, *.jpg, *.pdf, of *.tif.
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| Wide variety of file types are supported. |
Using the [Add File] button, the applicant can add as many documents as desired:
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| Adding documents. |
Approaching the end of the application process, the relevant preparer and translation questions are asked:
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| Preparer and translator questions. |
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| Your ELIS password acts as your signature. |
At the conclusion of the application process, the browser will take you to PAY.gov for payment.
