At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Application Support Centers (ASCs) for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjusted their operations to comply with safety recommendations. Walk-in appointments were limited, and USCIS encouraged people seeking certain immigration benefits to use USCIS’ digital services to process information.
USCIS administers the entire US naturalization and immigration system. As part of that work, the agency needs to gather biometric data for people seeking certain immigration benefits. Altogether, the agency's 130+ ASCs work with about 14,000 people per day.
Automating biometric data analysis.
As part of Fearless’ work on USCIS’ biometrics team, we turned to data visualization tools like Tableau to streamline processes for USCIS’ employees and benefit applicants.
“This effort began as an ask from the Product Owner to track photo reuse requests. Photo reuse is a really important process for USCIS because it has different business rules than other USCIS processes. It doesn't incur any extra cost to USCIS, and it doesn't require an applicant to go to an ASC in-person,” said Fearless Business Analyst Steve Malm.
Malm created an automated Tableau dashboard to replace the manual Excel report USCIS used for analyzing biometric data. The dashboard displays all biometric vetting requests coming to ASCs and the lifecycle of the requests.
Each code within the dashboard represents different requests, such as fingerprinting, photo needs, signature requirements, or other USCIS processes.
The dashboard allows USCIS employees to view updated vetting data daily, rather than weekly. Tableau allows employees at different organizational levels within USCIS to create customized reports easily, which significantly decreases the number of ad hoc requests.
Creating better visualizations for teams around the globe.
Other Tableau dashboards the Fearless team created for USCIS include:
- Fingerprinting and background check dashboards for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
- A dashboard for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
These dashboards allow agencies to more easily share information between the United States and partner countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The dashboards for FBI teams are helping drive conversations with Product Owners to make improvements into various business and application processes within the bureau. Through the dashboard for DHS and its partners, USCIS’ international teams now have better visualizations of information that comes in daily.
We want the government to work in the most efficient means possible. And we'll support projects that support users and agencies.
This announcement was published independently of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS). This release does not constitute or imply an endorsement by USCIS or the United States Government of the product, process, or service, or its producer or provider. The views and opinions expressed in any referenced document do not necessarily state or reflect those of USCIS or the United States Government.