Overview
Title
Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension, Without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection: Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status
Agencies
ELI5 AI
USCIS, a part of the U.S. government that helps with immigration, is asking people to give their thoughts on some paperwork that helps crime victims and their families live in the U.S. They want to make sure the form is easy to fill out and doesn’t take too long, and people can share their ideas about this until February 16, 2021.
Summary AI
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security, is extending the collection of information required for the Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status without changes. This petition allows victims of certain crimes and their immediate family members to apply for temporary nonimmigrant status, which may lead to permanent residency. The notice, published under 86 FR 3172, invites public comments until February 16, 2021, on the practicality, accuracy, and burden of the proposed information collection methods. The USCIS estimates significant public involvement with about 258,591 total annual hours of public burden associated with these collections.
Abstract
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments.
Keywords AI
Sources
AnalysisAI
The document in question is a notice from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division within the Department of Homeland Security. It outlines the extension of an information collection activity related to the Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status. This petition serves an important purpose by allowing victims of specific criminal activities and their immediate family members to apply for temporary nonimmigrant status, which could eventually lead to permanent residency. The notice has been published in the Federal Register under citation number 86 FR 3172. It invites the public to comment on the proposal until February 16, 2021.
General Summary:
USCIS is extending the validity of the forms associated with the Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status without making any changes to them. This petition is crucial as it assists victims who have suffered severe abuse from criminal activities to gain protection while they cooperate with law enforcement in investigative processes. This document aims to gather public feedback, particularly concerning the practicality, accuracy, and burden these information collection requirements impose on the public.
Significant Issues or Concerns:
One notable issue in the document is the language related to the privacy of submissions. The document states that the DHS may choose to withhold certain information that could impact personal privacy, or if deemed offensive. However, the criteria for these decisions are not clearly defined, which could create ambiguity and concern for those submitting comments.
Another concern is regarding the guidance on submitting comments. The notice advises limiting personal information due to its public nature, which could be unclear to some and raise privacy concerns, necessitating clearer data protection instructions.
The document presents an estimated total public burden cost of $201,025 but lacks a detailed breakdown or justification for this amount. Such vagueness might lead to questions about the validity of the cost estimation.
Additionally, while the document provides estimated burden hours for each form, the methodology used to arrive at these estimations is not elaborated upon. This could raise doubts about the accuracy of the burden hours listed.
Impact on the General Public:
Overall, this document is part of an important regulatory process aimed at maintaining and possibly improving the mechanism through which victims of certain crimes can seek legal and protective status within the United States. The call for public input allows individuals and organizations to express their views and suggest improvements, potentially leading to more refined processes that bolster public trust in immigration services.
Impact on Specific Stakeholders:
For victims of criminal activities, this document represents an opportunity to continue benefiting from an essential pathway towards legal protection and eventual permanent residency in the U.S. Law enforcement agencies also stand to benefit as the program encourages victim cooperation, which can be pivotal in resolving criminal cases.
Conversely, individuals required to complete these forms may experience burdens related to time and cost, as indicated by the high number of estimated hours and significant public cost burden. Agencies and organizations assisting these individuals might be disproportionately affected, particularly if they must allocate additional resources to assist people in navigating these processes. Hence, ensuring that the documentation requirements are both necessary and as efficient as possible becomes critically important.
Financial Assessment
The document titled "Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension, Without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection: Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status" references a financial allocation related to the public burden cost associated with the collection of information. This commentary will explore the financial references and their connection to other identified issues within the document.
The document mentions an estimated total annual cost burden of $201,025 associated with the collection of information. This cost is part of administering the Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status, a process that involves several forms and requests for information from various respondents including individuals or households, and federal, state, local, or tribal governments.
Summary of Financial References
The financial reference made in this document specifically targets the annual cost burden to the public, which is estimated at $201,025. This figure represents the monetary cost to respondents participating in the petition process. However, the document lacks a detailed breakdown of this estimated cost, which might lead to questions about how this figure was calculated and what specific factors contribute to this total.
Relation to Identified Issues
The lack of a detailed breakdown or justification for the $201,025 total annual cost burden figure is one of the identified issues in the document. It raises concerns about transparency and accountability in the calculation process. Without an explanation of how this amount is derived, stakeholders may find it challenging to assess the fairness or accuracy of the costs associated with responding to the information collection request.
Furthermore, the document provides estimates of the burden hours required for different forms involved in the process, but similarly, it does not outline the methodology used to arrive at these figures. This absence of detailed financial justification could correlate with the cost estimates, as both the burden hours and monetary costs require a robust methodology to validate these numerical representations.
Addressing this issue could involve offering a more granular view of the different elements making up the $201,025 estimated cost. Providing transparency about the assumptions, calculations, and justifications involved would help the public and other stakeholders understand the cost implications better and lend credibility to the estimates presented in the document.
In summary, to ensure clarity and transparency about the financial references, it would be beneficial for the document to provide explicit details about how the $201,025 annual cost burden is determined, thus allowing stakeholders to effectively evaluate its reasonableness and validity.
Issues
• The language regarding the privacy of submissions ("DHS may withhold information provided in comments from public viewing that it determines may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive") could be clarified to specify criteria for withholding information to ensure transparency.
• The instruction for submitting comments suggests limiting personal information due to its public nature, which might be unclear or cause concern about privacy, highlighting a need for clearer guidelines on data protection.
• The document mentions the estimated total cost burden as $201,025, but it lacks breakdown or justification for this cost, which might be perceived as vague or questioning its basis.
• The estimated burden hours for each form are provided, but the methodology for these estimations is not detailed, leaving room for doubt about their accuracy.