The Trump administration has quietly made immigration more difficult for people seeking to immigrate to the United States. It has increased the length of immigration applications significantly. Since January, it has increased the length of 15 immigration forms, yet at the same time, it claims that most of these forms will take no more time to complete. The table below presents a list of all of the forms that the new administration has increased since January and how long each administration estimated the forms would take to complete.
Table: Immigration Form Lengths by Presidency
Form |
President Trump |
President Obama |
|||||
Form Pages | Instruction Pages | Minutes to Finish | Form Pages | Instruction Pages | Minutes to Finish | ||
1 |
I‑130 | Petition for Alien Relative |
12 |
12 |
120 |
|
|
|
2 |
I‑130 | Petition for Alien Spouse Supplement |
18 |
12 |
170 |
|
|
|
3 |
I‑526 | Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur |
13 |
13 |
110 |
3 |
4 |
110 |
4 |
I‑485 | Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status |
18 |
42 |
390 |
|
|
|
5 |
I‑290B | Notice of Appeal or Motion |
5 |
9 |
90 |
2 |
8 |
90 |
6 |
I‑129F | Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) |
13 |
15 |
195 |
6 |
9 |
95 |
7 |
I‑485 Supplement A | Supplement A to Form I‑485, Adjustment of Status Under Section 245(i) |
4 |
11 |
13 |
2 |
4 |
75 |
8 |
I‑730 | Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition |
8 |
7 |
40 |
4 |
6 |
40 |
9 |
I‑765 | Application for Employment Authorization |
2 |
18 |
205 |
1 |
12 |
205 |
10 |
N‑600 | Application for Certificate of Citizenship |
15 |
13 |
95 |
9 |
9 |
95 |
11 |
N‑600K | Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322 |
13 |
16 |
125 |
8 |
9 |
125 |
12 |
I‑693 | Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record |
13 |
12 |
150 |
9 |
11 |
150 |
13 |
I‑918 | Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status |
11 |
17 |
300 |
8 |
9 |
300 |
14 |
I‑914 | Application for T Nonimmigrant Status |
10 |
14 |
135 |
9 |
9 |
135 |
Total |
155 |
211 |
2,138 |
71 |
112 |
1,990 |
*Note the form goes onto the ninth page, but USCIS doesn’t include those sections as part of the form instruction length.
Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Old Forms Obtained through Web Archive