On April 23, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the opening of international field offices in May in Doha, Qatar, and Ankara, Turkey, available by appointment, “to increase capacity for refugee processing, strengthen strategic partnerships, and facilitate interagency cooperation.” USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou said that opening these field offices “establishes a USCIS presence and expertise in critical locations in the Middle East.”
USCIS noted that the Biden administration set the refugee admissions ceiling for fiscal year 2024 at 125,000 refugees. Establishing USCIS field offices in Qatar and Turkey will support the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program’s infrastructure in the region and will directly support long-established and increasing USCIS refugee processing circuit rides, USCIS said.
With the opening of the Doha field office on May 7, 2024, and the Ankara field office on May 9, 2024, USCIS will have 11 international field offices. The others include Beijing and Guangzhou, China; Guatemala City; Havana, Cuba; Mexico City; Nairobi, Kenya; New Delhi, India; San Salvador, El Salvador; and Tegucigalpa, Honduras.