GENERAL INFORMATION · USCIS ORGANIZATION
USCIS field offices, service centers, asylum offices, and support centers have different roles
USCIS uses several kinds of offices for different agency functions. A notice naming one office type does not mean that every USCIS location performs the same work.
Editorial topic illustration. It does not depict a specific applicant, appointment, interview, biometrics collection, office, form, or USCIS decision.
Field offices
USCIS says its field offices handle scheduled interviews for applications that do not involve asylum, provide information and certain services that supplement the agency’s online tools, and conduct naturalization ceremonies. Field offices do not accept walk-ins; USCIS directs visitors to use an appointment process.
Service centers
Service centers process and adjudicate certain immigration applications and petitions. USCIS’s office locator describes the Service Center Operations Directorate as operating six service centers. The agency also publishes a forms-processing chart, while warning that workloads can be transferred and assignments may change.
A service center is therefore primarily a case-processing operation, not a general public counter. The office name shown on a notice identifies an agency unit; it does not by itself provide instructions for a person’s next step.
Asylum offices
USCIS says asylum offices handle scheduled interviews for asylum-related matters. They are separate from ordinary field offices. Immigration courts, by contrast, are part of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review—not USCIS.
Application Support Centers
Application Support Centers collect biometric information after USCIS schedules an appointment. USCIS describes that work as collecting fingerprints, photographs, and signatures for identity verification and background or security checks. These centers do not decide the underlying benefit request.
Other office types
USCIS’s directory also lists lockboxes, international immigration offices, and the National Records Center. Lockboxes receive and process certain incoming benefit requests and fees; international offices provide specified services abroad; and the records center manages immigration files. Their roles are distinct from interviews, adjudications, and biometrics collection.
Why the distinction matters when reading immigration news
Agency announcements often name the component responsible for a change. Distinguishing office types helps readers understand whether an item concerns intake, document processing, an interview, biometrics, records, or a court proceeding. It should not be used to infer the status or outcome of an individual case.
Primary federal sources
- USCIS: Find a USCIS Office ↗ — official directory and descriptions of office types.
- USCIS: Field Offices ↗ — official field-office purpose and appointment information, updated April 17, 2026.
- USCIS: Service Centers ↗ — official service-center description.
- USCIS: Application Support Centers ↗ — official biometrics-center information.
Corrections: We publish material corrections transparently and update the verification date. No corrections have been made to this article.