Title 8 — Aliens and NationalityRelease 119-73
§1571 Purposes
Title 8 › Chapter CHAPTER 13— - IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - IMMIGRATION SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS › § 1571
Summary
Require the Immigration and Naturalization Service to clear the backlog of immigration benefit applications within 1 year after October 17, 2000, and keep it cleared under congressional oversight. Congress also says most applications must be finished within 180 days, except nonimmigrant petitions under section 1184(c) must be done within 30 days.
Full Legal Text
Title 8, §1571
Aliens and Nationality — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The purposes of this subchapter are to—
(1)provide the Immigration and Naturalization Service with the mechanisms it needs to eliminate the current backlog in the processing of immigration benefit applications within 1 year after October 17, 2000, and to maintain the elimination of the backlog in future years; and
(2)provide for regular congressional oversight of the performance of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in eliminating the backlog and processing delays in immigration benefits adjudications.
(b)It is the sense of Congress that the processing of an immigration benefit application should be completed not later than 180 days after the initial filing of the application, except that a petition for a nonimmigrant visa under section 1184(c) of this title should be processed not later than 30 days after the filing of the petition.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Short Title
For
Short Title
of title II of Pub. L. 106–313, which enacted this subchapter, as the “Immigration Services and Infrastructure Improvements Act of 2000”, see section 201 of Pub. L. 106–313, set out as a
Short Title
of 2000 Amendment note under section 1551 of this title. Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and
Transfer of Functions
For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Transfer of Functions
, and treatment of related references, see note set out under section 1551 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
8 U.S.C. § 1571
Title 8 — Aliens and Nationality
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73