The short answer
USCIS decides most applications and petitions filed from inside the United States. The State Department handles visa processing at consulates abroad. Immigration courts, which sit inside the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, decide removal cases. DHS enforcement components are separate again. Each has its own forms, status tools, and address rules.
Your reading roadmap
01
Why this is the first question worth answering
People often describe their situation as being 'with immigration,' which covers four bodies that share almost nothing operationally. The status tool that works for one will not find a case held by another, the address you must update differs, and the deadlines come from different rulebooks. Establishing which body holds your matter converts a vague worry into a specific, answerable question.
02
USCIS: applications and petitions
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicates most benefit requests — family petitions, applications to adjust status, work authorization, naturalization. It issues receipt notices with a receipt number, publishes processing times by form and office, and communicates by mailed notice. If you filed a form and got a receipt, you are almost certainly dealing with USCIS.
03
The State Department: visas issued abroad
Consular officers at U.S. embassies and consulates handle visa applications from outside the country, and the Department of State publishes the monthly Visa Bulletin showing which cases can move forward based on category and country. A case can begin at USCIS and finish at a consulate, which is one reason people lose track of who holds it.
04
Immigration courts and the Board
The Executive Office for Immigration Review is part of the Department of Justice, not DHS. Immigration judges hear removal cases, and the Board of Immigration Appeals reviews their decisions nationwide, generally on the written record. EOIR runs its own automated case information system, online and by telephone hotline, keyed to an alien registration number rather than a USCIS receipt number.
05
DHS enforcement components
Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement sit within the Department of Homeland Security alongside USCIS but perform enforcement functions rather than adjudication. They are the government's party in immigration court, not the decision-maker. Confusing the prosecuting agency with the deciding court is a common and consequential misunderstanding.
- Filed a form and hold a receipt notice — USCIS
- Interview scheduled at an embassy or consulate — State Department
- Received a notice to appear or have a hearing date — immigration court (EOIR)
- Contacted or detained by enforcement officers — DHS enforcement
- Appealing an immigration judge's decision — Board of Immigration Appeals
06
The address rules are genuinely different
This trips up more people than any other difference. Federal regulation requires registered noncitizens to report a change of address within ten days of the change, following USCIS instructions. The immigration court has its own separate requirement: a respondent must update address and contact information with the court or the Board within five working days, using Form EOIR-33 for the court hearing the case. Having a case in both places means meeting both.
07
Different tools for different bodies
USCIS case status runs on the receipt number printed on notices of action, and a USCIS online account shows recent actions. EOIR's system uses an alien registration number and reports on court and Board matters. Neither reaches into the other, so a case that seems to have vanished is often simply being looked up in the wrong system.
08
Cases can move between bodies
An approved petition can move to a consulate. A denied application can lead to court proceedings. A person in proceedings may have an application pending at USCIS at the same time. This is normal and is exactly why keeping copies of every filing and every notice matters: it is the only record that spans the whole matter.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
I have a receipt number but the court system cannot find my case. Why?
Because they are separate systems. A USCIS receipt number identifies a benefit request with USCIS and does not exist in EOIR's system, which works from an alien registration number and covers court and Board matters. If you have both an application and a court case, expect to check two places using two different identifiers.
Is the immigration court part of DHS?
No. Immigration courts sit within the Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Department of Justice, while enforcement components are within the Department of Homeland Security. In a removal case DHS is the opposing party and the immigration judge is the decision-maker — a distinction worth being precise about when you are describing your situation to anyone.
Do I have to update my address in more than one place?
If you have matters with more than one body, yes. The federal ten-day change-of-address requirement runs through USCIS instructions, and the immigration court requires notice within five working days on its own form. Notices go to the address on file, and a missed hearing notice is among the most damaging things that can happen in a case.
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Lawyer in Town publishes general legal information for consumers. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and it cannot account for the facts of any individual situation. Laws, court procedures, filing deadlines, and outcomes differ by state and by court, and they change over time. Confirm anything that affects a decision with a lawyer licensed in the relevant jurisdiction.
Immigration adjudication and enforcement are federal. Agency structures, tools, and address requirements described here come from federal regulation and agency material and apply nationwide, though agency organization and procedures change over time.