Practice Pointer: "Ask Emma" Tips and Tricks

AILA Doc. No. 21112203 | Dated October 6, 2022

The Case Assistance Committee received reports from members who have been unable to reach a live agent throught the USCIS website's "Ask Emma" chat feature due to a glitch in the system. Please be aware that the issue appears to be resolved and the system is back to normal.

If you need to reach a live agent, please be sure to say "InfoPass Appointment" as that typically allows members through. If you continue to experience issues, please email [email protected] with the subject line, "Ask Emma Issues".
 

The Case Assistance Committee collected feedback and navigation tips on the USCIS website’s “Ask Emma” chat feature. Ask Emma provides essentially the same service as calling the Contact Center, providing a more streamlined experience. As with all other direct communication with USCIS, the Ask Emma agent will only “chat” with the attorney of record. Ask Emma is especially useful for cases where there is no e-request option.

Below are navigation tips to reach an agent and the examples of inquiries for which “Ask Emma” provided assistance:

Navigation Tips

  1. Select Contact Us at the top of uscis.gov and then scroll down. The chat window will appear at the top right side of the page.
  2. When the screen appears, type "Live agent."
  3. Then select case status
  4. Enter the case number to be connected to an agent. Note, you will be asked to provide the case number again when the agent comes online.
  5. Write a short statement of what you need, e.g. "What is the case status?" or "We want to make an expedite request" or "Has the RFE been mailed?" etc.
  6. When the agent next asks for your name, rather than go through many back-and-forth Q&As, "What's your name," "What's your address," etc., a more expedient way to get through this laborious verification process is simply to write the following in your next response:

    "[case number] I am the attorney, [ your name, firm name, email address, phone number]. The client is: [name, DOB, address]."
  7. Once you have completed the inquiry, the agent will provide an SMRT number.
  8. We recommend copying and pasting the entire conversation into a word document to have a record of the chat session.

Services or Inquiries that Ask Emma Can Handle:

  • Check status of application
  • Expedite request
  • Request for InfoPass and advise on call back time/number
  • Rescheduling request- will provide SMRT
  • Requests for cases outside of processing times (this can also be done via eRequest)
  • Requests where response to RFE submitted, 60 days have passed, and there is no adjudication.
  • Request duplicate notices for ones that never were received