CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is changing its offerings in West Virginia. No longer will citizenship interviews be offered in Charleston but those going through the process will be directed to Pittsburgh.
“It’s more because of technology, today’s technology,” USCIS spokesperson Anita Rios Moore said. “Customers are able to take advantage of our online services.”
The agency is moving its application support center to a new location in Charleston and with that move will come the change in services. The new location will only offer fingerprinting and biometric services beginning May 30. Rios Moore said that will be a change for those with green cards looking to become U.S. citizens.
“With the move, it’s going to be a contracted facility. It’s no longer going to be a government facility. Whereas before it was a government facility and that’s one reason why we were able to provide those services out of there,” Rios Moore said.
Those who apply to become citizens will have to go through their final interviews and civic testing in Pittsburgh.
Rios Moore said there will be no job losses even though the function of the Charleston office is changing. She also said there would still be at least two U.S. citizenship ceremonies in Charleston each year.