Immigration and Naturalization Service - Definition and Overview

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was a part of the United States Department of Justice which used to handle legal and illegal immigration and naturalization; now known as INS (Legacy).

Most of its functions were transferred to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) under the Department of Homeland Security as part of that Department's creation in 2003. The enforcement arm of the INS - that is, the border patrol - was tasked to the newly created Customs and Border Protection (CBP) , also under the Department of Homeland Security.

External link

• U.S. Immigration guide. (http://www.visa2003.com/)
• http://www.uscis.gov For the USCIS (formerly BCIS)
• http://www.dhs.gov for the DHS and the DBTS
• http://www.bice.immigration.gov/graphics/index.htm Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) of the DBTS of the DHS