Better Safeguards Are Needed in USCIS Green Card Issuance

We determined that over the previous 3 years, USCIS produced at least 19,000 cards that included incorrect information or were issued in duplicate.  Most card issuance errors were due to design and functionality problems in the Electronic Immigration System (ELIS), which is being implemented to automate benefits processing.  Although USCIS conducted a number of efforts to recover the inappropriately issued cards, these efforts also were not fully successful and lacked consistency and a sense of urgency. We recommended that USCIS improve ELIS functionality and develop internal controls to avoid inappropriate Green Card issuance, standardize card recovery and tracking efforts, prevent unrecoverable card use, and enable remote identity verification and more secure card delivery methods. We made seven recommendations.