U.S. Citizenship and Services is preparing to celebrate the grand opening of a new field office in West Ashley.
The USCIS is an agency within the Department of Homeland Security that oversees legal immigration, and is responsible for immigration benefits.
The grand opening will be held Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 10:00 a.m. at 1821 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. The celebration will be followed by a naturalization ceremony for 10 residents.
The new field office will occupy the entire new one-story facility. It has approximately 16,715 square feet of office space, and can house 34 employees. This facility is a new and improved location for USCIS business in the greater Charleston area.
The new building will replace the former office located at 1 Poston Road in Charleston.
The new USCIS Field Office will be dedicated to the late Edward Floyd, a Medal Of Honor recipient, and Irish immigrant who settled in Charleston. He is buried in Saint Lawrence Cemetery.
In 2014, USCIS naturalized more than 4,500 citizens at ceremonies in South Carolina.