• An online scheduling system, InfoPass at www.uscis.gov, was created last fall to alleviate notoriously long lines of people waiting to meet with immigration officers. It's available in 12 languages.

• The naturalization process has been cut to an average 6 1/2 months in Utah and 4 1/2 months in Colorado. The process used to take a year and a half.

• The agency recently released "Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants," available online in English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese and soon to be available in more languages.

• A new biometric system has shortened the wait for a permanent residence card to weeks. New permanent residents formerly needed to use their temporary proof of permanent residence for a year or longer.

Ortiz said he's also focusing on breaking naturalization ceremonies out of the courtroom. A recent naturalization ceremony in Denver was held at the University of Colorado's downtown campus; and a recent Salt Lake ceremony was at the Salt Palace. It was held during the American Immigration Lawyer's Association annual conference. Twenty-five people will took the oath of citizenship during Saturday's Freedom Blast at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"It's all about encouraging and promoting citizenship," he said. "Americans in general need to witness the beauty and power of the emotion behind becoming a U.S. citizen."

Speirs also has started occasionally traveling out of Salt Lake, answering questions at community meetings. Most recently he met in Centerfield, Sanpete County, with representatives of the state Office of Ethnic Affairs.

Lina Smith, director of the Utah Refugee Employment and Community center at the Asian Association, said when she has a problem with a case, Speirs immediately responds, even if the results aren't what a client wants.

"I know a lot of the time their hands are tied," she said. "I know it's hard for people, especially from the Middle East, to get their paperwork completed, and approved. . . . A lot of people have waited more than three years to get their green cards."

Speirs said the background checks are done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and do tend to take longer for people from the Middle East. He said CIS volunteers are helping the FBI to try to speed the process.

On Friday, those waiting for appointments said they've seen improvements in CIS. Most notably, scheduled appointments.

Edwin and Lorna Marin of Logan remember waiting hours. On Friday, they only had to wait a few minutes for Lorna Marin's appointment.

Edwin Marin recalled that when he went through the naturalization process 10 years ago, "you could never get a phone number to ask questions. Now there's a 1-800 number."