Vermont employees of Citizenship and Immigration Services are among the federal employees struggling to catch up with paperwork filed by people applying to become U.S. citizens and seeking other benefits.
The avalanche of millions of applications came as people tried last summer to beat a fee increase last summer.
The application backlog is so large that Citizenship and Immigration Services officials say the delay could be so long that some people eligible for citizenship won’t be able to vote in next year’s elections.
Citizenship and Immigration Services has offices in Franklin County and in the Burlington area.
Applications are being processed in California as well.