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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

USCIS 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for your online account

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  2. Keep your backup code
  3. A code at every sign-in
  4. Signing in with Login.gov
  5. If USCIS rejects your code
  6. New phone or lost phone
  7. Official USCIS help

Your USCIS online account, from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is where you file forms, pay fees, follow your case and answer Requests for Evidence. Two-step verification is built in from the start: every sign-in asks for a one-time verification code after your email and password, and you pick how to get it while creating the account (USCIS).

The choices are email, a text to a U.S. mobile number, or an authentication app (USCIS). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the USCIS steps come from USCIS's own help pages, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. uscis.gov blocks automated access, so we read those pages in archived copies on web.archive.org, saved between May and October 2026. We also read the public text of USCIS's sign-in site, myaccount.uscis.gov. We haven't tested the steps on a USCIS account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

On a new account, choose the authentication app when USCIS asks how you want to receive a verification code, and click Submit (USCIS). Then add it to Novaz as in steps 5 to 7 below and save the backup code that follows.

If you started with email or text codes, add the app from your settings (USCIS):

  1. Sign in at myaccount.uscis.gov.
  2. Open the My Account menu and select Settings.
  3. On the Account Settings page, click View all settings.
  4. On the Edit Account page, click Edit in the Two-Step Verification row, then Add next to Authentication App.
  5. USCIS shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  6. If you can't scan, the setup screen has a What if I can't scan a QR code? option that shows your email and a Key (USCIS). In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, type USCIS as the Service and the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
  7. Type the code from Novaz into Secure Verification Code and click Submit.
  8. Back on the methods page, click Done editing to save.

USCIS's help doesn't list the code length or interval, so scanning the QR code is the safer choice.

Keep your backup code

USCIS gives you one backup code when you create the account, and asks you to print or save it (USCIS). That code is how you get in when the phone or email you use for codes is gone. Each time you use it, USCIS shows a new one to save (USCIS).

Without a Novaz backup, your keys exist only on your iPhone, so that code is your way back in. Print it or keep it in a password manager, so losing the phone doesn't take the code with it. More in 2FA backup codes.

A code at every sign-in

USCIS asks for a code each time you sign in, and again before it deletes your account (USCIS). Its help mentions no trusted-device option and no way to turn two-step verification off; you can only change methods. Before you remove USCIS from Novaz (open it, then Remove account), set up another method.

Signing in with Login.gov

The USCIS sign-in page can also offer an optional Sign in with Login.gov. Linking takes one normal USCIS sign-in with your verification code. After that, Login.gov's own sign-in and second step get you in, and your USCIS credentials keep working (USCIS). The authenticator in this guide covers the USCIS sign-in only.

If USCIS rejects your code

USCIS's sign-in site has two hints (USCIS). Use the code for USCIS.gov if your app holds several accounts. And if setup fails after an earlier USCIS entry, delete the old entry, scan the new QR code, and check your time sync.

On iPhone, the clock fix is Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

Too many failed tries lock the account for a while, and USCIS emails you that "Your USCIS account is temporarily locked". Wait it out or reset your password (USCIS).

New phone or lost phone

USCIS's help uses the backup code for both, and names a new phone as one reason (USCIS):

  1. At myaccount.uscis.gov, enter your Email Address and Password and sign in.
  2. On the verification code page, click Enter Backup Code, under Or try another verification method.
  3. On the Backup Code page, enter the code and click Submit.
  4. Click Add next to Authentication App and scan the QR code with Novaz on your new iPhone. You can add Email or SMS Text Message too, or click Skip.
  5. Save the new backup code USCIS shows, then click Continue.

With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead (more); without one, plan on this when you switch. While the old phone works, adding email as a second method gives you another way in.

No backup code and no other method? USCIS points you to its Need Help form at my.uscis.gov/account/v1/needhelp or to the USCIS Contact Center (USCIS). Its help doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long it takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official USCIS help

More guides: Government