(Subject changed on 10/5/2003)
Information about Budget, Acts, ... for Backlog Elimination Project 8/21/2003
I believe the only solution to eliminate the backlog is:
1) the BCIS assigns reasonable number of officers to adjudicate EB I-485 cases (by the beginning of FY2004), and
2) the BCIS never take away these resources to re-assin to another categories (during FY2004).
http://www.immigrationportal.com/sho...175#post559175
I am collecting the information about budget and acts such as Immigration Services and Ingrastructure Improvements Act of 2000
to prepare taking an action to Senators and Congressmen to get enough budget.
-kashmir
Subject was changed. (8/21/2003)
http://www.immigration-law.com/Archive%20VII.htmlOriginally posted by kashmir
any update ? - 3/22/03: BCIS Applications/Petitions Processing Reduction Planning Und
03/22/03: BCIS Applications/Petitions Processing Reduction Planning Underway
* According to the information released by the BCIS to the AILA on March 13, 2003, the DHS has been working on the 3-Year Backlog Reduction Plan (FY 2003 - FY 2005) which is scheduled to be completed around mid-April, 2003. It appears that the DHS intends to achieve the goal through a few measures, which include, among others:
o Increased Funding Resources for Immigration Benefits: Under the INS system, the immigration fee accounts were redirected from the immigration benefit services to immigration enforcement function in the budget appropriation process by the Congress. However, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 which created the DHS drew a clear line such that such fund cannot be easily diverted to the law enforcement function. Immigration fees had been one of the key sources of the INS budget and critics had blamed the Congress for playing politics to demanding the agency to divert the fee funds to enforcement function so that the Congress could show the constituents that they were tough on illegal immigrants and immigration/border enforcement without additional tax buden on the tax payers. Once the fee accounts are not diverted, even the budget which is smaller than the INS budget wll be able to achieve reduction of immigration benefits processing times.
o Reduced Functions and Workloads of BCIS: Under the INS system, the INS field offices included the immigration benefits function, the immigration inspection function, and immigration enforcement function including immigration investigation function. Even if the internal budget separated these functions in appropriations, the adjudication of immigration benefits was heavily involved in other functions as well. Now, the INS has been broken up into the three different Bureaus, each of which operates under a separate line of command. The situation got worse ever since the INS started implementing the so-called Call-In Special Registration as the immigration benefits officers had to take care of the registration function for the political and other reasons. However, the DHS has made it clear that the Call-In Special Registration should be a part of immigration enforcement functions which should be handled by the BICE. Since the BICE was not prepared and equipped to take over this new role, the BCIS field offices have been burdened to keep undertaking this huge workload under a sort of contract with the BICE. Thus BCIS is paid by the BICE for this interim arrangement with the BCIS. However, as we reported earlier, the call-in special registration processing has taken away most of the adjudication officials, creating a huge vacuum in the processing of applications and petitions, such as naturalization and I-485 interviews. This nightmare is expected to change soon, though. Apparently, the DHS is scheduled to conclude the call-in special registration by April 25, 2003, when the Group IV special registration period will expire. Unfortunately, BCIS is forced to finish up the special registration processing until April 25, 2003 in the way they have been handling until now. But small consolation for immigration benefits aliens is that BCIS will phase out of the call-in special registration after the period and the BICE is scheduled to undertake the function on their own. This will relieve the immigration benefits officials from a tremendous workload which have tied up their hands.
o Reform of Field Offices and Immigration Services Procedures: It appears that the DHS is turning the local district offices into primarily immigration enforcement function and most of immigration benefits functions are scheduled to be either regionalized or nationalized. Accordingly, the administration of the local field offices seem to be taken over by the BICE. Under the INS system, it was undertaken by the immigration services function. Soon, this is expected to change. The INS had announced before it defuncted that the I-485 application processing would be taken away from the local district offices and centralized in the Missouri Service Center. The DHS currently keeps this reform plan and is scheduled to commence the new filing procedure beginning from the summer of 2003. What this means is that there will be no more in-person filing of I-485 applications at the local BCIS district offices. All the I-485 applications that have been filed at the local district offices should be filed by mail to the Missouri Center. However, unlike the employment-based I-485 applications, the 485 function will not be completely centralized in that it will be bifurcated. The processing will be undertaken by the Missouri Center, but interview will be conducted at the local BCIS offices and the fingerprint will be handled by the ASC at each local district. This new procedure of filing by mail-only will substantially remove the burden and problems related to the in-person filing at the local district offices. Assuming that the Missouri Center will continue the current practice of local district offices that waive interviews for non-marriage cases such as I-485 for parents and childrens of U.S. citizens, a substantial number of cases are anticipated to be completed by the Missouri Center alone. Additionally, just like the U.S. Department of Labor, the DHS has been working on electronic filing of petitions and applications some point in the future. This electronc filing plan is indeed a backbone of this procedural reform and changes in processing agencies. The DHS will release the offical plan in the near future, but at this time it is unclear whether the function will be transferred to the existing Missouri Service Center (MSC) or a new facility. There may be three options: One is to transfer the function to the existing Missouri Service Center (MSC) in the current facility. The second is to transfer the function to the Missouri Service Center but relocate to another facility under a new name of Missouri Field Processing Center (MFPC). The third is to open a new Center in a new location under the name of Missouri Field Processing Center (MFPC).
* The immigration benefits applicants/petitioners have been suffering from horrible delays as affected by the measures related to the homeland security including IBIS check and Special Registration on top of the agency reorganization. It is hoped that the immigration benefits should not be sidelined as an illegimate offspring to the security function and the on-going reform including the foregoing planning be materialized as soon as possible so that not only the aliens but also related businesses and U.S. citizens or permanent resident relatives get a relief from the current nightmares.
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