485 – An Imperfect Q: What should we do about it?

C

cosmos

Registered Users (C)
I think we can all agree that a Q is a line of waiting people (or objects such as applications, programs, …you get the picture). Q has four major components:
- Entry (EN)
- Wait time (WT)
- Processing time (PT)
- Exit (EX)
For simplicity, let us call Service Time (ST) = WT + PT

Ideally, number of people entering a Q should be less than or equal to the number of people leaving the Q. This implies that ST remains more or less constant. But if less people exit the system than the people entering the system, it is fair to conclude WT will start increasing assuming that PT does not vary significantly and ST will start increasing as well.

Efficiency: Philosophically, who is interested in keeping ST to near zero? Clearly, businesses like to keep it minimum because their revenue depends on it. Even there you find issues, but that’s another story. What about government offices? What is their incentive to keep ST down to near zero? What if the ST is 3 years or 3 months? Is anyone penalized if the ST is 3 years? Is anyone rewarded if the ST is 3 months?

Process: Now, imagine that the people who are working the Q are just as decent and hard working as you and me. What if the number of people processing the Q remained the same (say 100) and the Q length increased from 100K to 1M.

Process: Let us imagine that there are multiple queues each with different set of parameters. Also, imagine that there are special Qs (not unlike first class Q and economy/coach Q in an airport), but only here people do not get to decide which Q to enter because information about Qs and the wait times are not accurate. Clearly some people who entered a short Q (such as the newly formed concurrent Q) later than most of the others already in some long Qs would exit the system faster. But since the people in the Qs have absolutely no say in the processing, that’s just the way it is.

Process: What about super special Qs (illegal Qs, religious Qs, etc.)? Every once in a while, the people working the normal Qs will be asked to suspend their normal Q tasks and asked to process the special Qs just so that some people can get more votes or some clergymen needed more of his kind. Who cares if the ST for normal Qs went up by another few months?

We can go on and on about process and/or efficiency issues. But you get the picture, my friend. Don’t you? What do we do?

No offence intended, but just what do you think will happen when you (from inside the Q) try to get to the people working the Qs by sending emails/faxes? You are probably making them more inefficient because they deal with more paperwork. Not for a minute I am blaming the individual efforts of some of you, as I am sure some of you benefited from your efforts as well. But look at it from a collective perspective. This is not the only Q you have to deal with. There are other Qs and how long will you keep waiting in Qs as an individual?

Remember, this 485-Q is just a means to an end, and not an end in itself. We have miles to go before sleep, miles to go before we sleep.

So, what exactly should we do? In my humble opinion, we should become an entity with an influence that can bring about 3 things that is most needed in the people that work the Qs:

- Accountability: Make sure people managing Qs are accountable
- Service Time: Negotiate and come up with a constant ST
- Resources: Make sure adequate resources are working on the Qs to honor the agreed ST

And in addition, this group should work on common issues that affect the people not just in 140/485 Qs but other Qs as well.

How can these things happen? If you have been in the Promised Land long enough, you know that nothing happens without the right influence in the Capital. And for that, you need a formal group with funds, resources, volunteers, participants, etc.

To paraphrase the immortal words of a long gone president, I think it is time to ask “What have I done for the community lately?” instead of “What has the community done for me lately?”

My friend, I know what I am going to do when I get home tonight. I am going to send my contribution and I am going to volunteer. That’s what I am going to do. You know what you have got to do, don’t you?

As they say, people get what they deserve.

Best regards and thanks for your time!
 
cosmos said:
No offence intended, but just what do you think will happen when you (from inside the Q) try to get to the people working the Qs by sending emails/faxes? You are probably making them more inefficient because they deal with more paperwork
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this. It's kind of chicken-egg thing. But from my experience in various kind of workplaces I can say people/managements who/which are inefficient, they gather more paperworks/files on their desks. It's not that files/paperworks are making them inefficient, but they are making the whole process of paperworks/files inefficient.

If CIS (especially CSC) could respond customers in timely manner, nobody is going to jam their fax machine or email server by sending repeative faxes/emails. It's like sleeping whole day and keep saying TOO MUCH WORK making me sleepy.
 
pralay, your point is well taken. I was not trying to suggest that sending faxes/emails make the folks at CIS inefficient. I was trying to point out that their system is flawed and we need to approach the problem differently.

Thanks!
 
Let's get ideas going!

I don't know about you, but I think people like you and me who have come here from different countries and would like to settle down and live the American dream (recent serious setbacks in the economic and political climate not withstanding) have a certain quality about us.

No matter what our profession is, we don't like status quo. See, otherwise we would have stayed where we were. We didn't do that, did we? In spite of all its flaws, we chose to come here believing that this is the promised land. Imagine what all we have gone through. Most of us have parents and siblings still in our home country and we don't get to be with them as often as we like. Some of us still have best friends over there. I think we have left behind a great deal to be here.

Why? Because we all wanted to and still want to accomplish something in life. We still have a certain effervescence in spite of whatever shortcomings we might have. I wonder how many of you feel you have reached the pinnacle of your life. If you are like me, you are itching to get there. But you are constantly being pulled down by the mundane issues of worring about GC, buying a house, interest rates going up,...you get the drill, don't you?

And why have we not gotten our GC/citizenship yet? It is time for some soul searching. Some of us are engineers, some others doctors. Some of us are accountants, some others scientists. Some of us are writers and some others managers. Some of us are venure capitalists and some of us are innovators. We, the would be immigrants, come from all walks of life. We are all achievers by our own rights, and yet we have not paid much attention to immigration issues as if it does not affect us. Friends, make no mistake. Whether you like it or not, you are in this. And there is a problem to be solved.

Let us recognize first and foremost that we have a problem and not many people are interested in solving the problem. I think this is because most people are indifferent and feel either they can not contribute (not just money, but ideas) or it is pointless anyway. This is contrary to our fundamental nature because we are all achievers and constantly solve problems in our daily personal and professional lives, but on this issue we have chosen to remain silent. To some extent, I believe it is fear. I can understand that. The fear comes out of a sense of loneliness (in my humble opinion) in dealing with this black box of immigration. But that is precisely why we should strengthen ourselves by strengthening the immigrant community. To have our community voice heard across the sacred halls of the Congress. Isn't that what we want?

Of course, I can understand again that some of you may feel that you may try to solve the problem differently. By all means, my friend. You may have a different point of view. Speak up, at least in these forums.

This is a promised land, all right. But for people who recognize problems as opportunites and do something about it. We need to build a bridge to cross the river. No point throwing stones into the water hoping for miracles. My friends, let us seize the moment and do what we can to speak with once voice. Make your contribution today, be it ideas or dollars.

Best Regards and thanks for your time!
 
Does anyone know the total # of people registered in this site? I bet it is more than 1000. How many are not registered but still visit? I bet it is more than 1000. Seniors, please provide exact numbers if you have.

Even if 25% contribute an average of $200, we are talking about $100K. That would go a long way to start lobbying and presenting our case forcefully.

Even if 25% contribute a single idea (on fund collection and/or other activities), we would have 500 ideas to move forward.

My friends, this is not about you or me. This is about US (pun intended!).

#: I have started making my contributions. Have you? Be it funds or ideas?

Please post your thoughts. We owe it to ourselves to do the best we can.

Thanks!
 
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Excellent presentation. It's time for every one to do some soul searching about why they haven't contributed yet to the ONLY organization in the world that is fighting for their issue.
 
Cosmos : I don't subscribe to your theory

Irrespective of the number of people joining the Q, the service time should remain the same. The wait time increases based on the number of people joining the Q, but how do you explain Q-jumping ??? Why are May, June, July, Aug, Sep 2002 cases getting adjudicated before Jan, Feb, Mar and Apr ones ?

Also as an applicant you expect service to be offered within reasonable amount of time. By sending emails/faxes you're only checking on the status of your case. The person (or group) that reads your mails are not the adjudicators. It could be a department that channels work to the adjudication department. INS is not a mom-and-pop shop. Im sure they have enough people working there, if not what are our application fees used for ?
 
bhankas, thanks for your comments. Actually, I don't think we have disagreements at all.
<<<
Irrespective of the number of people joining the Q, the service time should remain the same. The wait time increases based on the number of people joining the Q, but how do you explain Q-jumping ??? Why are May, June, July, Aug, Sep 2002 cases getting adjudicated before Jan, Feb, Mar and Apr ones ?
>>>>

This is precisely my point as well. There is a process break down.

<<<
Also as an applicant you expect service to be offered within reasonable amount of time. By sending emails/faxes you're only checking on the status of your case. The person (or group) that reads your mails are not the adjudicators. It could be a department that channels work to the adjudication department. INS is not a mom-and-pop shop. Im sure they have enough people working there, if not what are our application fees used for ?
>>>

I did not suggest in my earlier posts that sending emails/faxes would solve the backlog problem. I agree that is a personal choice for some people who want to check on specific cases. But there have been some email/fax campaigns organized by people like Kashmir, dsatish, 140_takes_forever (too many to list all here) that tried to address the overall problem, not just their specific cases.

About the fees, I agree. But if the fees are being used for 140/485 applications, we wouldn't have had this backlog problem in the first place. That is why need transparency and accountability. That can only come about by approaching the problem from a global perspective. That is why we need financial and human resources to help spread the message. I don't know if the Core Team is planning to work the Congress angle. But in my view that is where we need to win friends and get a voice.

More later! Thanks again!
 
Once upon a time there was a kind-hearted king who ruled over a bountiful kingdom. About 1000 families lived in that kingdom very happily. The king was wealthy and did not collect taxes. For the continued prosperity of the people and his kingdom, the king wanted to offer special prayers to the harvest gods and also organize a big feast. Since this was for a common good, the king wanted to collect food grains from the people and make food.

So, the king announced, “Fellow citizens, I have decided to organize special prayers to our harvest gods and follow it up with a big feast. I would like each and every family to contribute whatever they can for the feast but I suggest 10 pounds of rice. I do not want to judge people by how much they give. Therefore, I have built a special warehouse where people can enter and empty their sacks of rice without getting noticed. I urge you all to donate generously.”

The king continued, “The warehouse is already open for your contributions. We will wait for a week to measure how many pounds of rice you have contributed. I hope your generous contribution will exceed 10,000 pounds of rice in all. Let us please the harvest gods and ensure that the feast is a big success. Thank you, my fellow citizens.”

That night, in one corner of the kingdom, a farmer was telling his wife, “No, my dear. I am not going to contribute. We work hard and we reap what we sow. Why should we give away our grains? Besides, who will know whether we contributed or not? If everybody but me contributed 10 pounds, there will be 9,990 pounds of rice in the warehouse. No one will notice the difference.”

His wife asked him, “What about the feast? Will we go?”

The farmer replied, “Yes, my dear.”

One week passed. The king and his ministers went with much fanfare to the warehouse. The king asked his minister of food, “Beloved minister, please enter the warehouse and find out how many pounds of rice we have.”

The minister opened the warehouse and went inside with a few men hoping to measure the grain. Within seconds, the minister and his men came out shaking their heads. The king asked the minister, “Why, what’s wrong?”

The minister replied, “My Lord, the warehouse is empty. Not a single grain of rice.”

The king wondered aloud, “How could that be? It was for a common cause.”

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All right, that was gross exaggeration. We are neither kings nor farmers. We are not here to judge others.

To those who have not contributed, I would urge you to consider making a donation today.
http://immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?p=785003#post785003


For those who do not wish to contribute, I have but one request.
Please extend us the courtesy of expressing your thoughts on why not.
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=126793

To contribute your ideas, please visit:
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=126447

Thanks!
 
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