The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) headquarters recently confirmed that they are planning to bring back some direct, live assistance to the Service Centers. This is likely in response to complaints from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and others regarding the lack of case-specific information available from National Customer Service Center (NCSC) personnel. Details on the type of live Service Center assistance are yet to be determined.
As regular MurthyDotCom and MURTHYBULLETIN readers are aware, all "customer service" calls have been routed to NCSC since June 9, 2003, rather than going directly to the specific Service Centers where the cases are pending. This change has not been successful. The people who answer the telephones read from scripts and provide status information that is available online. In the event of a problem case, a request is sent to the Service Center and the waiting time begins, sometimes for several months. This is simply not helpful when there is a problem with a case that needs immediate attention.
The Service Center employees who formerly answered calls were experienced immigration adjudicators, often able to assist or obtain the proper assistance when needed. It was always difficult to reach the Service Centers, due to the limited telephone lines and the limited personnel available to answer calls. Understandably, it is not productive to have adjudicators answering routine questions like those regarding status or addresses. However, people with pending cases need to be able to communicate with the office handling those cases.
It might be helpful to use eMail, so that basic information could be transmitted in a standardized way. Difficult or case-specific issues could be routed to more experienced personnel. Alternatively, what appears to be under consideration is a way to transfer selected types of calls from the NCSC directly to the relevant USCIS Service Centers for investigation and response. The likelihood of again getting some sort of direct contact with the Service Centers is a good sign that the USCIS cares about and values the opinions of AILA and those immigrating to the U.S. who use their services.
As regular MurthyDotCom and MURTHYBULLETIN readers are aware, all "customer service" calls have been routed to NCSC since June 9, 2003, rather than going directly to the specific Service Centers where the cases are pending. This change has not been successful. The people who answer the telephones read from scripts and provide status information that is available online. In the event of a problem case, a request is sent to the Service Center and the waiting time begins, sometimes for several months. This is simply not helpful when there is a problem with a case that needs immediate attention.
The Service Center employees who formerly answered calls were experienced immigration adjudicators, often able to assist or obtain the proper assistance when needed. It was always difficult to reach the Service Centers, due to the limited telephone lines and the limited personnel available to answer calls. Understandably, it is not productive to have adjudicators answering routine questions like those regarding status or addresses. However, people with pending cases need to be able to communicate with the office handling those cases.
It might be helpful to use eMail, so that basic information could be transmitted in a standardized way. Difficult or case-specific issues could be routed to more experienced personnel. Alternatively, what appears to be under consideration is a way to transfer selected types of calls from the NCSC directly to the relevant USCIS Service Centers for investigation and response. The likelihood of again getting some sort of direct contact with the Service Centers is a good sign that the USCIS cares about and values the opinions of AILA and those immigrating to the U.S. who use their services.