CIS Ombudsman's 2009 Annual Report to Congress

formerf1 said:
Interesting indeed. USCIS making more than $2 billion annually in fee revenues......
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I was intrigued to find out that eventually we will be able to file our naturalization applications on-line and the track their movement through the system.
 
vdostoi1 said:
I was intrigued to find out that eventually we will be able to file our naturalization applications on-line and the track their movement through the system.
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With the advent of today's technology, I'm surprised that e-filing hasn't already been made available.
 
Vorpal said:
With the advent of today's technology, I'm surprised that e-filing hasn't already been made available.
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The report contains some pretty stinging comments. Since USCIS is still using paper files, being able to file electronically is probably several years in the future.

A quote I really liked, showing how long it takes for any meaningful change to happen:

After 13 years of audits showing the service centers unable to timely deposit filing fees, USCIS initiated plans to shift fee depositing, receipting, and preliminary data entry to the Lockbox Operations Division...

Regarding the timeline of the Transformation Initiative:

USCIS has structured Transformation for a five-year deployment composed of seven releases. The first four releases will be applied to naturalization cases [...] In March 2009, an IBM stop-work order delayed Transformation to allow reassessment of certain processes specified by DHS, USCIS, and IBM subject matter experts. At the time of this writing, due to the stop-work order, USCIS could not provide concrete deployment or release dates.
 
formerf1 said:
Interesting indeed. USCIS making more than $2 billion annually in fee revenues......
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Just FYI, USCIS as a government agency is funded for most of its key activities almost exclusively through application fee receipts. It is unique in this respect among government agencies. One of the primary reasons provided by USCIS for the extensive processing backlogs is that the fee revenue was not keeping up with the requirements necessary to process applications in a more timely fashion. This is why Congress approved the significant fee increases that USCIS put into effect in 2007.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/financial_overview.pdf
 
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Thanks for posting this. It was very interesting. I was one of those who ended up contacting the ombudsmans office and filing a complaint. They initiated a formal inquiry on my behalf and very shortly thereafter I received my interview letter.
It was interesting to read the report you provided the link to.
Everyone on this website is extremely helpful. If it had not been for this website I would not have even known this ombudsman office existed.
Good luck to all who are applying for anything with the USCIS. :)
 
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