Congressman replied after BCIS called back

G

ganshm

Registered Users (C)
I asked my congressman to inquire about my I-485. They made the inquiry on Wed. and CSC called them back on Thu. (I hope they could provide the same service to us)

Basically CSC said I could apply for AP and EAD so there's no need for them to adjudicate I-485 or speed up the processing...

That's nonsense. I think we can write our senator/representative this:

1) Before I-485 gets processed, we have to apply for EAD and AP at least two times since they are valid for just one year and the waiting time for I-485 is about 2 years. For me and my wife, that's $920 in application fees (not including attorney fees) and 8 cases for BCIS to process. Many people had to apply 3 times or more. Compared to our 2 I-485 cases, BCIS has to process at least 8 cases instead of 2. This essentially ties up BCIS resources, create backlogs, and is costly to applicants. This problem is getting more serious now that BCIS has been short of manpower to enforce homeland security laws and regulations.

2) BCIS has backlogs for AP and EAD as well. As applicants, we have to apply for AP and EAD renewal only 7 or 8 months after we receive them. This is a very stressful process on our part.

3) Many a time we do not receive EAD renewal in time and have to interrupt our work. To apply for a temporary EAD, we have to wait in the exceptionally long lines out of local BCIS for a temporary EAD, braving the scorching sun or freezing weather for more than 10 hours in many occasions.

3) To use AP, we have to go to secondary inspection at the port of entry carrying a load of documents. It sometimes results in delays and makes us unable to catch connecting flights. In additioon, quite some foreign airlines have no knowledge of AP which causes significant inconvenience to us.

4) Some speculate that BCIS slows down the I-485 adjudication due to concerns about impact on the job market. But we know this is the responsibility of the Department of Labor (DOL), not BCIS. Nowadays the DOL scrutinizes labor certification process very carefully and has rejected many applications. Our cases have been approved by the DOL and BCIS in our I-140 stage as having positive impact on the economy and job market, not negative.

5) If we meet all the requirements of US immigration, why does BCIS have to make us law-abiding tax-payers wait a long period of time for our I-485 adjudication, and in the mean time create backlog and waste of resources by forcing us I-485 applicants to apply for and use AP and EAD?

6) The CSC I-485 adjudication has virtually been at a standstill since October, 2002. In contrast, the center with juridication over most of the East Coast, the Vermont Service Center (VSC), has been processing I-485 cases at a healthier speed.

Just some quick thoughts. Any comments guys?
 
great comments...
Please add that the processing time once was 3 months and now it is two years and increasing... (according to their proc. times).
 
Who is this Congressman ? How did you contact this person?

If you give all the details of your correspondence, we all can send a mail to him/her. If more guys write to this Congressman, it might have better effect.
 
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The congressman

The congressman is Jerry Lewis, chairman of House National Security Appropriations Subcommittee, overseeing the entire Pentagon budget and possibly the budget of Dept. of Homeland Security as well.

I think that's why CSC returned the call so quick. This congressman may have big influence over their budget appropriations.

Yes, let's all write him. It may work. His address is

CONGRESSMAN JERRY LEWIS
1150 Brookside Avenue
Suite J-5
Redlands, CA 92373
 
I am writing to him now .......

cant sit around hoping for a miracle. There is no law against voicing your concerns.

Wake up guys. Do it now or it may be too late ....................
 
Guys,

Before I send it out to the congressman, any suggestions?

Please take a look at these issues closer and assist us in resolving them:

1. Security and background check.
While I understand that since September 11, 2001, US need to tighten up its immigration policy. We agree that security and background check must be performed before any adjudication, however, the process for all these background and security checks is not efficient at all. Before adjudicating a case, BCIS officer has to have clearance from all the checks and usually it could takes months for performing one check while the other expired. Therefore, the whole process needs to be started over again and becoming a loop hole that never ending which creates backlog.

2. Immigrant workers vs US workers.
Another excuse that we heard was that BCIS slowdown in processing Employment Based I-485 was due to the bad economy and immigrant workers are stealing the jobs from US workers. That is certainly not true. To get the Labor Certification approval from DOL, we waited for more than 2 years for the whole process. Furthermore, the sponsor company has to pay at least at the prevailing wages or more. We believe that we are very qualified individuals that our sponsor companies are willing to go for such troubles to employ us. Not mentioning that now days, DOL is very criticized on every applications for labor certification.

3. We are law-abiding tax-payers and social security contributors.
We have been law-abiding taxpayers and social security contributors. With salary of at least at prevailing wages and above and all the immigrant workers in US, imagine what the amount of dollars that we, immigrant workers, have been contributing for social security and taxes. Eliminating immigrant workers will worsen US economy.
 
Very Well said, ganshm.

They are extremely audacious to say that we donot have to have our 485s approved with AP & EADs. Im with you guys if we want to write to somebody or submit the petition to somebody.
 
regarding point 1, one thing to mention is that since the additional security checks introduce delays of months, it is actually less secure since any potential terrorist will already be in the country and will not be caught for a long time.
 
defunk and ganshm, I don’t think senator will care about all problems you mentioned, because basically it’s ours problems. You should point your letter to other direction: government tries to stimulate the economy by encouraging people to spend and you have to draw senator’s attention to our shaky status. We are high paid worker, but we are not spending money, because of our status. Why should I buy house, a new car and etc if perhaps tomorrow I will sell everything is rush for nothing? Give us green cards and we will support U.S. economy.
 
Good point Tasse,


You should also mention what project of yours that is not completed because of the 485 uncertainty .. like:

1. Not buying house
2. Not making any big investment
3. others ..
4. Also tell them that you are using your money in your home country until your status is confirmed in the US .. :D :D :D

Eventually
 
I agree with Tasse

We also have to write why Just AP and EAD is not sufficient. Don't write about stealing the jobs from US workers. If congressman or any body asks about stealing job you can write that as a counter punch. I will post my letter on this thread for you suggestions.
 
Good point.

Good point Tasse. But I think the letters should not look alike and should address different points.

I just wrote the congressman again with these somewhat revised points:


1) Given the processing speed of I-485 (about 2 years of waiting time), we have to apply for EAD and AP at least two times. For me and my wife, that's $920 in application fees (not including attorney fees which are in excess of $1000) for us to pay and 8 cases (2 EADs and 2 APs each time, applied two times) for BCIS to process. Many people actually had to apply 3 times or more. As a result, BCIS has to process at least 8 cases in addition to the two I-485 cases. This essentially ties up BCIS resources, creates backlogs, and is very costly to applicants. This problem is getting more serious now that BCIS has been short of manpower to enforce homeland security laws and regulations for the sake of our national security.

2) BCIS has reported that I-765 (EAD applications) is one of the two most common types of cases BCIS has to process. The delay in I-485 processing actually causes many I-765s to be filed and is one of the important reasons for the backlog.

3) AP and EAD are valid for only one year and it takes CSC three to four months to process them. As a result, we have to apply for AP and EAD renewal only 7 or 8 months after we receive them. Sometimes, delay in EAD processing in our specific cases could cause us to be out of status and result in I-485 denial. This is a very stressful and grilling process on our part.

4) To apply for a temporary EAD, we have to wait in the exceptionally long lines out of local BCIS, braving the scorching sun or cold weather for more than 10 hours in many occasions.

5) To use AP, we have to go to secondary inspection at the port of entry carrying a load of documents. It often results in delays and makes us unable to catch connecting flights. In addition, quite some foreign airlines have no knowledge of AP which causes significant inconvenience to us.

6) Some speculate that BCIS slows down the I-485 adjudication due to concerns about impact on the job market. But we know this is more of a responsibility of the Department of Labor (DOL) than BCIS. Nowadays the DOL scrutinizes labor certification process very carefully and has rejected many applications. Our cases have been approved by the DOL and BCIS in our I-140 stage as having positive impact on the economy and job market, not negative.

7) If we meet all the requirements of US immigration, why does BCIS have to make us law-abiding tax-payers wait a long period of time just for our I-485 to be processed, and in the mean time create backlog and waste of resources by forcing us I-485 applicants to apply for and use AP and EAD? If we do not the meet the legal requirements of US immigration laws, BCIS can always reject our I-485 applications.

8) The CSC I-485 adjudication has virtually been at a standstill since October, 2002. In contrast, the center with jurisdiction over most of the East Coast, the Vermont Service Center (VSC), has been processing I-485 cases at a much healthier speed. VSC actually has more I-485 cases than CSC according to a BCIS report.

Actually one argument by CSC is that they are processing more cases. Anybody has the data of total number of ALL cases processed by CSC and VSC?
 
In addition to eventually's "what you cannot do with pending I-485" -

5) Not you, neither members of your family cannot apply for student loans and therefore cannot continue education.
 
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