Court Approves Ngwanyia Settlement(Good News)

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wantmygcnow

Volunteer Moderator
Straight from the attorney's mouth:

The court approved the settlement agreement in the hearing yesterday. The judge will be issuing a written order explaining his decision within the next couple of weeks. We will post the order to our website as soon as it is available.

Mary A. Kenney
Senior Attorney
American Immigration Law Foundation
918 F. St., NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC, 20004
 
SOrry forgot to attach the agreement. Its a doc file so i am cutting and pasting..

SECTION D. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
18. A significant purpose of this Agreement is to eliminate or reduce the need for further
complex litigation in court.

(SECTION E. PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS
19. Unused Asylee Adjustment Numbers - Defendants agree that asylee adjustment cap
numbers made available in a given fiscal year remain available to adjust an asylee's status
beyond the end of the fiscal year. Defendants will make use of all past unused or misapplied
numbers, as described in this section, within the time frame set out in this Agreement.
Defendants further agree that, in the event any numbers made available for Fiscal Year 2005 and
subsequent fiscal years are not utilized for asylee adjustments subject to the adjustment cap, they
will continue to treat those numbers as available for use in subsequent fiscal years. This
Agreement affects only the adjustment of status for asylees pursuant to section 209(b) of the
INA, 8 U.S.C. 1159(b) and in no way affects the use or allocation of refugee admission numbers
pursuant to section 207(a) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1157(a).
20. The parties agree that an accounting of unused asylee adjustment numbers is no longer
necessary and will divert critical resources needed for the adjudication of applications. Instead,
based upon a careful review of the evidence and findings of the District Court, the government
statistics relating to the administration of asylee adjustment numbers since 1994, and the limited
specific evidence relating to the use of asylee adjustment numbers from 1991 to 1994, the parties
agree that a reasonable estimate of the asylee adjustment numbers made available in prior years
that remain available for use at this time is 31,000. Thus, in lieu of specific accounting, the
parties estimate and agree that defendants’ policies and practices have resulted in approximately
31,000 unused or misapplied asylee adjustment numbers. The parties agree to be bound by this
estimate as if a full accounting had been made. These numbers are now available to adjust the
status of asylees, in addition to any numbers made available for asylee adjustment by the
President in this or any subsequent fiscal year.
 
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21. Tracking of Asylee Adjustment Applications--Defendants shall maintain a database that
identifies all pending asylee adjustment applications organized in chronological order by date of
filing of the adjustment application. Defendants shall process asylee adjustments in the order of
filing to the maximum degree possible. Defendants will treat all available asylee adjustment
5
numbers, including those additional numbers agreed to in this section, as one pool of numbers
from which eligible applicants may be adjusted.
22. Distribution of Unused Asylee Adjustment Numbers - Defendants will increase the
number of asylee adjustments processed in this and subsequent fiscal years in order to adjust the
status of an additional 31,000 asylees within the next three fiscal years beginning with the fiscal
year of the effective date of the Agreement. Defendants agree to implement this process as soon
as possible following the signing of this Agreement by the parties. Any additional adjustments
made during the time period between signature of the Agreement and approval by the District
Court will be counted toward the 31,000 total. At a minimum, defendants will process and
adjust at least 8,000 additional applications in the first fiscal year beginning with the fiscal year
of the effective date of the Agreement; 8,000 additional adjustments during the second fiscal
year following the effective date of the Agreement; and the remainder of the additional
adjustments during the third fiscal year following the effective date of the Agreement. The
processing of these additional 31,000 cases shall be in addition to the processing of the annual
authorization of numbers under the asylum cap, as defined in Section A.
23. Quarterly and Annual Reports - Defendants agree to produce quarterly reports, and post
them on the Internet website of defendant USCIS. The content of the quarterly reports shall
reflect the filing date of asylee adjustment applications currently being processed and shall report
on the number of asylee adjustment applications that were approved during the prior quarter.
Defendants also shall produce annual reports and post them on the internet website of defendant
USCIS. The annual reports shall set forth USCIS’ reasonable estimates of the dates by which
groups of asylees are expected to be able to complete adjustment processing, based on date of
filing of the application for adjustment in light of the effect of the annual cap. Such annual
reports shall be provided only as a general planning tool and shall not bind any of the defendants
in any way. The quarterly and annual reports shall not include information about any specific
application for adjustment of status, other than that enumerated in this paragraph.
24. Adjustment Processing Contact Person - Defendants will identify a method of contact
by which class members may direct inquiries concerning the adjudication of asylee adjustment
applications filed before the processing date reflected in the most recent quarterly report.
Defendants will determine the status of the application, and the cause for any delay in processing
the application, including any delays due to security issues, and will take immediate steps to
resolve any problems. Defendants will notify plaintiffs’ counsel of the method of contact and
provide written contact information, upon approval of the settlement Agreement.
 
25. Continued Use of Numbers Made Available in Current and Future Fiscal Years
Defendants’ use of the unused and misapplied numbers described in paragraphs 20 and 22 above
is to be in addition to the use of the ten thousand asylee adjustment numbers that have been made
available in fiscal year 2005 and all asylee adjustment numbers that will be made available in
subsequent fiscal years. Defendants will continue to use all asylee adjustment numbers made
available in any fiscal year to the maximum extent.
SECTION F. ENDORSEMENT AND DURATION OF AUTHORIZATION TO WORK
6
26. Persons granted asylum in the United States are authorized to work incident to status.
An asylee’s right to engage in employment does not terminate at the expiration of the asylee’s
employment authorization document. Defendants agree to provide asylees with EADs as set
forth in this section for so long as their asylee status has not been terminated. Defendants agree
to provide plaintiffs’ counsel with copies of instructions to defendants’ staff regarding
implementation of this Agreement.
27. Defendants have an interest in an EAD that has integrity and reliability, and withstands
fraud by its holder or persons who are not authorized to hold the EAD. Plaintiffs have an interest
in an EAD that is effective for immediate and continuous employment while they are in asylee
status.
28. The parties agree that defendants will provide notice to plaintiffs’ counsel prior to the
initial implementation of this Agreement and make reasonable efforts to provide notice to
plaintiffs’ counsel of changes in the EAD process affecting the class members. Such changes
may include, for example, the replacement of Form I-688B with Form I-766 for initial cards, the
reduction or elimination of need for some or all asylum grantees or EAD renewal applicants to
present themselves for further biometric processing, the availability of multi-year cards for initial
grantees, or the reduction of fees for certain multi-year cards.
29. Within 3 months of the effective date of this Agreement, and at a minimum, throughout
the duration of this Agreement, defendants will provide asylees seeking renewal of their EADs
the option to obtain EADs valid for multiple year periods, up to 5 years. To exercise such option,
asylees will prepay for the number of years requested. The fee for multiple years will be
adjusted to reflect estimated costs of producing the EAD and savings to defendants resulting
from not producing additional EADs, which will not be less than $20 per year.
30. Although regulations may apply future increases or decreases in fees for EADs to
asylees, no change in fees for EADs will be applied to the detriment of class members within two
years of the effective date of this Agreement. A request for an EAD of longer duration will not
adversely affect the adjudication of fee waivers pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 103.7(c).
31. The parties agree that class members wishing to renew their EADs shall submit a Form
I-765, or other form required by defendants by regulation for EAD processing with any lawfully
required fee. Upon receipt of a properly signed Form I-765 and appropriate fee, defendant
USCIS will generate a notice that will be mailed to the class member’s address indicated on the
Form I-765. The notice will be generated within 5 business days of receipt and will
acknowledge receipt of the application and fee as of a specific date. The notice will provide
further instructions, as necessary. If biometrics are necessary, such instructions will include an
appointment time and place or how to schedule an appointment at a convenient time and place at
a USCIS Application Support Center for the taking of the class member’s biometrics for the
generation of a new card and/or the initiation of an FBI fingerprint check. Within 100 days of
receipt of a completed application, CIS will issue an EAD to the class member, except in those
7
cases described in paragraph 34 and in cases where an applicant fails to comply with or delays
complying with instructions for necessary biometric processing. This procedure is in addition to
and does not eliminate, replace or restrict an asylee’s rights under 8 C.F.R. § 274a.13(d),
including the right to an interim EAD if defendants fail to adjudicate an EAD application within
90 days.
32. Defendants will provide asylees who follow the steps described in paragraph 31 above
with a renewal EAD by mailing the new EAD to the address the asylee provided on the renewal
form or to such other address as the asylee provides defendants for such purpose.
33. Defendants agree to provide a dedicated e-mail address by which class members may
bring to the attention of the defendants cases in which an asylee who applied for a renewal of an
EAD which has been pending for 80 days or longer has not received a new EAD in the mail
within 80 days of application. In establishing such procedure, defendants shall establish a point
of contact and will notify plaintiffs’ counsel of the name of the point of contact, and provide
contact information, upon approval of this Agreement. Once such cases are brought to the
attention of the point of contact, the point of contact will determine the cause for the delay in
issuing the renewal EAD and take immediate steps to expedite and resolve any problems. If the
problem cannot be resolved within ten days, the point of contact will so notify the complainant
as soon as necessary to avoid any gap between the expiration of the old EAD and receipt of the
renewal or an interim EAD.
34. The parties agree that the provisions of this section shall not apply to EAD renewal
requests properly governed by 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(18), including but not limited to situations in
which USCIS is investigating an alien's inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3) or
deportability under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4) and has invoked 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(18).
35. Where an asylee applies for an EAD that is of longer duration than one year, and where 8
C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(18) is not properly invoked by defendants, defendants shall issue the EAD for
the multiple year period for which the asylee applied. Where an asylee applies for an EAD of
one-year duration, and the defendants issue an EAD for a shorter duration, defendants will not
charge for renewals of the card that are occasioned by the shorter duration.
36. Defendants agree to use reasonable and good faith efforts to implement the procedures
described in this Agreement in a manner that avoids interruption of asylees’ employment
authorization endorsement throughout the duration of their asylum status, and that facilitates all
asylees’ ability to comply with the requirements of 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(b) and 8 C.F.R. §274a.2.
 
SECTION G. NOTICE TO THE CLASS
37. This Agreement shall be binding upon the class certified by the District Court on October
17, 2003.
38. The parties will jointly seek approval from the District Court of a notice sufficient to
satisfy Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 23(e). Upon the District Court’s approval of the notice,
8
Defendants shall:
a. place the notice and the Agreement on the USCIS website and on the EOIR
website;
b. distribute the notice and Agreement to the Community Relations Office located
within each USCIS District Office; and
c. distribute the notice and Agreement to all immigration assistance providers listed
on the Roster of Recognized Organizations and Accredited Representatives maintained
by the Executive Office for Immigration Review pursuant to 8 C.F.R. §292.
SECTION H. DURATION AND SCOPE OF THIS AGREEMENT
39. This settlement Agreement shall remain in full force and effect for three years from its
effective date or until the defendants complete the following, whichever period is longer:
a. Completion of the processing of the 31,000 adjustment applications as described in
paragraph 21 above; and
b. Implementation of procedures to issue EADs valid for multiple years to all asylees,
consistent with this Agreement.
40. No later than 30 days prior to the three-year anniversary of the effective date of this
Agreement, defendants will report to the plaintiffs’ counsel and to the District Court in writing
that the defendants have or have not met the obligations described in this Section. If defendants
have not met the obligations, defendants will appear before the District Court to discuss the
status of compliance and appropriate action.
41. The termination of this Agreement shall not extinguish or diminish the District Court’s
authority to resolve claims pending during the effective period of the Agreement pursuant to the
District Court’s retained jurisdiction under Section C regarding the violation of the terms of the
Agreement; nor shall the termination of the Agreement extinguish or diminish the rights of any
party with such pending claims to obtain relief based on the agreement.
 
Lazerthegreat said:
Thanks for sharing this information.
Click to expand...



Thanks you for the info, good work.

A better idea would be to put the doc. file here as an attachment.
 
Thanks a lot, wantmygcnow!

My RD was 08/2001. When will I get my GC? 2005 or 2006 or even 2007, 2008?
 
an article from san jose mercury news

email this print this reprint or license this
Posted on Thu, Jun. 16, 2005



R E L A T E D L I N K S
• On the Web: Details on the settlement from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service




Shorter green-card wait for refugees with asylum

By Jessie Mangaliman

Mercury News


As many as 180,000 political-asylum refugees in the Bay Area and across the country who have been waiting a decade for green cards got some relief Wednesday after a federal judge in Minnesota approved a court-ordered government plan to reduce the backlog.

Under the terms of a court settlement finalized in Minneapolis, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will step up processing of permanent-resident applications, or green cards, for tens of thousands of immigrants in the United States who have been granted political asylum.

The agreement requires the government to reduce the backlog by more than one-third in the next three years, which means processing 61,000 new green cards. But the court-ordered reduction could be as much as half -- or more than 90,000 new green cards.

``It's in nobody's interest to have people sitting in limbo for a decade,'' said Steve Baughman, a San Francisco attorney who represents hundreds of political-asylum refugees in the Bay Area who have been waiting for years to get their green cards.

``It was an absurd situation,'' Baughman said. ``We were having to tell people to come back in 10 years and we'll help you get your green card.''

Lawyers, immigrants and their advocates in the Bay Area and the United States praised the settlement, which stemmed from a 2002 lawsuit filed by the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) against the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the federal immigration agency now known as USCIS.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in Minnesota because one of the plaintiffs, Venatius Nkafor Ngwanyia, a political refugee from Cameroon, lives in St. Paul. The lawsuit alleged that the government failed to process the green-card applications of Ngwanyia and other political-asylum refugees in a timely manner. Ngwanyia has been waiting since 1996 for a green card.

Attorneys for Ngwanyia and the government agreed that part of the problem was a yearly limit imposed by Congress of 10,000 green cards that can be issued to those who have been granted asylum. Many more immigrants were granted political asylum each year. The cap has now been removed.

``The delays have been so harmful,'' said Michele Garnett McKenzie, an attorney with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, a Minneapolis legal-aid group that represents refugees seeking political asylum.

``These are people who fled terrible situations,'' McKenzie said. ``They're trying to build lives here and really can't do that until they're permanent residents.''

They were unable to get school or home loans because of their temporary status, were required to renew work permits every year and were turned away for good jobs because employers preferred those with permanent status, McKenzie said.

It still will take years for many in the line for green cards, but the 10-year wait they once faced has been reduced by at least three years.

``That's three years less,'' said Vladimir Ricaldi, who came from Peru in 1997 and sought political asylum. ``That's something!''

Ricaldi, 31, of San Mateo, was persecuted in Lima by the Maoist guerrillas called Shining Path.

After a protracted court case, Ricaldi finally was granted asylum last year, and recently his San Francisco attorney, Randall Caudle, filed green-card applications on behalf of him and his wife.

``He's on the back end of the long wait list,'' Caudle said. ``I can now get the Ricaldis their U.S. citizenship before I retire, whereas before I could only hope to get them green cards before retiring.''

As part of the court settlement, Ricaldi and other political-asylum refugees also will no longer be required to renew their work permits yearly. They will be issued five-year work permits instead.
 
Thanks again, wantmygcnow!

So are you going to get yours in this fiscal year, before 10/2005? - hopefully.

I am 3 months behind you in RD. How long will I behind you in GC?
 
Sadasylee I am hoping to get it this year but realistically it wont happen. If they dont..it would mean that they are still not issuing correct # of GC's. It just pisses you off because 3 months are left in this fiscal year and 10,000+ GC's need to be issued...If they dont start now when will they start??>..

Pessimistic View:

FY05(end sep 05)- 12/99-12/00
FY06(end sep 06)- 01/01-02/02
FY07(end sep 07)- 03/02-06/03

Cutting the backlog to 4 years.

Optimistic View:

FY05(end sep 05)- 12/99-05/01
FY06(end sep 06)- 06/01-07/02
FY07(end sep 07) - 08/03-10/04

Cutting the backlog to 3 years.


The pessimistic view is what AILF thinks we will get since during the negotiations, USCIS simply said they wont process more than 25,000 Asylee GC's in a year..WITH OR WITHOUT CAP.

Hopefully in 09/07, the wait is 6 months with cap being removed..
 
News!

NEWS:

wantmygcnow has been appointed "Acting Commisioner of the USCIS" because of his extraordinary "Voodoo" Magic Skills which he acquired when he used to live in Jungles of Africa and danced around fire.... :) :) :)

just kidding... thanks wantmygcnow!

Paramvir1! What are you doing about your incorrectly dated GC? Have you sent them back your original GC. Please keep us posted.

thanks,
 
yes, good news! i hope uscis will achieve the 6-month GC application processing before MR. Bush steps down in 2008.
New laws will come out when new president comes in
 
This is great news.

I think this means that I'm going to get my GC sometime this year :)

BTW, what is the punishment for USCIS, if they ignore this ruling and continue their turtle-like processing pace?
 
asylumguy said:
This is great news.

I think this means that I'm going to get my GC sometime this year :)

BTW, what is the punishment for USCIS, if they ignore this ruling and continue their turtle-like processing pace?
Click to expand...


I think you will get your GC this month or next based on your ND.
 
We have same ND

Asylumguy....finally someone have same ND date as me. My ND date is Aug24 2000, lets see who gets it first, I hope I get it soon, I been waiting years ad years for it, keep me posted :)
 
wantmygcnow said:
2006!

Sincerely,
Wantmygcnow
Acting Commisioner of the USCIS..
Click to expand...

Wantmygcnow,

is the info in your signature line correct, that is your ND is May 2001 and you already got an RFI?
 
wantmygcnow said:
Sadasylee I am hoping to get it this year but realistically it wont happen. If they dont..it would mean that they are still not issuing correct # of GC's. It just pisses you off because 3 months are left in this fiscal year and 10,000+ GC's need to be issued...If they dont start now when will they start??>..

Pessimistic View:

FY05(end sep 05)- 12/99-12/00
FY06(end sep 06)- 01/01-02/02
FY07(end sep 07)- 03/02-06/03

Cutting the backlog to 4 years.

Optimistic View:

FY05(end sep 05)- 12/99-05/01
FY06(end sep 06)- 06/01-07/02
FY07(end sep 07) - 08/03-10/04

Cutting the backlog to 3 years.


The pessimistic view is what AILF thinks we will get since during the negotiations, USCIS simply said they wont process more than 25,000 Asylee GC's in a year..WITH OR WITHOUT CAP.

Hopefully in 09/07, the wait is 6 months with cap being removed..
Click to expand...


What do u mean by wait is 6 months? How come six months if they said they wouldn't approve more than 25,000 per year. By september 2007 they will still be dealing with about 100,000 backlog even in the best possible scenario.
 
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