from Murthy link
Naturalization Quality Procedures
Doris Meissner, Commissioner for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued a Memorandum on November 29, 1996, that effective immediately no further interviews or oath ceremonies will be scheduled by the INS until her memorandum has been read, training has been conducted in the procedures, either locally or from INS Headquarters, and all procedures are in place and working. The highlights of the Memorandum are summarized below:
In addition to requiring work sheets to be completed by both local offices and the Service Centers, the importance of the FBI fingerprint checks was stressed.
Effective immediately, no cases are to be scheduled for interview or oath ceremony by the INS until a definitive response has been received from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) (either through the receipt of a negative "NON-IDENT" response or a positive "IDENT;" in the case of an "IDENT" response the charge(s) must be resolved and approved by a supervisor before the case can be scheduled.
The measures discussed in the memo will prevent the naturalization of those for whom FBI checks have not been completed.