Ombudsman: He believes a lot of I-485 are not legitimate! Let us help him out and find the fraud. E-mail posted earlier:
Prakash.Khatri@dhs.gov
DHS OMBUDSMAN SPELLS OUT PLANS FOR KINDER, MORE
EFFICIENT IMMIGRATION SERVICE
At a recent American Immigration Lawyers Association meeting, the
guest speaker was Prakash Khatri, the newly appointed Ombudsman
(problem solver) of the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS). He is a
very high ranking official in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
and is just two levels below Tom Ridge (who is the head of DHS). What
he had to say, and his plans and visions for reorganizing CIS should be
of vital interest to all immigrants. This is because “he has the power and
authority to make things happen”.
Mr. Khatri is the child of immigrants, so he knows the sacrifices that
immigrants go through to achieve the “American Dream”. He is grateful
for the opportunities that America gave his family, and knows that other
immigrant families simply want a chance for those same opportunities.
Before joining DHS, he was an immigration attorney, and proud member
of AILA. He had a very successful immigration practice and most recently,
managing Disney’s Immigration Department in Orlando, Florida. But he
gave all that up, in order to accept the job of Ombudsman. That shows
how much dedication and commitment he has to this job. Being an
Immigration Attorney himself, he also had direct, hands-on experience in
dealing with clients and is well aware of aliens’ hopes, dreams and
aspirations, as well as their frustrations and suffering in trying to get
legal.
As part of his functions as Ombudsman under the Homeland Security
Act, he is to make an annual report to Congress, that spells out the
problems or issues that were not solved, the name of the specific officer
at CIS who did not solve it, and why that officer did not solve it. This is a
very important function, as CIS officers, whether inside or outside the
U.S., will be more responsive, since they would not want to have their
name in his report to Congress, showing that they did not, or could not,
solve a particular problem (or they were, in fact, the cause of the
problem).
Mr. Khatri is committed to reducing backlogs, and making CIS more
efficient and responsive to immigrants, whom he views as “customers”
who are entitled to good service. Right now, there are millions of petitions
and applications that are backlogged. According to his study, almost 75%
of the backlog is for family and employment based petitions and
adjustment of status. On closer examination, he noted that some cases
were filed just so the alien could get a work permit, even though they
weren’t really eligible for the immigration benefit. Then when the interview
came about years later, they kept trying to postpone it, just so they could
keep renewing the work authorization. In other words, bogus or fraudulent
cases were being filed, and the aliens were trying to buy time, just to have
a work permit.
In order to avoid backlogs, and reduce fraudulent filings of adjustment
applications, Mr. Khatri is proposing a revolutionary approach to
processing cases: interview the aliens on the same day they file their
case, rather than years later, as is done at the present time. With a same
day interview, CIS could quickly screen the cases to see if they are bona
fide, and could issue the green card in about 60 days from filing, which is
the time it takes to complete the security checks. Can you imagine getting
a green card two months after you file for adjustment?! Let’s hope that
will soon become a reality, instead of only a proposal.
In other words, he proposes to turn the process on its head, with the
interview up front. This would dramatically reduce fraud (because there
would be no fraudulent filings to buy time for work permits, no fake ADIT
(green card) stamps in people’s passports, etc.) In addition, it would
greatly reduce the number of hours CIS officers would have to spend on a
file, from about 6-7 hours per file, to only one hour. Right now, officers
spend upwards of 6-7 hours on each file, taking into account pulling the
file and reviewing it each time a person renews his work permit, or
makes an inquiry, etc. With the adjustment interview up front, this would
reduce or eliminate the need for pulling and reviewing the file so many
times.
Mr. Khatri is not afraid to “think outside the box”, meaning he is willing to
approach problems with new and innovative solutions, and does not feel
the need to do things the way they have always been done, if there is a
better way.
When I spoke with him after his speech, I wished him luck on his
proposals, but noted that he may get a lot of resistance from CIS,
because people within CIS might argue, “But this is the way we’ve always
done it”. Mr. Khatri replied, “Whenever I hear that excuse as a justification
for keeping things as they are, I believe we need change all the more. To
keep doing something just because it had been done that way in the past
is not a good enough reason”.
I think we should all offer our support and best wishes to the
Ombudsman. Being in charge of reforms and problem solving at CIS is a
very challenging task. But immigrants should now have a lot to hope for,
because they have an Ombudsman who has remarkable plans and
visions for a kinder, more responsive, and efficient CIS, and most
important, he has a kind and warm heart for immigrants.
Prakash.Khatri@dhs.gov
DHS OMBUDSMAN SPELLS OUT PLANS FOR KINDER, MORE
EFFICIENT IMMIGRATION SERVICE
At a recent American Immigration Lawyers Association meeting, the
guest speaker was Prakash Khatri, the newly appointed Ombudsman
(problem solver) of the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS). He is a
very high ranking official in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
and is just two levels below Tom Ridge (who is the head of DHS). What
he had to say, and his plans and visions for reorganizing CIS should be
of vital interest to all immigrants. This is because “he has the power and
authority to make things happen”.
Mr. Khatri is the child of immigrants, so he knows the sacrifices that
immigrants go through to achieve the “American Dream”. He is grateful
for the opportunities that America gave his family, and knows that other
immigrant families simply want a chance for those same opportunities.
Before joining DHS, he was an immigration attorney, and proud member
of AILA. He had a very successful immigration practice and most recently,
managing Disney’s Immigration Department in Orlando, Florida. But he
gave all that up, in order to accept the job of Ombudsman. That shows
how much dedication and commitment he has to this job. Being an
Immigration Attorney himself, he also had direct, hands-on experience in
dealing with clients and is well aware of aliens’ hopes, dreams and
aspirations, as well as their frustrations and suffering in trying to get
legal.
As part of his functions as Ombudsman under the Homeland Security
Act, he is to make an annual report to Congress, that spells out the
problems or issues that were not solved, the name of the specific officer
at CIS who did not solve it, and why that officer did not solve it. This is a
very important function, as CIS officers, whether inside or outside the
U.S., will be more responsive, since they would not want to have their
name in his report to Congress, showing that they did not, or could not,
solve a particular problem (or they were, in fact, the cause of the
problem).
Mr. Khatri is committed to reducing backlogs, and making CIS more
efficient and responsive to immigrants, whom he views as “customers”
who are entitled to good service. Right now, there are millions of petitions
and applications that are backlogged. According to his study, almost 75%
of the backlog is for family and employment based petitions and
adjustment of status. On closer examination, he noted that some cases
were filed just so the alien could get a work permit, even though they
weren’t really eligible for the immigration benefit. Then when the interview
came about years later, they kept trying to postpone it, just so they could
keep renewing the work authorization. In other words, bogus or fraudulent
cases were being filed, and the aliens were trying to buy time, just to have
a work permit.
In order to avoid backlogs, and reduce fraudulent filings of adjustment
applications, Mr. Khatri is proposing a revolutionary approach to
processing cases: interview the aliens on the same day they file their
case, rather than years later, as is done at the present time. With a same
day interview, CIS could quickly screen the cases to see if they are bona
fide, and could issue the green card in about 60 days from filing, which is
the time it takes to complete the security checks. Can you imagine getting
a green card two months after you file for adjustment?! Let’s hope that
will soon become a reality, instead of only a proposal.
In other words, he proposes to turn the process on its head, with the
interview up front. This would dramatically reduce fraud (because there
would be no fraudulent filings to buy time for work permits, no fake ADIT
(green card) stamps in people’s passports, etc.) In addition, it would
greatly reduce the number of hours CIS officers would have to spend on a
file, from about 6-7 hours per file, to only one hour. Right now, officers
spend upwards of 6-7 hours on each file, taking into account pulling the
file and reviewing it each time a person renews his work permit, or
makes an inquiry, etc. With the adjustment interview up front, this would
reduce or eliminate the need for pulling and reviewing the file so many
times.
Mr. Khatri is not afraid to “think outside the box”, meaning he is willing to
approach problems with new and innovative solutions, and does not feel
the need to do things the way they have always been done, if there is a
better way.
When I spoke with him after his speech, I wished him luck on his
proposals, but noted that he may get a lot of resistance from CIS,
because people within CIS might argue, “But this is the way we’ve always
done it”. Mr. Khatri replied, “Whenever I hear that excuse as a justification
for keeping things as they are, I believe we need change all the more. To
keep doing something just because it had been done that way in the past
is not a good enough reason”.
I think we should all offer our support and best wishes to the
Ombudsman. Being in charge of reforms and problem solving at CIS is a
very challenging task. But immigrants should now have a lot to hope for,
because they have an Ombudsman who has remarkable plans and
visions for a kinder, more responsive, and efficient CIS, and most
important, he has a kind and warm heart for immigrants.