Originally posted by dengdeng
okay a version of appendix C. I'll do more modification tonight.
Appendix C: Various causes for 485 petition backlog .
1: Migration and reorganization of INS into BCIS. Merge INS into the Department of Homeland security is a complicated and lengthy process. This has resulted in the backlog delays currently building up.
2: Lack of resources. The government has not allocated adequate funds and human resources to eliminate the backlogs. The American competitiveness in 21st century(AC21) act was passed two year ago by the congress and the President, in hope that the normal processing time of EB based 485 petition will be decreased to 180 days. However, the number of adjudicators at each service center is still limited, processing speed and efficiency has not been improved, and even worse, the current processing time at four service centers have surpassed normal 540 days to an unacceptable waiting period, which increases each month.
3: The EB I-485 applications are at the lowest priority compared to other types of cases. Employee based I-485 applicants all contribute greatly to the government by paying federal, state and social security taxes. Corporate america also needs the infusion of creativity and labor skills from foreign workers. However, when the government prioritize case processing, EB-based petitions falls to the lowest level without a convincing reason. This is unfair and untolerable to the applicants. The whole process of adjustment of pernament residency is extremely lengthy by itself, not mention other types of cases has to be expedited for non-establised reasons. We would welcome BCIS service centers to make favorable consideration to expedite EB I-485 cases in the very near furture, particularly those have been delayed longer than normal processing time.
4: Multiple agency security checks is a black hole. BCIS claims the main reason for backlog built up is security check. However, public are never informed of the standard operating procedure of security check. We would like to be informed of how security check is performed on a case, and why it has to be lengthy and obscure as right now. Recently, FBI has testified before congress that the normal processing time of a name check ranges from 3 days to 3 months. With 85% cases in 3 days, 10% in one month, and 5% in three months. However, BCIS backlog is far longer than three months. We would like to have an explanation of where is the actual bottleneck of backlog.
5: Zero Tolerance policy. Under the strict enforcement of Zero tolerance policy after Sep 11, it has become safer for BCIS adjudicators to deny benefits, even in cases that have been found approvable in the past. This “zero tolerance” policy has also led to an increased focus on whether the applicant/beneficiary has always maintained a valid nonimmigrant status, with BCIS now routinely requesting such proof in order to approve adjustment of status request. Exacerbating the frustration with these new BCIS interpretations and policies, the backlog delays in adjudications of all petition types inevitably increase. As part of the American society, we strongly wish this nation safe and prosperous as ever, but we also hope this mentality change won't affect our pernament residency petition normal processing and bring hardships to our daily lives. We don't want to be the ultimate victims of terrorism as we're always the strong supporters of american government.
6: Inefficient and unimproved operating procedure. BCIS has not improved the standard operating procedure after the migration as it promised. As the backlog building up, many EB-based I-485 petitions have suffered 15 months finger print expiration. However, BCIS is inconsistent in sending out second Finger print notice to the applicants. Some applicants have never received the notice, some primary applicant received the notice but not the beneficary applicants, some received the notice and completed the finger print but have been waiting ever since. Applications which were issued Request for Further Evidence were not processed immediately, instead, some applicants have complained they have waited for over 5 months after they submitted the missing materials, even worse, some even got case transferred to local offices even though their cases qualified for Interview Waiver Criteria. We would suggest BCIS to take some positive actions to efficiently handle stagnant second finger print and RFE cases. Processing cases not based on chronologic order is not fair and will prolong the whole backlog.
7: Termination of service center customer service. In June, BCIS has terminated all customer services at four service centers. Since then, we are not able to obtain useful information about our cases. The NCSC customer service deterioates from the previous one in an unacceptable way. None of the representatives who answer the phone have knowledge about immigration policies, and they can not provide any information but repeating the online case status to us. If this service is not useful to the public, BCIS should consider automating the customer service, allowing applicants fill a request form online and submit to service centers. However, we strongly request BCIS restore the previous services or at least expand the online case status to more details. Applicants and their legal representatives should have the right to obtain case status information if the case has been delayed longer than normal processing time.
