The GAO submitted a report on January 5, 2004 disclosing its finding on sources of problem to resolve the current backlogs and to achieve the President's 6-month processing plan. The report indicates that the fee funds are insufficent to meet the cost of operation of the USCIS. However, currently the USCIS has no information as to how much fund is necessary to meet its operation cost and to reduce the backlogs. Accordingly, unless the USCIS is required by the Congress to study and determine the required funds for its operation and for the backlog reduction, it may see further backlog in the future, damaging the President's commitment to reduction of processing times to six months. Readers are encouraged to read this 53 pdf-page report to understand the GAO view of the sources of problem relating to the backlog.
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GAO Report to Congress of 01/05/2004 Urges USCIS to Study Required Operation Funds t
- Thread starter lcauser
- Start date
Source is:
http://www.immigration-law.com/Canada.html
... but it seems to have been deleted !?
and GAO report is:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04309r.pdf
http://www.immigration-law.com/Canada.html
... but it seems to have been deleted !?
and GAO report is:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04309r.pdf
Last edited by a moderator:
(Originally posted by kashmir at The Complaint thread)
Immigration Application Fees: Current Fees Are Not Sufficient to Fund USCIS' Operation
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04309r.pdf
Results in Brief
We determined that fees were not sufficient to fully fund CIS's operation.
...
In addition, CIS has not performed an analysis of the steps needed to reduce prcessing times to the 6-month average goal ...
...
Absent actions to increase fees, reduce processing costs and times, or both, as well as to improve the timeliness and completeness of fee schedule updates, ...
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
We obtained oral comments on a draft of our briefing slides from DHS and CIS officials. They generally agreed with our conclusions and recommendations.
...
(my comment)
GAO report clearly mentions that CIS has not taken any actions needed to eliminate the backlog and that DHS and CIS officials agreed.
Immigration Application Fees: Current Fees Are Not Sufficient to Fund USCIS' Operation
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04309r.pdf
Results in Brief
We determined that fees were not sufficient to fully fund CIS's operation.
...
In addition, CIS has not performed an analysis of the steps needed to reduce prcessing times to the 6-month average goal ...
...
Absent actions to increase fees, reduce processing costs and times, or both, as well as to improve the timeliness and completeness of fee schedule updates, ...
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
We obtained oral comments on a draft of our briefing slides from DHS and CIS officials. They generally agreed with our conclusions and recommendations.
...
(my comment)
GAO report clearly mentions that CIS has not taken any actions needed to eliminate the backlog and that DHS and CIS officials agreed.
Last edited by a moderator:
CIS Backlog Elimination Plan
GAO-04-309R describes:
Can we get it ?
GAO-04-309R describes:
- In response to the President's initiative, CIS established a Backlog Elimination Plan that was issued in March 2002.
The plan is currently being revised.
(Page 21) - CIS officials told us they recently revised this fee increase proposal, which was approved by DHS and submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in October 2003.
(Page 22) - CIS officials told us that in August 2003, DHS approved CIS's proposal for a system to track application status, which is expected to be deployed in 2006.
(Page 29) - According to CIS officials, CIS revised this proposal to better capture efficiencies in the IBIS check process, actual costs incurred to date, and projected future costs. This revised proposal was approved by DHS and submitted to OMB in October 2003.
(Page 35) - In its March 2002 Backlog Elimination Plan, CIS estimated that it would need to hire over 1,500 additional staff to meet the backlog reduction milestones and achieve the processing time goals by the end of fiscal year 2003. ...
(Page 38) - CIS told us it is revising its March 2003 Backlog Elimination Plan to include resources needed to eliminate the backlog and achieve an average processing time of 6 months per application. HSA requires this revised plan to be completed by November 26, 2003.
(Page 41)
Can we get it ?
jamaican_man
Registered Users (C)
This would be illegal if it wasn't the government doing it.
Imagine you pay a landscaper a fee to do your garden. Later
you find your garden is not done and the landscaper says he
spent your fee because he had to divert resources to someone
elses Garden.
When they say I-485 is lower priority and TPS, El Savador,
religious workers have to get priority, this means that the I485
fees that are collected from us are used to fund these other
areas.
I had to pay an extra $1000 for 245i what did that get me?
This should be an major part of the lawsuit since the government
is collecting a fee and not using that fee to provide the person
with any service at all.
Just my two cents
Imagine you pay a landscaper a fee to do your garden. Later
you find your garden is not done and the landscaper says he
spent your fee because he had to divert resources to someone
elses Garden.
When they say I-485 is lower priority and TPS, El Savador,
religious workers have to get priority, this means that the I485
fees that are collected from us are used to fund these other
areas.
I had to pay an extra $1000 for 245i what did that get me?
This should be an major part of the lawsuit since the government
is collecting a fee and not using that fee to provide the person
with any service at all.
Just my two cents
Last edited by a moderator:
tallbonobo
Registered Users (C)
AP story on GAO report
At least that Sensenbrenner guy seems to care for some reason...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm.../ap/20040109/ap_on_go_co/immigrant_benefits_2
GAO: Immigrant Benefits Backlog Surges
Thu Jan 8,11:42 PM ET Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo!
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The backlog of immigrants awaiting decisions on applications for benefits continues to grow rapidly even though lawmakers approved more money to address the problem, according to a congressional investigation released Thursday.
There were 6.2 million applications pending at the end of September, a 59 percent increase from the 3.9 million awaiting action two years earlier, according to the General Accounting Office (news - web sites), the investigative arm of Congress. The applications are for legal immigrants wanting to become citizens, permanent residents or seeking other benefits.
The increase came despite $160 million set aside during the last two years to chip away at the backlog.
The findings drew criticism from a spokesman for House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
"These figures are completely unacceptable," Jeff Lungren said. "While Congress was funneling money to reduce the backlog, the backlog increased by 2.3 million cases. The people patiently waiting in line, paying their fees, deserve timely adjudication of their cases. The performance needs to improve."
The Customs and Immigration Services bureau within the Homeland Security Department is one of three bureaus that last year replaced the oft-criticized Immigration and Naturalization Service. The agency, headed by Eduardo Aguirre Jr., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The GAO report was released the day after President Bush (news - web sites) proposed a temporary worker program that would be open to illegal workers and foreigners overseas. The proposal could potentially add to the backlog if the agency processes applications for the program.
Bush has pledged to cut the application processing times to an average of six months or less. But Customs and Immigration Services hasn't figured out what needs to be done to achieve that, the GAO report said. Processing now can take several years or a few months, depending on the type of benefit sought and where the application is being handled.
The report also determined that the fees collected by Customs and Immigration Services are not enough to cover the costs of processing the applications.
Congressional investigators noted processing costs have increased for several reasons, including expanded security checks on applicants. They said they were unable to determine how much fees should be increased to cover the costs because the agency doesn't know how much more work is needed on each application and the cost of each step in the process.
"The effect is CIS knows neither the cost to process new applications nor the cost to complete pending applications," the report said.
The GAO recommended Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge direct Customs and Immigration Services to determine what needs to be done to reach Bush's six-month goal, do a comprehensive fee study and determine the costs of eliminating the backlog.
Also, the report said the agency should look for ways to improve the timeliness of fee increases to ensure they cover all costs.
___
At least that Sensenbrenner guy seems to care for some reason...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm.../ap/20040109/ap_on_go_co/immigrant_benefits_2
GAO: Immigrant Benefits Backlog Surges
Thu Jan 8,11:42 PM ET Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo!
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The backlog of immigrants awaiting decisions on applications for benefits continues to grow rapidly even though lawmakers approved more money to address the problem, according to a congressional investigation released Thursday.
There were 6.2 million applications pending at the end of September, a 59 percent increase from the 3.9 million awaiting action two years earlier, according to the General Accounting Office (news - web sites), the investigative arm of Congress. The applications are for legal immigrants wanting to become citizens, permanent residents or seeking other benefits.
The increase came despite $160 million set aside during the last two years to chip away at the backlog.
The findings drew criticism from a spokesman for House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
"These figures are completely unacceptable," Jeff Lungren said. "While Congress was funneling money to reduce the backlog, the backlog increased by 2.3 million cases. The people patiently waiting in line, paying their fees, deserve timely adjudication of their cases. The performance needs to improve."
The Customs and Immigration Services bureau within the Homeland Security Department is one of three bureaus that last year replaced the oft-criticized Immigration and Naturalization Service. The agency, headed by Eduardo Aguirre Jr., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The GAO report was released the day after President Bush (news - web sites) proposed a temporary worker program that would be open to illegal workers and foreigners overseas. The proposal could potentially add to the backlog if the agency processes applications for the program.
Bush has pledged to cut the application processing times to an average of six months or less. But Customs and Immigration Services hasn't figured out what needs to be done to achieve that, the GAO report said. Processing now can take several years or a few months, depending on the type of benefit sought and where the application is being handled.
The report also determined that the fees collected by Customs and Immigration Services are not enough to cover the costs of processing the applications.
Congressional investigators noted processing costs have increased for several reasons, including expanded security checks on applicants. They said they were unable to determine how much fees should be increased to cover the costs because the agency doesn't know how much more work is needed on each application and the cost of each step in the process.
"The effect is CIS knows neither the cost to process new applications nor the cost to complete pending applications," the report said.
The GAO recommended Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge direct Customs and Immigration Services to determine what needs to be done to reach Bush's six-month goal, do a comprehensive fee study and determine the costs of eliminating the backlog.
Also, the report said the agency should look for ways to improve the timeliness of fee increases to ensure they cover all costs.
___
140_takes_4ever
Registered Users (C)
Sounds pretty much like Social Security to me!
Take money from the next generation to pay for the previous one, in this case, take our money for various other schemes and now use the new filing money to pay for our 485's.
I don't see how they can raise the fees for our application, considering we have already paid through our nose. They might increase EAD/AP fees though, so that is where they can still milk us. Hopefully Rajiv Khanna's lawsuit will save us from that misery!
Take money from the next generation to pay for the previous one, in this case, take our money for various other schemes and now use the new filing money to pay for our 485's.
I don't see how they can raise the fees for our application, considering we have already paid through our nose. They might increase EAD/AP fees though, so that is where they can still milk us. Hopefully Rajiv Khanna's lawsuit will save us from that misery!
prakash12322
Registered Users (C)
Ask them to do the following
Go thru the files properly -
Like don't send RFE for 2nd AP's/EAD's - Asking Marriage cert... etc... They already have the document when we applied for the first time!!!
Why send sencond FP???
Why ask stupid questions in RFE?
Why send default RFE's like pay stub, W2's, Evl to all??? If it is their mistake of not approving in a timely manner they should approve accept the mistake and APPROVE all cases that had taken more than 1.5 years!!!! NO RFE's nothing... This is a inappropriate use of resourse....
Go thru the files properly -
Like don't send RFE for 2nd AP's/EAD's - Asking Marriage cert... etc... They already have the document when we applied for the first time!!!
Why send sencond FP???
Why ask stupid questions in RFE?
Why send default RFE's like pay stub, W2's, Evl to all??? If it is their mistake of not approving in a timely manner they should approve accept the mistake and APPROVE all cases that had taken more than 1.5 years!!!! NO RFE's nothing... This is a inappropriate use of resourse....
Re: Ask them to do the following
Also, USCIS should approve any case once it's been pending for 6 months (or 1 year at longest rather than 1.5 year).
I strongly agree (except 2nd FP).Originally posted by prakash12322
Go thru the files properly -
Like don't send RFE for 2nd AP's/EAD's - Asking Marriage cert... etc... They already have the document when we applied for the first time!!!
Why send sencond FP???
Why ask stupid questions in RFE?
Why send default RFE's like pay stub, W2's, Evl to all??? If it is their mistake of not approving in a timely manner they should approve accept the mistake and APPROVE all cases that had taken more than 1.5 years!!!! NO RFE's nothing... This is a inappropriate use of resourse....
Also, USCIS should approve any case once it's been pending for 6 months (or 1 year at longest rather than 1.5 year).