How many April 02 filers still around?

[Milko_Djurovski]

This is my belief: All old cases from 2001 and early 2002 should be processed first, whether the applicant likes it or not, wants it or not. Within this class, all non-current cases should be processed first and then start the con-current cases. In the same spirit, when all these cases are done, then they can start the implementation of memos, i.e. Concurrent adjudication of 140 and 485. This is for FAIRNESS, because as a government agency they should follow ethical norms and american values.

I agree and the prioritization of cases and why some November 2002 cases get approved and some 2001 cases are not getting touched, those "cycles" of processing order, will need to be questionned in the discovery process or in general.

Now to the money and the policies and politics: Some people want their GCs for a lot of reasons (same holds for companies) as soon as possible;i.e. follow the congressional belief of six months. You have the right to wait for years and give USCIS credit for a lot of innovative ideas and backlog reduction initiatives. Not me, not for a moment because even if tomorrow they provide a solution, it is alrady TOO LATE!

I understand this viewpoint, however, I am inclined to think differently. Any effort would be too late for us. I think my expectations of CIS are just more realistic, and that is, government nor congress nor any other legislative or executive body itself cannot invoke changes in some parts and agencies. What makes us think that a bunch of prospective immigrants can? It is a tough task Rajiv & co. have undertaken, regardless of that the effort is valid and just. I expect some improvement to occur and even current faster processing is a plus for me. Would I have liked to have gotten by green card in 6 months time? Sure, but it did not happen and that cannot be changed, so in broader terms, looking towards the future, rather than dwelling on the past or even present. But you are right and you and I and everyone else do have a right to be angry because we were wronged, clearly.

The ICE and enforcement get a hundred times more budget and they are failing again, but this is not my problem, even though I can express my opinion. Look at the illegals, the border, the people being deported, etc.

And this exposes one essential truth about USA and its borders and immigration: this country is so huge that it will never be possible to plug all the holes. It's impossible. ICE is just an attempt to further reorganize and I think that they realize that true 100% preventive measures are impossible, so they have increased some punishments and introduced tougher measures to try to combat these problems.

Good manager or not: We are trying to show that money is not the only problem. The fee increase may provide additional money for the 2006 milestone. I can tell you is was the Import/Export Bank chief, he is a Bush family friend from the last 15 years or so, he is good in manipulating numbers and algorithms and the Import/Export BAnk had a great deal of outsourcing business (China). Not an immigration guy. On one Indian meeting he would not tell what the I-485 application is!

I will not get into a political discussion or even mention any higher officials here; suffice it to say that I don't know if immigration is a political issue, it is one of those issues dems and republicans will play according to the current public mood and I am not sure that it would have been better if Democrats were in power all this time.

Worthy causes: The money does not go over to another agency. That is not how the Government works or does not; it rolls over to the next fiscal year where it may or may not be used. The same holds for the Immigration numbers: The Backlogs nullified the INA mandate for both the Family and Employment based numbers for the last years. So you can think outside the box now, not just what the average immigration lawyer says. Not to mention the unsed numbers of Family that go into the Employment based category. You did not hear about that, did you?

Further more I do not think they are improving the Immigration for the future immigrants, not a bit: They are just using the 1996 harsh provisions to deport a lot of innocent people, they deny applications at the max, etc. where is the improvement? Ashcroft being the most popular name in Federal courts and almost never appearing in front of one?

There is a lot involved but this is already long.

OK, well, if there was money to be used, perhaps it couldn't have been used for resourcing, I mean, even I cannot play the devil's advocate here. If there truly was available money, then not expanding the resource base is a terrible mistake. I do believe that the backlogs certainly had a negative effect in nullyfying those numbers, but, if you look at it that way, then maybe another obvious target is the lottery, even though it does not pull from the same buckets, right, and certainly does not have the same impact.

I will again not comment against Ashcroft or try to sound like Michael Moore, but I will say that the perception is that the some recent events in American history were used to further other agendas and the Patriot Act is certainly a prime and glaring example. But, if you look at any other developed country, free-for-all immigration is simply not an option. The more popular the country, the tighther measures you need to have. As they say, you have to take the good with the bad.

 

[LIBDAY]

My point is that I refuse to adopt a negative attitude about this (CIS actions and plans) right away and I will give these guys a chance to improve, of course under constant scrutiny. The reasons of how the CIS will change for the better are not all that important, the important fact is that it changes permanently and enables a better, safer and faster immigration processing for future immigrants. This is coming from a guy waiting for 25 months now, so I think I can speak fairly objectively. Sorry for the long response...

Milko,

Hats off to you for your higher than ususal tolerance level and your ultruistic attitude. I, however, a 27 month veteran, just don't see how CIS can improve under so-called "constant scrutiny". Maybe you can illuminate us on who will scrutinize the CIS and where the checks and balance will come so that we take carry on with this ordeal? To begin with, let's get some transparency. It should not be that hard for the CIS to publish more details of case status. I have a feeling that some adjudicators simply sit on cases for months without doing anything and get away with it. That explains why there are still so many late 2001 and early 2002 filers still waiting, while some more diligent officers keep ploughing throught more recent cases. Where is the scrutiny?

 

[Milko_Djurovski]

Milko,

Hats off to you for your higher than ususal tolerance level and your ultruistic attitude. I, however, a 27 month veteran, just don't see how CIS can improve under so-called "constant scrutiny". Maybe you can illuminate us on who will scrutinize the CIS and where the checks and balance will come so that we take carry on with this ordeal? To begin with, let's get some transparency. It should not be that hard for the CIS to publish more details of case status. I have a feeling that some adjudicators simply sit on cases for months without doing anything and get away with it. That explains why there are still so many late 2001 and early 2002 filers still waiting, while some more diligent officers keep ploughing throught more recent cases. Where is the scrutiny?

Thank you, although there is no need for the hats off, perhaps to all of us, but not me, we are all in the same boat, more or less. I agree 100% on more details in the case status, I even suggested this in a similar discussion a month or so back, that would cut down on the calls and letters and faxes considerably, and give us a little more insight. I would not say that it depends solely on the work effort of the adjudicator, although everything is possible, in that case, that would certainly be a reason to make some changes in the resourcing of the agency.

By scrutiny, I really meant public and legal pressure, now they (DHS and CIS) understand that the community is well organized and ready to undertake legal measures, which is a move forward. With better economic times ahead, this might become a public issue and then there would be even more pressure on them to improve. Another measure of scrutiny could be the judge putting USCIS on a soprt of probation and saying, you have to reach this goal by this time, and then the case is evaluated again.

Have a good weekend...