got it from my attorney,
texas law bar immigration meeting 10/29/04:
TSC Report, Evelyn Upchurch and Ninfa Luna: The good news to report is that the A76 study on
outsourcing of immigration information officers has been cancelled. The filing of I-129's
requesting Premium Processing has almost doubled. Since reaching the I-129 cap we can no
longer e-file any H1B cases.
The Kentucky Consular Center has been receiving all of their nonimmigrant approvals for the
last several months. TSC staff were able to visit the KCC about a month ago and have not found
any complaints by attorneys for the processing of NIVs.
Currently, I-130s and I-129Fs are being sent to California Service Center. Consular returns are
going straight to CSC as well. Practitioners note, if you receive an RFE from CSC, send it back
to CSC. If the RFE is sent from TSC, then send it back to TSC. If the I-130 was transferred to
the CSC, then you should follow the processing dates for the CSC to determine when to expect
an adjudication of your I-130. Because of the I-130 and I-129F shift to CSC, they are realigning
the work load with other application types. I-539s are moving really quickly, I-140 and I-485
(employment based) are moving forward as well. Generally, practitioners can expect a first in
first out system of adjudication, but sometimes the security checks take longer on a particular
case that would hold up other cases. Instead of holding the cases, they are moving the cases
forward that are ready to be completed. More cases are being shipped to the District Offices for
interview because they are moving on the I-485s. In those cases, the District Office does the
final adjudication. When a case is sent to District, the reason or issue that needs to be
investigated is sent along with the file.
TSC is moving forward on I-751 adjudication because of the void in the I-130 processing. Case
Status Online is not real helpful for I-751 purposes because they are tracked in a different system
than other applications. The reason for the shifting of the I-130 work to the CSC is that it is
easier to move the work than the people. They are using this reallocation of resources to work
toward the processing goal of 6 months and anticipate meeting this goal provided there is no new
legislation that changes their allocation of resources. In addition, the are doing staffing studies to
determine the appropriate size of staff for the office based on the current workload. The shift of
I-130s to CSC will continue until further notice. The TSC processing date for I-130s is not
moving because they are finishing up those I-130s that were started by TSC. If TSC started the
adjudication, then TSC will finish it. The I-129F’s are not moving on processing date for the
same residual clean up of old cases started by TSC.
With respect to background and security checks. Fingerprints can have a response in a day,
however name check are unpredictable. An attorney should not do an inquiry based on the
waiting for a result on a name check for at least 6 months, and then each month thereafter. The
inquiry should be sent to the appropriate email address for natz or adjudications. An expedite on
a name check can only be done in very limited circumstances such as: removal proceedings,
diversity visa, military, or age out.
texas law bar immigration meeting 10/29/04:
TSC Report, Evelyn Upchurch and Ninfa Luna: The good news to report is that the A76 study on
outsourcing of immigration information officers has been cancelled. The filing of I-129's
requesting Premium Processing has almost doubled. Since reaching the I-129 cap we can no
longer e-file any H1B cases.
The Kentucky Consular Center has been receiving all of their nonimmigrant approvals for the
last several months. TSC staff were able to visit the KCC about a month ago and have not found
any complaints by attorneys for the processing of NIVs.
Currently, I-130s and I-129Fs are being sent to California Service Center. Consular returns are
going straight to CSC as well. Practitioners note, if you receive an RFE from CSC, send it back
to CSC. If the RFE is sent from TSC, then send it back to TSC. If the I-130 was transferred to
the CSC, then you should follow the processing dates for the CSC to determine when to expect
an adjudication of your I-130. Because of the I-130 and I-129F shift to CSC, they are realigning
the work load with other application types. I-539s are moving really quickly, I-140 and I-485
(employment based) are moving forward as well. Generally, practitioners can expect a first in
first out system of adjudication, but sometimes the security checks take longer on a particular
case that would hold up other cases. Instead of holding the cases, they are moving the cases
forward that are ready to be completed. More cases are being shipped to the District Offices for
interview because they are moving on the I-485s. In those cases, the District Office does the
final adjudication. When a case is sent to District, the reason or issue that needs to be
investigated is sent along with the file.
TSC is moving forward on I-751 adjudication because of the void in the I-130 processing. Case
Status Online is not real helpful for I-751 purposes because they are tracked in a different system
than other applications. The reason for the shifting of the I-130 work to the CSC is that it is
easier to move the work than the people. They are using this reallocation of resources to work
toward the processing goal of 6 months and anticipate meeting this goal provided there is no new
legislation that changes their allocation of resources. In addition, the are doing staffing studies to
determine the appropriate size of staff for the office based on the current workload. The shift of
I-130s to CSC will continue until further notice. The TSC processing date for I-130s is not
moving because they are finishing up those I-130s that were started by TSC. If TSC started the
adjudication, then TSC will finish it. The I-129F’s are not moving on processing date for the
same residual clean up of old cases started by TSC.
With respect to background and security checks. Fingerprints can have a response in a day,
however name check are unpredictable. An attorney should not do an inquiry based on the
waiting for a result on a name check for at least 6 months, and then each month thereafter. The
inquiry should be sent to the appropriate email address for natz or adjudications. An expedite on
a name check can only be done in very limited circumstances such as: removal proceedings,
diversity visa, military, or age out.