The ombudsman's office acknowledged receipt of my e-mail...good start although the message looked generic as hell.
Below is a copy.
RE: Stagnation at Memphis DO
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:14:17 -0400
From: "cisombudsman" <Cisombudsman@dhs.gov> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: "yours truly" <xxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com>
Dear Mr. Xxxxxx,
Thank you very much for your e-mail to the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman).
Your e-mail was forwarded to the appropriate officials within this office for review and action. Thank you very much for your comments.
The office of the CIS Ombudsman is charged with assisting individuals who experience specific problems during the immigration benefits seeking process with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Additionally, the CIS Ombudsman is dedicated to identifying systemic problems in the immigration benefits process, and to recommending solutions to USCIS.
We trust that this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact our office again if you feel that your application encounters difficulties. We may be of assistance in this case if the particular case problem falls within our jurisdiction and our statutory mandate.
Sincerely,
CIS Ombudsman’s office
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: yours truly [mailto:Xxxxxx@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 8:17 PM
To: cisombudsman
Subject: Stagnation at Memphis DO
Dear Sir,
Having read the USCIS Director's report and claims he made to the effect that the USCIS is on course to achieve a six-month cycle on AOS applications, I would like to bring your attention to the stagnation on AOS applications at the Memphis office.
I applied for an AOS in February 2006 and I'm yet to receive an interview letter.
The last update posted on the USCIS website revealed that Memphis was processing cases with receipt date of August 2005. Of course processing dates posted for local offices are almost always erroneous. An embarrassing situation occurred when last two months the Memphis DO had processing times of February 2006, USCIS reposted it a few days later as February 2005. Are these inefficiencies really acceptable? Coincidentally, the processing dates jumped to August 2005 the following month.
One school of thought asserts that USCIS intentionally publishes processing times which are well of the actual processing times to prevent complaints.
I live in Nashville, Tn which is 3 hours from Memphis. The last time I booked an infopass, I was told my case is still at the MSC. I explained the distance issue to the officer and she advised that I call the National customer center anytime I have a question and ask to be directed to the Memphis office. I did that only to be told by the representative on the phone that she's not allowed to do that. Why am I being given conflicting information?
I would be more than grateful if you would find out the reason for the delays in Memphis and or the actual processing dates on AOS applications based on marriage to a US citizen. I would also like to commend you for the work you do and your factual representation of events on the ground in your last report to congress. Thank you.
XXXXXX
Nashville, TN