Updated 12/12/2002: INS HQ Explains 485 Adjudication Halt
According to the INS explanation, it is not likely that the immigrant community will suffer the kind of blow and mess that was caused by the CIA clearance delays a few years back which created a huge backlog. According to the INS, the current halt is created by the FBI clearance delays. Reportedly, part of the FBI clearance delays have been resolved, but the INS adjudicators have yet to see the results. It is hoped that the adjudication process of the INS is not seriously affected by other agencies' problems. Whether it is CIA or FBI, the government is the government.
There is one question which the President may have to clarify to the immigrant community. He announced the so-called 5-year immigration adjudication processing delay reduction plan, proposing to allocate $100 million for each year to reduce the proessing times of all immigration cases to 6-month. This plan has to be completed by FY 2004. Well, FY 2004 is inching away. For the first one year, his proposal indeed affected the processing times. Remember people? Natualization application processing times was one time reduced to 6 or 8 months and 485 application processing times was reduced to even 10 months or less depending on which INS field offices you looked at. Now IBIS check, Special Registration, NSEERS, etc. etc. are probably turning everything upside down. The question is: Is his 5-year reduction plan still alive or scrapped? Allocation of $100 million a year is a lot of taxpayers' money, especially in this kind of the nose-down economy and extremely belt-tightening government budget.
According to the INS explanation, it is not likely that the immigrant community will suffer the kind of blow and mess that was caused by the CIA clearance delays a few years back which created a huge backlog. According to the INS, the current halt is created by the FBI clearance delays. Reportedly, part of the FBI clearance delays have been resolved, but the INS adjudicators have yet to see the results. It is hoped that the adjudication process of the INS is not seriously affected by other agencies' problems. Whether it is CIA or FBI, the government is the government.
There is one question which the President may have to clarify to the immigrant community. He announced the so-called 5-year immigration adjudication processing delay reduction plan, proposing to allocate $100 million for each year to reduce the proessing times of all immigration cases to 6-month. This plan has to be completed by FY 2004. Well, FY 2004 is inching away. For the first one year, his proposal indeed affected the processing times. Remember people? Natualization application processing times was one time reduced to 6 or 8 months and 485 application processing times was reduced to even 10 months or less depending on which INS field offices you looked at. Now IBIS check, Special Registration, NSEERS, etc. etc. are probably turning everything upside down. The question is: Is his 5-year reduction plan still alive or scrapped? Allocation of $100 million a year is a lot of taxpayers' money, especially in this kind of the nose-down economy and extremely belt-tightening government budget.