Edited version
Open for review and feedback. Added vvvunlucky's point in as well. The doc has tracking changes turned on if you want to look at the changes.
Please note that this is only the body of the letter - header footer part still need to be done...
Dear Mr. Khatri,
First of all, thank you for providing this opportunity to write our concerns in our I-485 processing standards adopted by the USCIS service centers.
We are group of applicants who have filed our employment based I-485 applications at least 3-4 years ago, and have our name check cleared , biometrics that are current and with current priority dates.
As some of us have mentioned in your past two teleconferences, there is still a trend of new applications being approved immediately and the older applications just ignored with no action taken on them. This is apparent from our monitoring I-485 applications of our colleagues, who applied along with us through the the same attorneys, as well as by monitoring various immigration groups . It very apparent that USCIS does not process I-485 applications based on a First In First Out (FIFO) basis and we would like this escalate this issue to you because we don’t have any hope that our applications will be processed in the near future.
When we have raised this issue with USCIS officials, their response has always been a standard “each application is different”. While we understand that every application is different, we feel that we are unjustly punished for no fault of ours since USCIS is processing applications in a very random order. We are attaching a list of our pending application details that clearly show that:
• Our priority date is current
• Our name check is cleared
• Our biometrics are current
• There is no RFE response pending from our side
• The processing date in the USCIS site is at least 1 year ahead of us
USCIS Immigration officers have acknowledged that our cases are just pending, waiting to be assigned to an Immigration Officer. But this “assignment” has not happened in our cases, and we don’t see that changing in the near future. At the same time, we have seen numerous newly filed I-485 applications being approved within 2-3 months of their receipt date. If you like, we can compile a list of numerous applications which have been applied in May / June 2007 that were approved this August.
This is a very big issue since older applicants like us are being penalized by fear of retrogression, expiring fingerprints, and multiple rounds of name check. Besides undergoing emotional and mental trauma while awaiting a decision on our cases, we also suffer monetarily by having to file EADs and APs every 8 months, not being able to work if the EAD is not approved in a timely manner, and have to get our drivers licenses each time our EAD is renewed. We also have to miss out on career advancement opportunities like promotions and significant raises while our application is pending, not to mention higher mortgage interest rates for those of us who are brave enough to consider buying a house to live in.
As you mentioned in your annual report, we still see the trend of the Immigration officers processing the low hanging fruits including the recent applications rather than spending time in our applications which we assume would be at the bottom of the pile due to this long delay.
We appreciate your taking time to look into this lack of processing standards at USCIS which is affecting many applicants like us who have been waiting and suffering for long time. Our sincere request is for your help in getting USCIS to process applications as they are supposed to - on a FIFO basis (assuming all the 5 points mentioned above in this letter are cleared including name check).
We have collected details from older applicants in the following format, to give you a sense of how long some of us have been waiting.
EB Type:
485 Receipt date:
Priority date:
Country of Origin:
Service Center:
There are over XX details we have attached for your perusal. We thank you for your kind attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Group I-485 applicants whose applications have not been processed due to the fact that the FIFO is not working.