from fragomen website
04/08/2002 - INS Intensifies Background Checks
April 8, 2002 – The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has advised that "appropriate background checks" are now being performed on all applications and petitions currently pending at Service Centers and District offices. Generally, name checks will be performed utilizing IBIS, the Interagency Border Inspection System. IBIS is a multi-agency database of lookout information started in 1989 to improve border enforcement and facilitate inspection of individuals applying for admission to the United States. More extensive background checks utilizing other databases and resources may take place if INS personnel believe that they are warranted. Most of the initial focus will be on changes of nonimmigrant status applications filed on Form I-539 and I-129 Petitions for Nonimmigrant Workers.
While the additional background checks may cause some delays, they are not expected to severely affect processing times for most applications and petitions, and cases filed for "premium processing" should continue to be adjudicated within the guaranteed fifteen business day time period. INS has advised, however, that all parties listed on INS applications and petitions should list their full names, including full middle names on documents, and that not doing so could result in significant processing delays and possibly requests for evidence (RFEs).
In addition to the background checks, individuals entering the United States have been subjected to more arduous questioning by immigration inspections officers upon entry to the United States. Immigration inspectors and officers have been stripped of much of the discretion that they previously had to admit foreign nationals whose documentation was not fully in order.
INS has been increasingly security-minded since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The stepped-up efforts, however, come on the heals of embarrassing reports about the posthumous notices of approval of changes of status sent in regard to two of the foreign nationals involved in the terrorist hijackings. INS was further placed on the defensive by reports about the disappearance of four foreign national crewman from a vessel in Norfolk, Virginia