Project Ocean - supporting thread - Information about Budget, Acts, ...

Mandamus Actions: Make the Government Work for You!

(originally posted at the VSC forum by kash777)

backlog delay sued BCIS and got approved case thru marriage, good example

From newsletter Carl Shusterman ,immigration attorney dated 10.11.2003 :

6. Mandamus Actions: Make the Government Work for You!
What are the most popular pages on our web site?

The government processing times!

This is no surprise since it takes the government over two years to process an
application for adjustment of status, and over six months to process a simple
H-1B petition.

Recently, we were retained to represent a young woman who had obtained
conditional permanent residence through her marriage to a U.S. citizen. The
marriage failed to last two years beyond the date that she adjusted her status.

She submitted an application (I-751) to remove the two-year condition on her
green card and to waive the joint petition requirement. She waited three years
for the INS to process her application. Then she moved to Los Angeles, and was
told that her application would go to the back of the line, and she would have
to wait another three years!

She did not think this was fair, and neither did I. One of our attorneys made
an inquiry on her behalf, and received the same answer: three more years.

We wrote two certified letters to the government requesting an immediate
interview for our client. Then we went to the Federal Court and asked for a
"Writ of Mandamus" to require the government to make a decision on her
application.

After filing our law suit, we received a call from the U.S. Attorneys Office.
The U.S. Attorneys represent the Department of Homeland Security and other
federal agencies in court.

The Assistant U.S. Attorney informed us that we would be hearing from the
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) shortly.

The very next day, we received an appointment letter from the CIS scheduling an
interview for our client. We appeared with her at her interview, and the I-751
was approved on the same date. Our client is delighted and so are we. We are
now applying for naturalization on her behalf.

What is a Writ of Mandamus? It compels the government to perform a duty owed
to you. If you submitted an application for an immigration benefit, if it is
beyond the normal processing time, if you have made written inquiries about
your application, and the government has not responded, requesting a Writ of
Mandamus in Federal Court will get their attention. Trust me.

Unfortunately, many immigrants are afraid that the Immigration Service will
deny their applications in retribution if they ask for a Writ of Mandamus. All
I can say that after practicing immigration law for over 25 years, both for the
INS and in private practice, I have never seen this happen.

Some attorneys are afraid to go to Federal Court and sue the Immigration
Service.

Fortunately, the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) has published an
excellent Practice Advisory regarding how to file a mandamus action in Federal
Court which cites the relevant statutes and case law.
 
U.S. Goverment

Executive Branch
The power of the executive branch is vested in the President, who also serves as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The President appoints the Cabinet and oversees the various agencies and departments of the federal government.
The White House
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services

Legislative Branch
The legislative branch of the federal government consists of the Congress, which is divided into two chambers -- the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each member of Congress is elected by the people of his or her state. The House of Representatives, with membership based on state populations, has 435 seats, while the Senate, with two members from each state, has 100 seats. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for two-year terms, and Senators are elected for six-year terms.
The House of Representatives
The Senate

Judicial Branch
The judicial branch hears cases that challenge or require interpretation of the legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. It consists of the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. Appointees to the federal bench serve for life or until they voluntarily resign or retire.
The Supreme Court is the most visible of all the federal courts. The number of Justices is determined by Congress rather than the Constitution, and since 1869, the Court has been composed of one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
The United States Supreme Court
The U.S. Federal Courts
 
second fingerprint notice and full adjudication

According to gc0299's thread,
many people received 2nd FP notice recently.

It was mentioned in the minutes of CSC/NAFSA Liaison Meeting, September 18, 2003 as Tasse originally posted:
question by NAFSA
Many people with pending I-485 applications at CSC had their prints taken more than 15 months ago. In light of the fact that the print is only valid for 15 months, would you like a list of those individuals with expired prints so that they may be sent another print notice? We can also provide you with the date that the print was taken at an ASC.
answer by CSC
We are well aware of expiring fingerprints. We will begin full adjudication of the I-485's in October. We have been promised additional resources. Mid September we will run a report which will give us all the expired prints as well as the ones that are still current. With that information we will have the contractor schedule people for fingerprints. If it is discovered at the time that the officer adjudicates the case, he/she will schedule and if needed issue an RFE at the same time. Everyone should be advised to pay close attention to these notices and follow the instructions closely. No additional fee will be requested except for those applicants who have now turned 14 and need to be printed.
Click to expand...
This minutes also mentioned:
the CSC began full adjudication of the I-485's in October and the CSC had been promised additional resources (by whom?).

According to the Project Kashmir,
the CSC is adjudicating 100 cases per week (400 cases per month) in October,
and this pace almost equals to ones in the last six months.
I believe this slow pace is "full adjudication" that the CSC promised in the minutes.
(originally posted at Silly Man's "Oct 17nth" thread)

Again, we definitely need (at least) 15 adjudicators dedicated to EB I-485 cases at the CSC,
and these officers will not be allocated automatically if we are just waiting.
-kashmir
 
 
USCIS - Current Vacancies

(originally posted at Project Ocean subproject thread 2nd December 2003 05:22 PM)

USCIS is now hiring Center Adjudications Officers.
-kashmir

Current Vacancies

DHS Immigration Related Vacancies and Employment Information

If you are interested in immigration-related career opportunities with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), please see the job listings on the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) USAJOBS website. This page will list vacancies for these DHS immigration-related organizations:

* U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
* U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
* U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Read more about Core Immigration related occupations.

...

District Adjudications Officer/Center Adjudications Officer
USCIS is now accepting registrations for the written test for District Adjudications Officer and Center Adjudications Officer positions at the GS-5 and GS-7 grade levels. Positions are available nationwide. The Public Job Notice (announcement), AO-04-01, is open from December 1, 2003 through February 2, 2004. There are two early consideration dates, please see the Public Job Notice for more information. For a copy of the Public Job Notice that contains information on the positions and the registration process, please click here. To go directly to the registration for the written test, please go to the DAO/CAO On-line Application.

Read more about Current Federal Salary Pay Scales.

...
 
USCIS - Core Occupations

Core Occupations

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Adjudications Officer:
Each year hundreds of thousands of people apply for various types of immigration benefits from the United States government. The benefits they seek include permission to import foreign workers, permission for relatives to immigrate and permission to become American citizens. Adjudications Officers determine eligibility for this wide variety of benefits. They review applications and often conduct interviews of the applicants. Adjudications Officers have the dual responsibility of providing courteous service to the public while being alert to the possibility of fraud and misrepresentation and usually perform their duties in an office environment. District Adjudications Officers are located in the offices nationwide and may be called on to provide assistance to Immigration Inspectors. Center Adjudications Officers are located only in the following Service Centers: St. Albans, VT; Lincoln, NE; Irving, TX; and Laguna Niguel, CA. Individuals will be hired at the GS-5 or GS-7 level; progression is to the GS-12 level after successful completion of the preceding grade(s). Competition is required to move above the GS-12 level.

The Adjudicator basic training course is approximately a one month residential program and includes instruction in the following subject areas: Immigration Law, USCIS Adjudication Process and Procedures, Naturalization Process and Procedures, Fraudulent Document Detection, EEO, Sexual Harassment, and Utilization of Immigration Data Base Systems. In order to successfully complete basic training all officers must obtain a score of 70% or better in each of the major areas of study, as well as satisfactorily complete all required Practical Exercises.

Immigration Information Officer (IIO):
Each year hundreds of thousands of people apply for various types of benefits under the Immigration and Nationality law. The IIO provides information about immigration and nationality law and regulations. They assist with information necessary to complete required forms and explain the administrative procedures and normal processing times for each application. These positions are located throughout the country in Districts, Sub offices, and Service Centers. Individuals may be hired at the GS-5 level; progression is to the GS-8 level after successful completion of the preceding grade(s). Competition is required to move to grade levels above GS-8.

The Immigration Information Officer basic training course is approximately a one month residential program and includes instruction in the following subject areas: Immigration Law, Immigration Officer Duties and Responsibilities, Fraudulent Document Detection, Customer Service, EEO, Sexual Harassment, and Utilization of Immigration Data Base Systems. In order to successfully complete basic training all officers must obtain a score of 70% or better in each of the major areas of study.

...

Last Modified 11/05/2003
 
(USCIS) 2003 Salary Tables and Related Information

2003 Salary Tables and Related Information

Salary Table 2003-GS

Code: 
                                 Salary Table 2003-GS
                                 2003 General Schedule
	               INCORPORATING A 3.10% GENERAL INCREASE 

                                Effective January 2003

                             Annual Rates by Grade and Step

GS     1          2         3         4         5        6          7        8        9       10

1     15214     15722     16228     16731     17238     17536     18034    18538    18559    19031
2     17106     17512     18079     18559     18767     19319     19871    20423    20975    21527
3     18664     19286     19908     20530     21152     21774     22396    23018    23640    24262
4     20952     21650     22348     23046     23744     24442     25140    25838    26536    27234
5     23442     24223     25004     25785     26566     27347     28128    28909    29690    30471
6     26130     27001     27872     28743     29614     30485     31356    32227    33098    33969
7     29037     30005     30973     31941     32909     33877     34845    35813    36781    37749
8     32158     33230     34302     35374     36446     37518     38590    39662    40734    41806
9     35519     36703     37887     39071     40255     41439     42623    43807    44991    46175
10    39115     40419     41723     43027     44331     45635     46939    48243    49547    50851
11    42976     44409     45842     47275     48708     50141     51574    53007    54440    55873
12    51508     53225     54942     56659     58376     60093     61810    63527    65244    66961
13    61251     63293     65335     67377     69419     71461     73503    75545    77587    79629
14    72381     74794     77207     79620     82033     84446     86859    89272    91685    94098
15    85140     87978     90816     93654     96492     99330    102168   105006   107844   110682
 
California Service Center (CSC) Updates (11-29-2003)

Lew's Law - Immigration Updates

California Service Center (CSC) Updates (11-29-2003)

I-485 Processing backlog

By mid November 2003, CSC is expected to complete processing the religious worker program cases that had been reviewed prior to September 30, 2003. Currently, ten people are adjudicating adjustment of status cases, however the division has requested that 30 people be assigned to these adjudications.

CSC announced that its goal is to reduce the I-485 backlog to 6 months processing time by November 2004; H-1B change of status processing to 60 days; other I-129s to 120 days; H-1B extension of stay to 150 days, and L-1 to 30 days.

I-140/I-485 Portability filings

CSC announced that the following portability approach in handling concurrent I-140/I-485 cases would be used. Two conditions must be met in order to port these cases:
  1. I-485 must have been pending for 180 days or more; and
  2. I-140 must be approved.
For example, if the I-140 is approved on the 30th day after concurrent filing, then one has to wait 150 days in order to port (because I-485 has already been pending for 30 days before the I-140 was approved). If the I-140 is approved on the 181 day after concurrent filing, then one can port immediately (because the I-485 had been pending for more than 180 days).

Contents Copyright ￾¢í 2000 Jocelyne J. Kim Lew, aplc. All Rights Reserved.
 
Re: California Service Center (CSC) Updates (11-29-2003)

If the CSC would achive the goal, the processing date of I-485 at the CSC as of 11/30/2004 would be 5/31/2004.
Everyone here should get approved within a year !!
The current processing date (as of 11/20/2003) is 12/16/2001.
The CSC must process 29.5 months of I-485 cases for 12 months (= 52 weeks).
The rate should be 29.5 * 3000 / 52 = 1,702 cases per week.
According to Project Kashmir, the current rate is 350 per month = 80 per week.

We should see Don Neufeld's written commitment and the specific plan to achieve the goal, otherwise we can not believe it.
-kashmir
Originally posted by kashmir
Lew's Law - Immigration Updates
California Service Center (CSC) Updates (11-29-2003)
I-485 Processing backlog
...

CSC announced that its goal is to reduce the I-485 backlog to 6 months processing time by November 2004; ...
Click to expand...
 
http://www.immigration-law.com/Canada.html

01/09/2004: Bush Backlog Reduction Agenda, Temporary Worker Plan, Mounting Processing Backlogs, and Mounting Pressure on USCIS
  • Bush's promised 6-month processing time deadline is slowly approaching. Additionally, Bush's announced Temporary Worker Program raises doubt on the Bush's promised reduction of backlogs and processing times. Meanwhile, the BCIS processing backlog runs sky-high in reverse proportion to the Bush's path to the promised land. Sensing the serious state of the situation, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) submitted a report on January 5, 2004 to the Congress describing a terrible increase of processing delays and backlogs and a potential threat of further delays unless the Congress, as the oversight authority, directs the DHS and USCIS to study the funding requirement to deal with the backlog problem. The current ever-mounting backlog appears to be an embarassment to Bush who should keep his promise. For the detailed report of this news, please click here. For the 53-pdf-page GAO report, please click here.
  • Unconfirmed sources indicate that a lawsuite has been filed against the DHS for the mounting backlog of I-485 applications. The I-485 filers currently see no light at the end of tunnel even after two years of filing. Besides, I-140 immigrant worker petitions take much longer than six months. Worse yet, recent BCIS Memorandum stating that the 180-day employment change rule for the I-485 waiters will not be recognized unless the underlying I-140 petition is approved first de facto seriously minimizes and compromises the Congress' legislative intent of the AC 21 Act. The 140 petition adjudication delays create a tremendous hardship for the immigrants who cannot sustain the current employment because of the high unemployment rate and the poor economy. Unless something is done, the I-140 backlog will turn worse within this year as the Labor Department is scheduled to launch a new labor certification system in the late spring this year promising certification of most of the permanent labor certification applications in 21 days. This will flood the I-140 production unit within the USCIS. The H-1B petition and I-539 applications also experience tremendous delays, forcing the U.S. employers to file Premium Processing Request with the payment of $1,000 additional money. The backlog and delays do not end in employment-based proceedings. The family-based immigrant cases are centralized into the National Benefits Center and pending the processing of the green-card application, alien relatives must obtain employment card and travel document. Before the centralization, such EAD card was issued the same day in a large number of district offices and the travel documents had also been issued within a short period of time by the local offices. Now, the EAD and Travel Document issuing authority for the family-based immigration applicants are taken away from the local district offices. The National Benefits Center has been experiencing growing delays in processing and issuing EAD cards and Travel Documents for these applicants, taking months. The sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and parents of the U.S. citizens are home-bound and living in a hell for not being able to work and travel. Without EAD card, one cannot apply for the Social Security card and the Driver License. They are frustrated and depressed. What is going on?
  • Mr. President, you cannot have any immigration reform unless you learn to hear voices from illegal aliens as well as legal aliens who are suffering from the ailing immigration system. Your recently announced temporary worker legalization program can reform the system towards aggravation of the ailing immigration system unless you act swiftly to work out a solution to deal with the continuously mounting backlogs and processing delays which can lead to the disarray and collapse of the nation's immigration system, hurting millions of U.S. citizens and permanent residents and their foreigner relatives, and hurting the U.S. employers that need foreign work forces and the immigrants. We welcomed your temporary worker program announcement despite the serious flaws with the program that focuses on taking advantage of undocumented foreign work forces to fill certain types of works which so-called U.S. workers are reluctant to take because of the hard labor at low wages. Worse yet, these foreign workers are not promised for any permanent resident opportuniteis as a reward for their hard labor. Rather they will be used only for three years putting them in hard labor and in undesirable conditions for three years. After the three years, they will be left in the cold, unless they are lucky enough to hook a U.S. citizen spouse or other immigration opportunities which they should seek on their own. Otherwise, they will have to be kicked out of the country. We want to see an immigration reform that balances the interest of the nation and the interest of the immigrants contributing to the enrichment of the country in sectors including economy, culture, science, arts, defense, etc. You may call such move a compassionate reform. We also want to see an immigration reform with a vision rather than a fragmented reform which may or may not contribute to the improvement of the overall immigration system.
 
1/7/2004 President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program

President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program

Fact Sheet: Fair and Secure Immigration Reform

White House Answers Questions on Fair and Secure Immigration Reform


(Originally posted at tr22's thread 8th January 2004 08:36 AM)

The most important thing on yesterday's President Bush's proposal, I believe, is:
"Immigration" becomes one of major issues.
I had attended 8 town hall meetings of Congresspersons in California last year,
but "Immigration" was never on the agenda.
From now on, we have a chance to discuss about Immigration issues with them, and they can not ignore us.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
http://www.immigration-law.com/Canada.html

01/07/2004: Bush's Immigration Reform Program and Unanswered Questions
  • Even though the announced Bush immigration reform program is far from being perfect, this web site generally welcomes the move. This program, however, seriously neglects to answer one question which has been considered a fundamental flaw in the immigration management system, to wit, immigration backlogs. The current immigration system has already reached the level of backlogs which are admitted by the four corners of the society unacceptable. The President promised years back that the processing time would be reduced to "six months" in five years by pumping in $500 million. Despite the pump-in of money, the record reflects that the processing times have moved in reverse direction. The system is seriously clogged! In the announcement, the President emphasized that the proposed program should not give an unfair advantage to the illegal immigrants over the legal immigrants who have been waiting in a long line of waiting and waiting. The suggestion is admirable that the new immigrant workers should not be pull ahead of other immigrants in the processing queue. Fair enough! What about its impact on the existing backlog, SIR? The President should have answered this question and the proposed immigration reform program should have incorporated this part of reform as the fundamental issue. Since millions of people are expected to benefit from the President's proposal, the President should have worked out the improvement of the immigration system that can accomodate the increasing caseloads of millions on top of the existing backlog. Arguably, the existing backlog is caused by the need for fight on terrorism and security clearance system. Everyone admits at this point of time that such need may not disappear in the near future. This reporter wonders what kind of plan the President has to face this issue. Without doubt, the President will ask the Congress to allocate a substantial money to accomodate the increased caseloads. Would money resolve the issue, though? Many will doubt whether the existing backlog in the immigration system is solely related to the insufficient funds. The immigration system has already heavily relied on user charge funds and not tax money. There has been no change in the clogged system! This web site wishes to hear from the President his plan for reform of the management system in parallel with the announced immigration reform plan.
 
(Originally posted at the complaint thread)

Originally posted by operations
... Let us keep perspective and focus. We support people getting legal, but NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF LEGAL IMMIGRANTS, JUST BECAUSE BUSH WANTS THE HISPANIC VOTES. The illegal immigrants have lived here for years. We should legalize them. But put more resources in the system to handle the load.
Click to expand...
I strongly agree.
I support Bush's new program IF and ONLY IF enough resources will be put in the system to handle the load including the current backlog.
And, these resources have to be used to eliminate the current backlog at first
as Bush said, "Third, we should not give unfair rewards to illegal immigrants in the citizenship process or disadvantage those who came here lawfully, or hope to do so. "

Any single application of new Temporary Worker Program shoud not be processed until EB I-485 backlog will be eliminated.
 
(Originally posted by kashmir at The Complaint thread)

Immigration Application Fees: Current Fees Are Not Sufficient to Fund USCIS' Operation
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04309r.pdf

Results in Brief
We determined that fees were not sufficient to fully fund CIS's operation.
...
In addition, CIS has not performed an analysis of the steps needed to reduce prcessing times to the 6-month average goal ...
...
Absent actions to increase fees, reduce processing costs and times, or both, as well as to improve the timeliness and completeness of fee schedule updates, ...

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
We obtained oral comments on a draft of our briefing slides from DHS and CIS officials. They generally agreed with our conclusions and recommendations.
...


(my comment)
GAO report clearly mentions that CIS has not taken any actions needed to eliminate the backlog and that DHS and CIS officials agreed.
Click to expand...
GAO-04-309R describes:
  • In response to the President's initiative, CIS established a Backlog Elimination Plan that was issued in March 2002.
    The plan is currently being revised.
    (Page 21)
  • CIS officials told us they recently revised this fee increase proposal, which was approved by DHS and submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in October 2003.
    (Page 22)
  • CIS officials told us that in August 2003, DHS approved CIS's proposal for a system to track application status, which is expected to be deployed in 2006.
    (Page 29)
  • According to CIS officials, CIS revised this proposal to better capture efficiencies in the IBIS check process, actual costs incurred to date, and projected future costs. This revised proposal was approved by DHS and submitted to OMB in October 2003.
    (Page 35)
  • In its March 2002 Backlog Elimination Plan, CIS estimated that it would need to hire over 1,500 additional staff to meet the backlog reduction milestones and achieve the processing time goals by the end of fiscal year 2003. ...
    (Page 38)
  • CIS told us it is revising its March 2003 Backlog Elimination Plan to include resources needed to eliminate the backlog and achieve an average processing time of 6 months per application. HSA requires this revised plan to be completed by November 26, 2003.
    (Page 41)
The CIS Backlog Elimination Plan seems to have been issued in March 2002, and revised in October 2003.
Can we get it ?
Click to expand...
 
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/5472.php

Top immigration official: Bush proposal doable

WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON - The nation's top immigration official says registering 8 million illegal residents for temporary permits, as proposed by President Bush last week, would be a "tall challenge" but doable.

...

(my comment)
USCIS Director Eduardo Aguirre is totally useless.
 
Re: USCIS - Current Vacancies

AO-04-01

PUBLIC JOB NOTICE
Center Adjudications Officer, GS-1801-5 and GS-1801-7 (Promotion Potential GS-12)
Announcement Number: AO-04-01
Opening Date: December 1, 2003
Closing Date: February 2, 2004 ...
Salary: GS-5: Range from $23,442 - $27,905 per year depending on the location of the position.
GS-7: Range from $29,037 - $34,566 ...

SPECIAL NOTES:
1. EARLY CONSIDERATION: Applicants will be scheduled, tested and available for referral for filing vacancies in the order in which they successfully register.
First consideration will be given to those who register thru 12/12/03.
Applicants who register between 12/13/03 thru 1/9/04 will be added next.
Registrations made after 1/9/04 will be scheduled for testing later.
It is to your advantage to apply early.
o 12/1/03 - 12/12/03 - first consideration
o 12/13/03 - 1/9/04 - second consideration
o 1/10/04 - 2/2/04 - final consideration
...
Citizenshop and Residency Requirement:
Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must present proof of citizenship, if selected. ...
...
Training:
Candidates selected will be required to attend the Immigration Officer's Benefits Training Course which is approximately one month long, and pass a course of study in immigration and nationality law and branch specific operational training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) near Brunswick, Georgia.
...
Originally posted by kashmir
(originally posted at Project Ocean subproject thread 2nd December 2003 05:22 PM)

USCIS is now hiring Center Adjudications Officers.
-kashmir

Current Vacancies

DHS Immigration Related Vacancies and Employment Information

If you are interested in immigration-related career opportunities with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), please see the job listings on the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) USAJOBS website. This page will list vacancies for these DHS immigration-related organizations:

* U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
* U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
* U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Read more about Core Immigration related occupations.

...

District Adjudications Officer/Center Adjudications Officer
USCIS is now accepting registrations for the written test for District Adjudications Officer and Center Adjudications Officer positions at the GS-5 and GS-7 grade levels. Positions are available nationwide. The Public Job Notice (announcement), AO-04-01, is open from December 1, 2003 through February 2, 2004. There are two early consideration dates, please see the Public Job Notice for more information. For a copy of the Public Job Notice that contains information on the positions and the registration process, please click here. To go directly to the registration for the written test, please go to the DAO/CAO On-line Application.

Read more about Current Federal Salary Pay Scales.

...
Click to expand...
Attachment: null.txt
This has been downloaded 0 time(s).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
No wonder why USCIS is not allocating more resources to adjudicate cases and the guys who are already in the jobs are lazy to act on cases...

Man, look at the salaries they are offering...even a guy who delivers pizzas will make more than that...
 
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