GodBlessForever
Registered Users (C)
Today, on the AILA web site, there was a report from the AILA-VSC liaison committee. This report contained the following information:
"During the AILA-Vermont Service Center liaison conference call on April 17th, the VSC indicated that all files must now undergo a security check. As of that date, there were approximately 40,000 cases that required the security clearance before a final decision could be rendered. This will have a substantial impact on adjudication, probably resulting in at least an additional month in sending out approval notices. Requests for evidence (RFEs) will continue to be processed. It is the final adjudication that is being delayed."
That same report also stated that:
"The INS has begun to institute a zero tolerance policy. This means that if people are out of status, adjudicators will not be exercising discretion to consider the status violation de minimis and approve the benefit being sought."
While it was not made clear in the AILA report, I believe that this last statement referred in particular to H-1B employees who stop working for their petitioning employers.
This was said explicitly by a representative of the CSC at a recent AILA-CSC dinner. There, the CSC representative said that they will give ten days beyond the last working day, but no more. This person also said that "everything" was on hold at the CSC and that he expected the CSC backlog to expand by at least one month.
"During the AILA-Vermont Service Center liaison conference call on April 17th, the VSC indicated that all files must now undergo a security check. As of that date, there were approximately 40,000 cases that required the security clearance before a final decision could be rendered. This will have a substantial impact on adjudication, probably resulting in at least an additional month in sending out approval notices. Requests for evidence (RFEs) will continue to be processed. It is the final adjudication that is being delayed."
That same report also stated that:
"The INS has begun to institute a zero tolerance policy. This means that if people are out of status, adjudicators will not be exercising discretion to consider the status violation de minimis and approve the benefit being sought."
While it was not made clear in the AILA report, I believe that this last statement referred in particular to H-1B employees who stop working for their petitioning employers.
This was said explicitly by a representative of the CSC at a recent AILA-CSC dinner. There, the CSC representative said that they will give ten days beyond the last working day, but no more. This person also said that "everything" was on hold at the CSC and that he expected the CSC backlog to expand by at least one month.