USCIS and FBI Release Joint Plan to Eliminate Backlog of FBI Name Checks

V

VivaLasVegas

Volunteer Moderator
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today announced a joint plan to eliminate the backlog of name checks pending with the FBI.

USCIS and the FBI established a series of milestones prioritizing work based on the age of the pending name check. The FBI has already eliminated all name check cases pending more than four years.

“This plan of action is the product of a strong partnership between USCIS and the FBI to eliminate the backlogs and to strengthen national security,” said USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez.

By increasing staff, expanding resources, and applying new business processes, the goal is to complete 98 percent of all name checks within 30 days. USCIS and the FBI intend to resolve the remaining two percent, which represent the most difficult name checks and require additional time to complete, within 90 days or less. The goal is to achieve and sustain these processing times by June 2009.

The joint plan will focus on resolving the oldest pending FBI name checks first. USCIS has also requested that the FBI prioritize resolution of approximately 29,800 pending name checks from naturalization applicants submitted to the FBI before May 2006 where the naturalization applicant was already interviewed.

The target milestones for processing name checks are:


Completion Goal
Category

May 2008 Process all name checks pending more than three years
July 2008 Process all name checks pending more than two years
November 2008 Process all name checks pending more than one year
February 2009 Process all name checks pending more than 180 days
June 2009 Process 98 percent of all name checks within 30 days and process the remaining two percent within 90 days

Press release can be found here.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
help me understand please

Hi Guys,

when they say..
May 2008 Process all name checks pending more than three years
July 2008 Process all name checks pending more than two years
November 2008 Process all name checks pending more than one year
February 2009 Process all name checks pending more than 180 days

what do they mean..all name checks pending more than the stipulated time today or on those dates?

e.g my PD is 04/07 when can I expect? Nov 2008??

sorry I am confused..

Thanks
 
waitingforins2 said:
Hi Guys,

when they say..
May 2008 Process all name checks pending more than three years
July 2008 Process all name checks pending more than two years
November 2008 Process all name checks pending more than one year
February 2009 Process all name checks pending more than 180 days

what do they mean..all name checks pending more than the stipulated time today or on those dates?

e.g my PD is 04/07 when can I expect? Nov 2008??

sorry I am confused..

Thanks
Click to expand...

I read it as from the date your name check was pending, not from your PD. So if your PD is 04/07 and you had your FP done in 5/07 (which initiates the name check process) and you have confirmed your name check is pending, then yes, by November 2008 it should be cleared according to their goals.
 
Looks like their response to yesterday's class-action lawsuit? Anyway, it's really great news!
 
I see people are getting excited.

Dont get too excited. This is USCIS - they will make all "statements". Proof is if they actually do something. I dont trust "statements".
 
OMG this great news!!!!
i am really happy for those that have been pending for long a time.

and the good thing about it is we should start seeing results very soon, MAY08 that's less than 60 days!!! if there is someone here stuck for more than 3 years who falls into this category please let us know...hopefully soon...

Bobsmyth, in my case name check was initiated on Dec 17 long before the fingerprint or even the fingerprint letter. i'm not sure that there's a rule to it, i guess it could be anytime between PD and fingerprint letter being sent out.
 
Remember at this time USCIS (just like any human or other organization) must be also trying hard to get the heat off its back and protect its reputation. One of their top priorities right now would be damage control. The next 3 - 5 months will be very telling. If things turn out as promised, we should see a lot more interviews happening, especially in the slowest DOs, and ONLY then can we be assured of definite progress. Till such time, it's all just hot air.

OY
 
I'm stuck for almost 27 month now (NC started 02/01/06). Will see how they'll make it on July '08. I fall into those 29K who already had an interview. :D
 
VivaLasVegas said:
June 2009 Process 98 percent of all name checks within 30 days and process the remaining two percent within 90 days
Click to expand...
That will not happen in our lifetime.

But the other initiative to prioritize cases based on the age of the application should lead to an end to the practice of leaving cases pending for multiple years.

A more realistic result is 98% completed within a year and the remaining 2% within 18 months.
 
USCIS doing public statements for "damage control".
They will deflect attention for next few months with these statements, and are you people really trusting them to follow through with action?

Dont ya think these are mere words to calm things down?
 
Talk is cheap, I will believe it when it actually happens.
My name check was submitted on 3/26/2007, not done yet; and FBI is not even allowing people to check what's going on with their name check.
 
Bobsmyth said:
I read it as from the date your name check was pending, not from your PD. So if your PD is 04/07 and you had your FP done in 5/07 (which initiates the name check process) and you have confirmed your name check is pending, then yes, by November 2008 it should be cleared according to their goals.
Click to expand...
Is it fingerprinting that initiates the namecheck process or the actual entry of data into their system (i.e. when they first cash your check and send the NOA)? I have heard both times mentioned as a start date for the name check process. Does anybody know for sure?
 
yummyk said:
Is it fingerprinting that initiates the namecheck process or the actual entry of data into their system (i.e. when they first cash your check and send the NOA)? I have heard both times mentioned as a start date for the name check process. Does anybody know for sure?
Click to expand...

I think it's from the time USCIS initiates the FP appointment as the name check consists of several parts. The reason I don't believe that's it initiated at PD is that it takes a few weeks between PD and check cashing to occur. This especially holds true for those applications who got stuck in the receipting delays last year for many months. Eventhough their PD may be July, their check was cashed and NOA processed many months later, and hence their name check process was only initiated at that time.
 
Bobsmyth said:
I think it's from the time USCIS initiates the FP appointment as the name check consists of several parts. The reason I don't believe that's it initiated at PD is that it takes a few weeks between PD and check cashing to occur. This especially holds true for those applications who got stuck in the receipting delays last year for many months. Eventhough their PD may be July, their check was cashed and NOA processed many months later, and hence their name check process was only initiated at that time.
Click to expand...
That was my understanding as well, that the name check was initiated at about the same time everything gets entered into the system, and that the resulting FP letter gets issued soon thereafter. In my own case, my PD was 8/21, but they only cashed my check in October and I only got my NOA in November. I am guessing that they initiated my namecheck in the November timeframe, but it's hard to really know for sure how the system works.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top