Disparity Between VSC and CSC and

[Kathleen 0]

Your other half is in Canada. You can go there almost at will and see her. You two can talk online daily.

You have it so good and don't even know it. I filed for someone in Africa. I can't afford to fly off to see himbecause of my work and kids and there is NO way he can get a visa to visit while we wait. He doesn't have a computer nor money to spend on cafes, which he doesn't trust do to the scammers. Phone service is terrible. I have spent 3 days trying to get through for a connection that lasted 4 minutes. ( Ok I am venting )

I have been waiting since November. And yes it is upsetting to see someone get approved for the same country that filed in Jan but I know there are people that filed in October that are also waiting.

The problem with the process is that being efficient would mean they wouldn't need as many of them. If you take forever then you have a job. I wish I could push them along or do something but it like having a baby. Some arrive earlier than others.

Hi, this is an interesting coincidence, but I'm also in San Bernardino and just filed for my Nigerian fiance! My situation isn't quite as bad, because he's in Kenya right now where the communications infrastructure is a bit better. Still, we can't talk nearly as much as I want to, and its damn expensive. *sigh* Africa. Anyway, best of luck to you with the waiting.

[Chris Future 0]

As I said in an earlier thread, I believe that a lot of the delay is politically driven. The director of the USCIS has pledged to process N-400 apps faster in order to allow these new naturalized citizens to vote in this years elections. This is a sizable political bloc, and usually votes Democrat, so therefore there is immense pressure from Democrat lawmakers to prioritize these applications. I'll bet you a donut that most of these apps go through CSC as opposed to VSC, I know mine did.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n2.37430c0.html

We are unlucky enough to have two events shape our schedules - the backlog of new filings from the fee increase, which they state will carry on to 2010, and the fact that there is an election this November. I predict that we wont see an acceleration of our visas until after November. What do you think?

[Chris Future 0]

We are unlucky enough to have two events shape our schedules - the backlog of new filings from the fee increase, which they state will carry on to 2010, and the fact that there is an election this November. I predict that we wont see an acceleration of our visas until after November. What do you think?

I think the situation will remain as-is for at least 2 more years. That's how long it's going to take President Obama to get someone in there who can do the job, and for that person to actually affect change.

Actually, you are probably more right with the two year prediction. Oh yes and BTW, President Obama will probably also sign an amnesty bill before then, legalizing those in the country who entered the country illegally to be with their loved ones, while those of us still waiting for CSC approval pull out the rest of our hair.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I thought Obama was pro Chinese Wall/mass deportation? McCain is pro amnesty.

[BigCityDave 0]

I really hope the elections aren't slowing down my petition in the CSC.

[Chris Future 0]

I thought Obama was pro Chinese Wall/mass deportation? McCain is pro amnesty.

According to his website he is pro-amnesty too, but in a weird way. He says anyone here illegally should not be allowed to work, but pay a fine and be allowed to stay in the country and go to the end of the line for citizenship. Considering how long its takes to get citizenship, have no idea what he thinks all these people will do while they are waiting. Get on welfare?

He does mention fixing the dysfunctional system and united families, but his only action on that front is to say no to the new points system for visas, which only affect non-spouse/child cases, so not us.

Clinton wants the above plus to allow non-citizens to bring in their spouses. Now those petitions take even more time than ours. She wants them to take the same amount of time, which will probably burden our system even more.

McCain's site says nothing on family visas.

Edited March 6, 2008 by Chris Future

[rebeccajo 14]

Again guys, you're mixed up on what gets processed where and why.

I129Fs are processed in CA and VT (Service Center). As you already know.

I485's (greencard or AOS) are processed in your local (District Office).

I751's (lifting conditions) are processed in all four of the Service Centers (CA,TX, VT, NB). They are considered low priority.

N400's (naturalization) are also processed at the local offices.

Naturalization applications are not 'in line' with your fiance petitions at all.

For your information, the president long ago mandated these petitions to take top priority over all other types. There is also a codified time limit within the INA (180 days) wherein the petitioner must receive an answer.

Filing for citizenship is the highest request an immigrant can ask of this Nation. The government considers itself to be honored to receive this request.

[Chris Future 0]

Again guys, you're mixed up on what gets processed where and why.

I129Fs are processed in CA and VT (Service Center). As you already know.

I485's (greencard or AOS) are processed in your local (District Office).

I751's (lifting conditions) are processed in all four of the Service Centers (CA,TX, VT, NB). They are considered low priority.

N400's (naturalization) are also processed at the local offices.

Naturalization applications are not 'in line' with your fiance petitions at all.

For your information, the president long ago mandated these petitions to take top priority over all other types. There is also a codified time limit within the INA (180 days) wherein the petitioner must receive an answer.

Filing for citizenship is the highest request an immigrant can ask of this Nation. The government considers itself to be honored to receive this request.

It doesnt matter which center processes what - at the high level decisions are made as to which centers are staffed based on priority. If they want to process more N-400s, then they add more staff to the local offices, not CSC. Therefore this influx is affecting us indirectly by sending more resources away from processing our petitions.

So you are saying that citizenship requests do take priority over citizens request to reunite with family?

[rebeccajo 14]

Again guys, you're mixed up on what gets processed where and why.

I129Fs are processed in CA and VT (Service Center). As you already know.

I485's (greencard or AOS) are processed in your local (District Office).

I751's (lifting conditions) are processed in all four of the Service Centers (CA,TX, VT, NB). They are considered low priority.

N400's (naturalization) are also processed at the local offices.

Naturalization applications are not 'in line' with your fiance petitions at all.

For your information, the president long ago mandated these petitions to take top priority over all other types. There is also a codified time limit within the INA (180 days) wherein the petitioner must receive an answer.

Filing for citizenship is the highest request an immigrant can ask of this Nation. The government considers itself to be honored to receive this request.

It doesnt matter which center processes what - at the high level decisions are made as to which centers are staffed based on priority. If they want to process more N-400s, then they add more staff to the local offices, not CSC. Therefore this influx is affecting us indirectly by sending more resources away from processing our petitions.

So you are saying that citizenship requests do take priority over citizens request to reunite with family?

I'm saying the time limit is codified. No other petition type has a legal time limit.

That being said, USCIS is still the man with the gold. Until recently, several thousand N400 petitioners were held in the namecheck crunch literally for YEARS while their petitions languished. The only alternative for these individuals was to file a Writ of Mandamus in Federal Court in the hopes a judge would force the government to 'do their job' (the Latin meaning of mandamus). These writs almost always acheived the desired result until January 07 when USCIS announced they would immediately file for a dismissal order in these actions citing 'national security' as taking precedence over the code. Many Federal Judges (annoyed with the governments attempt to spit in the face of the law) denied these motions and the plaintiff still prevailed.

The namecheck issue catches many petitioners for adjustment of status also. This is what happened to my husband and why his card was delayed for 17 months. There is an entire thread in the AOS forum which addresses this issue. There are VJ members who have been waiting three, four and five years just for the greencard. Last month, USCIS issued a change in policy wherein beginning this month, they will no longer hold a greencard petitioner hostage for more than 6 months due to namecheck. The card will be issued, but lifting of conditions and indeed, naturalization may still be delayed until the namecheck is complete.

I should also add that sometime when Colin Powell was still around, he spoke to USCIS and stated the goal of the administration should be six months for family reunification. At the time that was considered a 'mandate' of sorts - it still remains a goal.

[rebeccajo 14]

So you are saying that citizenship requests do take priority over citizens request to reunite with family?

As mandated by the President, yes.

mox's tip o' the day: let's not turn this into yet another immigration "debate" (this term used loosely) thread. Those threads almost always piss everyone off, and they always solve nothing. They also usually wind up locked.

Technically, mox, it has little to do with Bush. It's been in the INA since long before he has been around. I am at work and don't have time to find the section of the code, but if you google around you will find it.

And also (contrary to your well-intentioned admonition) as long as the tone of this thread remains civil, I see it as beneficial to the learning curve of all reading. A lot of the frustration while waiting through this process comes from a lack of knowledge of the practical aspects of how the service is run. That ain't saying that people are stupid. It is saying they often don't know where to look for the information, and even when looking the complexities can be overwhelming.

A little practical knowledge can go a long way.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

On the original topic, there are probably only two solutions to the inbalance between the centres and neither are very likely. Either A. They re balance the states to whom the Centers serve (which is a really bad thing in the short run, ie. lots of petitions were messed up/lost last summer do to last shift) or B. They quietly remove the CSC director and place him somewhere else whilst taking one of the VSC managers and placing him in CSC to retool their system)

Neither are likely to happen.

[Chris Future 0]

The namecheck issue catches many petitioners for adjustment of status also. This is what happened to my husband and why his card was delayed for 17 months. There is an entire thread in the AOS forum which addresses this issue. There are VJ members who have been waiting three, four and five years just for the greencard. Last month, USCIS issued a change in policy wherein beginning this month, they will no longer hold a greencard petitioner hostage for more than 6 months due to namecheck. The card will be issued, but lifting of conditions and indeed, naturalization may still be delayed until the namecheck is complete.

I should also add that sometime when Colin Powell was still around, he spoke to USCIS and stated the goal of the administration should be six months for family reunification. At the time that was considered a 'mandate' of sorts - it still remains a goal.

Yes, name check is a huge issue. The whole system is just so riddled with inconsistencies, favoritism, black holes, file losses, its not funny. I read about the 6 month issue. Thats was a good move. I think someone should just impose a 6 month negative option deadline on our visa as well: if they are not processed from beginning to end within 6 months, the visa is automatically issued. Why not? Like that ruling, we can catch offenders during the naturalization process. If its good enough for GCs it shoudl be good enough for us, don't you think?

[rebeccajo 14]

The namecheck issue catches many petitioners for adjustment of status also. This is what happened to my husband and why his card was delayed for 17 months. There is an entire thread in the AOS forum which addresses this issue. There are VJ members who have been waiting three, four and five years just for the greencard. Last month, USCIS issued a change in policy wherein beginning this month, they will no longer hold a greencard petitioner hostage for more than 6 months due to namecheck. The card will be issued, but lifting of conditions and indeed, naturalization may still be delayed until the namecheck is complete.

I should also add that sometime when Colin Powell was still around, he spoke to USCIS and stated the goal of the administration should be six months for family reunification. At the time that was considered a 'mandate' of sorts - it still remains a goal.

Yes, name check is a huge issue. The whole system is just so riddled with inconsistencies, favoritism, black holes, file losses, its not funny. I read about the 6 month issue. Thats was a good move. I think someone should just impose a 6 month negative option deadline on our visa as well: if they are not processed from beginning to end within 6 months, the visa is automatically issued. Why not? Like that ruling, we can catch offenders during the naturalization process. If its good enough for GCs it shoudl be good enough for us, don't you think?

Ah, you're a very creative thinker, Chris!

I do agree with you that family based visas need to be processed as quickly as possible. And believe it or not, I feel the service is committed to that end. Are they working as efficiently right now as they could be? No. The technology they are working with (at the moment) makes that impossible. I foresee that changing in the future. Unfortunately it will take time for that technology to be implemented.

Also remember that the relative of a USC is not subject to waiting for an immigrant visa number to become available. If for nothing else other than this, husbands, wives, children and yes even fiances/fiancees are reunited under a ratio than other immigrants.

I'm not sure where one would draw the line for when a visa 'must' be issued. A visa to admit someone to the United States is not the same thing as granting permanent residency or citizenship to someone who is already here. If it were, Homeland Security would never have been created. The focus of our nation now for admission to the US is security clearance of immigrants. You have spoken in other posts of seeking publicity to raise the hue and cry amongst the general public regarding the service. You would never convince that public that speeding up the process and admitting citizens who have not been interviewed by a consulate and produced a police certificate as to their background, that those immigrants should automatically be admitted. And well such admissions should not occur.

Edited March 6, 2008 by rebeccajo

[Chris Future 0]

On the original topic, there are probably only two solutions to the inbalance between the centres and neither are very likely. Either A. They re balance the states to whom the Centers serve (which is a really bad thing in the short run, ie. lots of petitions were messed up/lost last summer do to last shift) or B. They quietly remove the CSC director and place him somewhere else whilst taking one of the VSC managers and placing him in CSC to retool their system)

Neither are likely to happen.

Hey Lancer: Agreed. I don't think the centers are even tracked on their # of visa issuance in relation to each other. They are probably tracked at a higher level which just shows the overall average reducing due to the efforts of the VSC. So the I-129F backlog looks like its moving, but that only due to the VSC whipping them out in 1/5 the time the CSC does. So Sec. Gonzalez sees the reports looking brighter and brighter.

I still wonder why the CSC is where it is. Usually the offices are out in the middle of the country somewhere in a jobs depressed area - part of the government job creation program - maybe that area of LA is economically depressed and that why they dropped it there.

Of course if the VSC gets too fast and really rips through its backlog, they may decide to ship some of our cases to them. Not sure if thats good or bad - every time something is moved there are chances for loss.

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Today's Official "Sulu Countdown" VSC: 17 CSC: 6 (Ratio: 2.83:1)

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Edited March 6, 2008 by Chris Future

[Chris Future 0]

I'm not sure where one would draw the line for when a visa 'must' be issued. A visa to admit someone to the United States is not the same thing as granting permanent residency or citizenship to someone who is already here. If it were, Homeland Security would never have been created. The focus of our nation now for admission to the US is security clearance of immigrants. You have spoken in other posts of seeking publicity to raise the hue and cry amongst the general public regarding the service. You would never convince that public that speeding up the process and admitting citizens who have not been interviewed by a consulate and produced a police certificate as to their background, that those immigrants should automatically be admitted. And well such admissions should not occur.

I'm not asking for a lack of those checking on those admitted - its should be more thorough as it is admittance of a foreign national to the US. However, the timeline should be sacrosanct, just like the 180 days you were talking about. 6 months tops, and staff fully for that. I asked for 30 days in another thread. Its all a question of staffing, since the process takes around 15 minutes each, its just the volume which takes the time. Therefore, lets keep the process going as is, just staff it up.

Even just making the process more open and transparent would help a lot. If I knew where in the queue I was and when I can expect anything to happen, then that would help. Right now its just an intractable black hole.

Why not some action? Journalists love stories like this. Pick a military couple as an example, show how govt delays are keeping that family apart - show it on national television - ask the presidential candidates - what would YOU do about the horrendous delays -etc etc. Seems to me like it would be a somewhat compelling underreported issue.

BTW, are there any lobbies which specialize in this stuff? Politicians seem to listen to them more than use regular peeps. Does AILA do anything?

Thanks...Chris