6/22/09 NEWS: Immigration agency says application backlog virtually gone ....

[KromiX 1]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090622/ap_on_...tion_fbi_checks

DALLAS – FBI name checks on people seeking to work or live in the United States or become citizens are getting completed more quickly, slicing through a backlog that had left some petitions pending for more than a year, immigration officials said Monday.

The FBI hired more workers, beefed up its training programs and upgraded its technology to handle the average of 6 million to 7 million applications that stream through the agency each year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials said.

The delays came during the FBI's routine checks for possible criminal backgrounds and national security questions. But now, nearly all name check requests submitted to the FBI are being answered within 30 days. The remaining 2 percent are finished within 90 days, USCIS officials said.

"The FBI has made great strides ... and shown it's capable of sustaining that service level," Michael Aytes, acting deputy director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, told The Associated Press.

Petitions that require more evaluation or interaction with other agencies are not included in the FBI name check backlog count, immigration officials said. Currently, some 6,000 cases are pending with Citizenship and Immigration Services, including some in which the application was filed several years ago, Aytes said.

"They are being looked at, they don't just sit on a shelf," said Gregory Smith, the agency's assistant director for national security and records verification directorate.

The volume of pending FBI name checks peaked in November 2007 when there were about 350,000 pending cases. At the time, more than half had been waiting for more than three months and a large number had been pending for more than a year, Aytes said.

In April 2008, the two agencies established milestones and priorities for the name checks. The goals required processing all name checks pending more than three years by May 2008, those pending more than two years by July 2008, and requests pending more than one year by November 2008.

A government audit issued in June 2008 found the FBI had been using old technology and workers without enough training to do security checks.

That same month, a group of Muslim immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship in Missouri filed a federal class-action lawsuit claiming they had been made to wait for months or years because of slow background checks.

Edited June 22, 2009 by KromiX

[*Robert* 2]

About damn time!!!

It IS good news though!

[robbyrob 2]

Hope things now move faster for those who have been waiting for so long.

[KromiX 1]

Hope things now move faster for those who have been waiting for so long.

I Think recent filers have seen benefits, April, May has gone so fast....

[*Robert* 2]

Hope things now move faster for those who have been waiting for so long.

I Think recent filers have seen benefits, April, May has gone so fast....

Definitely something to look forward to after an 11 month wait for removal of conditions!

[so2008 0]

I do not believe in that what so ever, I know three people in Tampa, FL office who applied last year and their name check still pending. No interview was set up for four of us because of the name check. Believe it or not all four of us are Muslim and form the Middle East (Different Countries though). I think profiling play big rule here(Always even in the past), if you are not among those people then your case could be completed within 4 months.

[Immigrant2009 0]

Great news. Thanks KromiX for posting it.

[Arizona_Girl 0]

Oh boy, I sure hope they find my application soon. Mine has been with them since January 2004. I went for my interview over 5 years ago in Las Vegas. I had an officer interview me who could best be described as arrogant and flustered. I dressed nicely, aced everything on the test and the English language questions, had all my documents ready, but after the interview, she just said "I'll be in touch" without giving me a reason why she couldn't approve it. She kept saying "Where you documents???? Where you documents? " Yes that was how she spoke, English was not her greatest talent. I'd politely point it out amongst the HUGE pile of documents in front of her, exactly where it was when she looked right at it just two minutes earlier. "You have no birth certificate??!! (I'd point it out........) "This no birth certificate!! she said as she flipped it over and over " "It's British, I'd say, it probably doesn't look like the ones you normally see. (British birth certificates, at least in the 50's were rather large pink colored documents) Her eyes narrowed and she continued.. "Where you divorce certificate then huh?? (I'd flip a few pages on the tome in front of here ..'There it is" I'd say. I remember it a so clearly because it was surreal. I kid you not, this was how it all went. I couldn't believe it when she actually said at the end "You have kids? I replied casually " No, I've never really felt the urge" You no have kids?? You no want them? Why?? They are a gift from God..." Oh dear I thought, I'm sunk. If it had been going downhill already, now I was entering the black hole, never to escape.

And so it was. I waited three weeks, she still hadn't called. I arranged another meeting with her, she literally (and I MEAN literally) pushed me out the door. Put her hands on my back and shoved. Being the USCIS, I just rolled over (don't want to make a scene in their office with the armed guards, you understand) and went back outside with my tail between my legs, feeling very disheartened. I was totally confused by her behaviour and that was the last time I heard ANYTHING. She no longer answered my phone calls or the half dozen letters I personally addressed to her. Despite repeated calls letters, phoning my Congressman (Geoff Flake Dem AZ) and Senator John McCain (Rep AZ) I've still had zero action on it.

Sad but true. Anyway, that is my tale of woe. Luckily I have 5 years left on my 10 year Greencard. They way things have progressed so far, I'm gonna need every minute to sort this out.

Arizona Girl

[NickD 202]

Only thing I heard about is they have an excess of work visas for the first time in years, quotas are normally filled instantly, but very few people want to come here now because there are no jobs to get.

Never heard about FBI name check delays, we had three of them, but if you went to a bank or tried to buy a gun, would be done in less than two minutes. Perhaps one delay was caused by shifting our applications all over the country where they would get either misplaced or set in a back room someplace they forgot about.

Oh, never was a delay in cashing our checks.

[AusCal 3]

Mine has been with them since January 2004. I went for my interview over 5 years ago in Las Vegas.

Am I reading this correctly, you have been waiting on a decision since 2004? Get yourself up off your laid-back Aussie butt, and start getting pro-active. This is NOT the time for "no-worries". There are some posts here referring to starting legal action against the USCIS for overdue decisionsl If yours isn't a cse for doing this, I don't know what is. I'd suggest doind a search for this subject here, and start making waves. !!

[jasminelily 1]

Oh boy, I sure hope they find my application soon. Mine has been with them since January 2004. I went for my interview over 5 years ago in Las Vegas. I had an officer interview me who could best be described as arrogant and flustered. I dressed nicely, aced everything on the test and the English language questions, had all my documents ready, but after the interview, she just said "I'll be in touch" without giving me a reason why she couldn't approve it. She kept saying "Where you documents???? Where you documents? " Yes that was how she spoke, English was not her greatest talent. I'd politely point it out amongst the HUGE pile of documents in front of her, exactly where it was when she looked right at it just two minutes earlier. "You have no birth certificate??!! (I'd point it out........) "This no birth certificate!! she said as she flipped it over and over " "It's British, I'd say, it probably doesn't look like the ones you normally see. (British birth certificates, at least in the 50's were rather large pink colored documents) Her eyes narrowed and she continued.. "Where you divorce certificate then huh?? (I'd flip a few pages on the tome in front of here ..'There it is" I'd say. I remember it a so clearly because it was surreal. I kid you not, this was how it all went. I couldn't believe it when she actually said at the end "You have kids? I replied casually " No, I've never really felt the urge" You no have kids?? You no want them? Why?? They are a gift from God..." Oh dear I thought, I'm sunk. If it had been going downhill already, now I was entering the black hole, never to escape.

And so it was. I waited three weeks, she still hadn't called. I arranged another meeting with her, she literally (and I MEAN literally) pushed me out the door. Put her hands on my back and shoved. Being the USCIS, I just rolled over (don't want to make a scene in their office with the armed guards, you understand) and went back outside with my tail between my legs, feeling very disheartened. I was totally confused by her behaviour and that was the last time I heard ANYTHING. She no longer answered my phone calls or the half dozen letters I personally addressed to her. Despite repeated calls letters, phoning my Congressman (Geoff Flake Dem AZ) and Senator John McCain (Rep AZ) I've still had zero action on it.

Sad but true. Anyway, that is my tale of woe. Luckily I have 5 years left on my 10 year Greencard. They way things have progressed so far, I'm gonna need every minute to sort this out.

Arizona Girl

I had similar experience 2 years ago on my first GC interview. The IO acted like he've never seen any of my documents and kept asking me where is this and where is that. He asked me where are your bank statements, I said although I've submitted them before, I don't mind giving you an extra copy, took it out of my bag and handed it to him. He asked me where are your immunization record and medical exam papers, I pointed to the pile of papers that he was flipping through and I said "Stop right there! It's right in front of your eyes". I still remember his name up to this date, very incompetent IO.

[Nagishkaw 510]

About dang time.

[queendlee 0]

Oh boy, I sure hope they find my application soon. Mine has been with them since January 2004.

Arizona Girl

geez, your are years passed the processing date, you should call them everyday and ask about it and document it, then can turn around and claim they sent you something you never got, don't just sit back and take it, once they are outside the 6month timeline, they have to do something for you. you paid for that much

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I assume this is a very big lie??? People like estadia are still waiting around for the FBI years later?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

ehhem....I mean propaganda...

Have you ever noticed that news from Immigration is written with the general public in mind and not the actual users of the system?? Its obvious they blow snow around so that the public feel like the system operates just fine? Congress knows the system is broken partially because of all of our emails when we ask for help...but we are such a small % of their constituency. So by throwling these lies out the door it keeps the main population in check and so congressman see the issue below things like war, economy, GM etc. etc.