Fed up with TSC

[acgmph 42]

The obvious solution is to privatize this whole process. If there were multiple corporations vying for our business then we could at least opt to pay a premium for premium service. As it stands, these service centers already operate as self funded entities. Why does the government need to be involved at all? Allow for some competition and profiteering and we will get a much better product.

Because, firstly, this is not a business and secondly, a corporation cannot decide on immigration processes - who gets a visa, who becomes a citizen, who gets to marry whom, and so on...

[TabeaK 516]

But what they can do is very effectively review paperwork and do background checks. Which is really all the Service Centers are doing for a I-129F.

Check that the forms are filled in properly, the current law is followed, the supporting docs are there and backgound checks on the petitioner.

I'd say that takes no more than half an hour for a straightforward petition, maybe an hour for a more complicated one. Its an issue of inefficiencies and prioritization, nothing more. If they consistently give I-485 priority due to higher fees and shorter times until official service requests can be filed, the I-129Fs and I-130s fall behind...that has been going on for more than a year, at least since DACA became law...

[acgmph 42]

But what they can do is very effectively review paperwork and do background checks. Which is really all the Service Centers are doing for a I-129F.

Check that the forms are filled in properly, the current law is followed, the supporting docs are there and backgound checks on the petitioner.

I'd say that takes no more than half an hour for a straightforward petition, maybe an hour for a more complicated one. Its an issue of inefficiencies and prioritization, nothing more. If they consistently give I-485 priority due to higher fees and shorter times until official service requests can be filed, the I-129Fs and I-130s fall behind...that has been going on for more than a year, at least since DACA became law...

That's the thing - check if the current law is followed - that's not something for corporations.

The other things I agree with, but checking legal requirements (that you have met in the past two years etc.) is not to be left to a corporation.

[usmsbow 795]

For those of you in favor of privitizing USCIS, remember the Tier 1 drones. They're not government employees but contractors. Do they seem much better to you? HA! I seriously doubt it.

If any of you have had the pleasure of having to get a visa for India, you'll see what a f-up a private company can be at this too (edited to add: India has contracted out its visa issuance services to private companies in a lot of the world now).

Competing service centers? Yeah, the government has enough trouble as it is. How are you going to coordinate the paperwork between these private companies and the government? Since the government HAS to be involved at some point since this is immigration and citizenship we're talking about.

Edited January 28, 2015 by usmsbow

[Wooderz 314]

I think the real solution here is to make this process fully electronic. Petition is scanned, goes into an electronic database, is picked up by whoever is available at whichever service center and reviewed. Everyone is in the same database as there are no assigned service centers. The question is how can that be accomplished when uscis wants physical original versions of certain things?

[retheisen 10]

For those of you in favor of privitizing USCIS, remember the Tier 1 drones. They're not government employees but contractors. Do they seem much better to you? HA! I seriously doubt it.

If any of you have had the pleasure of having to get a visa for India, you'll see what a f-up a private company can be at this too (edited to add: India has contracted out its visa issuance services to private companies in a lot of the world now).

Competing service centers? Yeah, the government has enough trouble as it is. How are you going to coordinate the paperwork between these private companies and the government? Since the government HAS to be involved at some point since this is immigration and citizenship we're talking about.

Using the performance of a hired phone jockey who still draws a check from the government teat to negate the benefits of a competitive business environment kinda misses the point. Those Tier 1 drones are at least subject to some contractor's performance review, the people actually touching your file don't lose their job without an act of congress ... with 60% majority. Absolutely no accountability there ... at all. I kinda imagine the TSC being filled with bitter old cat ladies who curse every one of our files that represent our hopes and dreams for lasting love as it passes under their noses.

[retheisen 10]

For those of you in favor of privitizing USCIS, remember the Tier 1 drones. They're not government employees but contractors. Do they seem much better to you? HA! I seriously doubt it.

If any of you have had the pleasure of having to get a visa for India, you'll see what a f-up a private company can be at this too (edited to add: India has contracted out its visa issuance services to private companies in a lot of the world now).

Competing service centers? Yeah, the government has enough trouble as it is. How are you going to coordinate the paperwork between these private companies and the government? Since the government HAS to be involved at some point since this is immigration and citizenship we're talking about.

As far as competing service centers are concerned, who here would not have preferred to have their file land in California than Texas? I can tell you that I would have gladly paid an extra $1000 to have landed in CSC rather than TSC. I would be thrilled if I could pay twice that today in order to get a transfer. CSC does not want that money from me. USCIS does not want that money from me. But a business could shape a profit model around my desire.

[usmsbow 795]

Using the performance of a hired phone jockey who still draws a check from the government teat to negate the benefits of a competitive business environment kinda misses the point. Those Tier 1 drones are at least subject to some contractor's performance review, the people actually touching your file don't lose their job without an act of congress ... with 60% majority. Absolutely no accountability there ... at all. I kinda imagine the TSC being filled with bitter old cat ladies who curse every one of our files that represent our hopes and dreams for lasting love as it passes under their noses.

So your idea of making them more accountable is to privatize the centers? Government contractors are a great model for corporate welfare. Beltway bandit is a term for a reason. Sure, the poor sucker processing your file might have loss job security, but that doesn't mean you're going to get better service. You'll just be fed a different kind of BS.

As far as competing service centers are concerned, who here would not have preferred to have their file land in California than Texas? I can tell you that I would have gladly paid an extra $1000 to have landed in CSC rather than TSC. I would be thrilled if I could pay twice that today in order to get a transfer. CSC does not want that money from me. USCIS does not want that money from me. But a business could shape a profit model around my desire.

That doesn't address the problem I brought up: coordinating documents between those private companies and the government. That idea also creates a huge incentive and market for corruption and a whole other can of worms.

April+Daniel had a sensible, practical idea. Make this process electronic (or at least 95% of it). It IS possible, even in the government. Other developed countries government services put ours to shame sadly.

[yuna628 9,528]

As far as competing service centers are concerned, who here would not have preferred to have their file land in California than Texas? I can tell you that I would have gladly paid an extra $1000 to have landed in CSC rather than TSC. I would be thrilled if I could pay twice that today in order to get a transfer. CSC does not want that money from me. USCIS does not want that money from me. But a business could shape a profit model around my desire.

Private corporations or even a marketplace capitalism has no place in immigration. The USCIS is not in the business of profit margins it's in the business of immigration. I'd shudder to think if immigration were turned into profiteering enterprise in which we are herded through like a McD's drive-thru or dare I say.. an insurance company. You would soon find it rife with corruption, waste, and another avenue for bloated corporate welfare. A business model would not work, as immigration is in of itself a federal affair that belongs solely in the government's lap. What it needs is better oversight, policies that make sense for all immigrants, modernization, electronic record keeping, better communication, more staff, and more centers that handle specific applications. All of these things require funds that simply aren't there (even April's suggestion of electronic records would be a massive undertaking, and while cutting out waste and saving money would still cost money to set up efficiently).

There are some governments that operate using an expedited fee model. This fee does very little if everyone decides that they too will cut in the line by paying an expedite, nor does it guarantee approval. And when your application is lost, messed up, or rejected that's another thousand dollars out of your pocket and a lot more frustration. There is enough heartache seen every day on this forum as it is...

And I'll point out that while most of us would all love to be processed and approved by now with the speed of CSC, we know that they have had many issues in actually getting our files to the NVC of late. This is why, even though it will take a shorter time, I'm hesitant to want to be at CSC right now. That tells me even though CSC might be speedy, there is still something going wrong in the process policy. There was also a time iirc, that CSC wasn't so speedy. We know that Philippine cases continue to be expedited at TSC, and they pay the same fee as we all do. So there is evidence fast can happen at TSC. We just don't have the full picture to understand why.

What we see with these service centers are just fraction of a larger governmental problem in implementing immigration effectively.

..but handing my life and the life of my future husband over to a profiteering business while tapping into our taxpayer funds? No way. I'd rather patiently endure the agonizing wait.

Edited January 29, 2015 by yuna628

[Wooderz 314]

For sure implementing an electronic process would be an undertaking and costly, but I think there are some intermediate steps that can be taken to gradually move in that direction. There are definitely electronic files currently... How else would they run our background checks and keep our statuses updated on their website. I would rather uscis spending their energy and resources working towards this than that ridiculous website update from a couple months ago. So why not store batches from the lockbox, send them to whichever office is ready to handle more files, that way we are all in the same pool and not sorted by our filing state (or whatever uscis claims they do)? There has to be something better than this.

If you haven't seen av8or1's update in the September TSC thread, he's had some meaningful conversations with his congressman's office. Uscis told the rep that TSC had received a heavy influx of I-485s and CSC hasn't. These are apparently a higher priority than our petitions and so less resources are allocated to us. And the rep reported that uscis admitted this wasn't going to improve during this year. Yet, there hasn't been anything done in nearly 6 months to try to fix this.

[retheisen 10]

I'd shudder to think if immigration were turned into profiteering enterprise in which we are herded through like a McD's drive-thru or dare I say.. an insurance company.

A McDonald's drive thru gives me hot food in under two minutes with 95% accuracy. If one McDonald's gets bad reviews, I can drive two miles down the road to another one, or across the street to another provider. If there is a problem with the product I can demand my money back and suggest to my friends that they not use that particular McDonald's. There are so many alternatives in the Auto Insurance industry that Flo from Progressive is the most recognizable personality on television. Competitive marketplace. If I get into a car accident the Insurance Company will give me a rental car to use while mine is being fixed and the whole process will be completed in about two weeks. If I don't like the service my insurance provider gives me, then I can choose the Gecko or the President from 24 or That ninja chick who does the gymnastics in my house while I am away ... (I am totally doing ninja chick next time.) What can the government get done in two weeks?

[retheisen 10]

Because, firstly, this is not a business and secondly, a corporation cannot decide on immigration processes - who gets a visa, who becomes a citizen, who gets to marry whom, and so on...

A Kenyan can turn 5 million Mexicans into US'ians with the stroke of a pen, I think we can subcontract some document validation to a few competing businesses and still maintain at least an air of legitimacy in the process.

[retheisen 10]

..but handing my life and the life of my future husband over to a profiteering business while tapping into our taxpayer funds? No way. I'd rather patiently endure the agonizing wait.

You will literally put your life and the life of your future husband into the hands of a profiteering business at some point between now and your wedding considering there are no remaining Government Operated airlines servicing BWI and LHR. If you had a time machine you go go back to pre-1987 and fly the government operated British Airways ... but the costs were much higher (relatively) then. It is cheaper and safer today.

Edited January 29, 2015 by retheisen

[yuna628 9,528]

A McDonald's drive thru gives me hot food in under two minutes with 95% accuracy. If one McDonald's gets bad reviews, I can drive two miles down the road to another one, or across the street to another provider. If there is a problem with the product I can demand my money back and suggest to my friends that they not use that particular McDonald's. There are so many alternatives in the Auto Insurance industry that Flo from Progressive is the most recognizable personality on television. Competitive marketplace. If I get into a car accident the Insurance Company will give me a rental car to use while mine is being fixed and the whole process will be completed in about two weeks. If I don't like the service my insurance provider gives me, then I can choose the Gecko or the President from 24 or That ninja chick who does the gymnastics in my house while I am away ... (I am totally doing ninja chick next time.) What can the government get done in two weeks?

A McD's drive-thru provides sub-par product that passes as food, from employees that are paid low wages that do not need much competency to work there. In your dream scenario then you would like competing franchised (corporate contracted welfare) USCIS centers on every street corner where you can drive up to and be processed within a few minutes by a teenager that has little idea even how to make correct change, so long as you drop a grand and it has nothing to do with the government? And if you don't like that teenager's attitude with your paperwork you'll just go across the street to it's competing USCIS Burger King style joint, to drop another grand again? Is this a new type of ideal within government fearing libertarian movements now?

The government can get quite a few things done in a few weeks when it runs properly. And if you were lucky enough to be processed at CSC, you probably wouldn't even be posting here, as you'd be happily approved already (for evidence of what they can get done speedily).

Competitive marketplaces cannot be applied to immigration because there isn't a competitive marketplace for it to begin with. Governments have to control and maintain the process for immigration, unless you advocate an open-border free-for-all policy. Which I suspect, you do not. The USCIS doesn't offer a product or service for sale like 'meat by-products' and big gulps. There is no satisfaction guarantee. We are the ones requesting them to process our petitions under lawful provisions - they reserve the right to reject us no matter what fee we pay.

You will literally put your life and the life of your future husband into the hands of a profiteering business at some point between now and your wedding considering there are no remaining Government Operated airlines servicing BWI and LHR. If you had a time machine you go go back to pre-1987 and fly the government operated British Airways ... but the costs were much higher (relatively) then. It is cheaper and safer today.

And unless you're attempting to state that we hand all of our personal information over to an airline (which we do not) every time we fly then I'm not sure your point. It is safer to fly today because of advancements in technology and government regulations to enhance safety protocols. But I suppose in the interest of chucking out the government, we should in fact eliminate any oversight from that too.

For sure implementing an electronic process would be an undertaking and costly, but I think there are some intermediate steps that can be taken to gradually move in that direction. There are definitely electronic files currently... How else would they run our background checks and keep our statuses updated on their website. I would rather uscis spending their energy and resources working towards this than that ridiculous website update from a couple months ago. So why not store batches from the lockbox, send them to whichever office is ready to handle more files, that way we are all in the same pool and not sorted by our filing state (or whatever uscis claims they do)? There has to be something better than this.

If you haven't seen av8or1's update in the September TSC thread, he's had some meaningful conversations with his congressman's office. Uscis told the rep that TSC had received a heavy influx of I-485s and CSC hasn't. These are apparently a higher priority than our petitions and so less resources are allocated to us. And the rep reported that uscis admitted this wasn't going to improve during this year. Yet, there hasn't been anything done in nearly 6 months to try to fix this.

To be sure it is a good idea. I'm just very skeptical that such a change would ever come. We can't even get our policies to be streamlined let alone implementing them. I suppose the I-485s were from implied working visas then? Simply do not understand why one office has to handle so many different types of petitions at once. If I apply from a certain state, why can't there be a USCIS center to process it there, with divisions dedicated to specific applications.

[retheisen 10]

A McD's drive-thru provides sub-par product that passes as food, from employees that are paid low wages that do not need much competency to work there. In your dream scenario then you would like competing franchised (corporate contracted welfare) USCIS centers on every street corner where you can drive up to and be processed within a few minutes by a teenager that has little idea even how to make correct change, so long as you drop a grand and it has nothing to do with the government? And if you don't like that teenager's attitude with your paperwork you'll just go across the street to it's competing USCIS Burger King style joint, to drop another grand again? Is this a new type of ideal within government fearing libertarian movements now?

The government can get quite a few things done in a few weeks when it runs properly. And if you were lucky enough to be processed at CSC, you probably wouldn't even be posting here, as you'd be happily approved already (for evidence of what they can get done speedily).

Competitive marketplaces cannot be applied to immigration because there isn't a competitive marketplace for it to begin with. Governments have to control and maintain the process for immigration, unless you advocate an open-border free-for-all policy. Which I suspect, you do not. The USCIS doesn't offer a product or service for sale like 'meat by-products' and big gulps. There is no satisfaction guarantee. We are the ones requesting them to process our petitions under lawful provisions - they reserve the right to reject us no matter what fee we pay.

And unless you're attempting to state that we hand all of our personal information over to an airline (which we do not) every time we fly then I'm not sure your point. It is safer to fly today because of advancements in technology and government regulations to enhance safety protocols. But I suppose in the interest of chucking out the government, we should in fact eliminate any oversight from that too.

I think you are being purposely obtuse here. There are businesses selling fried foods on every corner with a food cost of 30%, labor cost of 30%, building/insurance/utilities/fees cost of 30% and profit margin of 10% because there is a market to support that product and a labor market for those jobs and a real estate market for for the building and an insurance market etc etc etc. If people decide they do not want to eat the sub-par food then there are other options and the business will adapt or fail and be replaced. There is not enough of a market of people trying to gain residency in the United States within the current legal framework to support service centers on every street corner, but there is a market ... just look at the market of Immigration Attorneys who pay their mortgage by guiding people through the government's obstacle course. Look at this very site.

I challenge you to name one instance in which the government has run "properly" and that proper function has led to something getting done in two weeks.

Competitive marketplaces can be applied to immigration because there is a competitive marketplace ... watch the southern border on any Tuesday morning between 3 and 5 am. And yes. I am for an open-border, free-for-all policy. As I am also against all non-necessary government services that would divert unearned resources to anyone inside the United States borders. Anyone is welcome to come the US and work hard to contribute to, and benefit from, our society. I am willing to compete with anyone and everyone for my job. I have that faith in myself.

The USCIS does offer a service. That service is document review. And that document review service could easily be performed by housewives sitting in their bathrobes in front of their laptops or in a sweatshop in Mumbai for all I care. Transcribe a name and submit a database query ... next. Give me a scanner, a sharpie, 6 sheets of clear plastic, and access to Amazon's mechanical turk and I could clear 200 files per day by myself. Take $50 of the $340 filing fee and leave $290 for the rest of the process, pay $5 in turk fees and scanner depreciation per file and still clear $9K per day. Good work if you can get it. Making 2 million a year I could probably afford to open a second location ... maybe on your streetcorner.

This is the line that got me though .... "We are the ones requesting them to process our petitions under lawful provisions - they reserve the right to reject us no matter what fee we pay." Such a defeatist attitude. That makes me sad. These files represent our hopes and dreams and faith in all that is right with the world. That some beaurocrat has "the right to reject us" should make you want beaurocrats as far away from the process as possible. Stop apologizing for them.

Finally ... I was not saying that we hand over our names and addresses to the airline companies or the names of people we would want to have notified in the event of an emergency. I would never suggest such a thing. But I do suspect we will need to actually trust that the airline properly care for our physical bodies as they hurtle us through the air seven miles above sea level at 580 MPH. I know managing the physics of that is not as critical as maintaining the integrity of a g325a ... but you have to admit both are kinda important.