USCIS is transferring some cases to balance workload

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Do you mean who were past/beyond 5 months of the NOA1 date? Or do you really mean petitions that had been waiting less than 5 months from their NOA1 date? Others have posted that they transferred April/May 2014 petitions in August 2014... just trying to confirm whether the cases that were transferred were the oldest ones or the newest ones. Thanks!

I meant that they were within 5 months of NOA1. That is to say specifically that April & May filers were transferred in August. Thus at the time of transfer, no one was more than 3 months waiting at the time & they were mostly processed within 2 months, so the 5 months by TSC was met (even thought CSC did the actual processing). You even had May transfers being processed before April transfers & both being processed before some of those stuck at TSC who were waiting from Feb & March.

[waiting4awhile 18]

I meant that they were within 5 months of NOA1. That is to say specifically that April & May filers were transferred in August. Thus at the time of transfer, no one was more than 3 months waiting at the time & they were mostly processed within 2 months, so the 5 months by TSC was met (even thought CSC did the actual processing). You even had May transfers being processed before April transfers & both being processed before some of those stuck at TSC who were waiting from Feb & March.

Thanks! So in other words, a complete mess as usual

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Thanks! So in other words, a complete mess as usual

Yes.

[waiting4awhile 18]

I know am I annoyingly speculative right now, but I just noticed that the USCIS website has no alert on the public record about last year's transfer. What do you suppose that could mean, if anything at all?

The only workload transfer mentioned in 2014 was for "Form I-751 Workload Transfer From the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center" on November 6, 2014. The next one is only on December 23, 2013 for "Workload Transfer from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center".

Also, am I missing the public notice about last year's transfer? If so, please correct me!

[Marco&Bettina 502]

I know am I annoyingly speculative right now, but I just noticed that the USCIS website has no alert on the public record about last year's transfer. What do you suppose that could mean, if anything at all?

The only workload transfer mentioned in 2014 was for "Form I-751 Workload Transfer From the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center" on November 6, 2014. The next one is only on December 23, 2013 for "Workload Transfer from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center".

Also, am I missing the public notice about last year's transfer? If so, please correct me!

There was no public notice. VJ noticed.

[waiting4awhile 18]

There was no public notice. VJ noticed.

Interesting. Thanks, again!

[dhlunar 25]

I don't think transferring of cases really has an effect on speeding up cases. When my wife filed the I-130 for her parents, in late May 2013, they sat in NBC for about 7 months before being transferred to Nebraska. Of course they got transferred with a thousand or so other cases, so Nebraska was slower then some of the other service centers. Once it got transferred to Nebraska it took nearly 3 months (March 2014) before any looked at the I-130. In fact waiting for USCIS to look at the forms took longer then the NVC process. This was for an IR-5 visa (Parent of a US Citizen).

[av8or1 246]

Interesting news. I just spoke with my contact in my local congressman's office. She called the TSC this morning and spoke with a supervisor to get a better idea of what is happening with these transfers. I don't have much time at the moment to write a detailed post, but here are the highlights of what she learned:

1) The TSC was most definitely slowed by DACA, of this there was no doubt

2) The TSC continues to be slowed by the employment visas, either the 2-year renewal or AOS flavor

3) The I-129F petitions that are to be transferred will go to the CSC

4) The TSC has recently hired a whole slew of new adjudicators

5) Once those adjudicators are trained, processing times are expected to decrease

Personally I think that #4 and #5 are of particular interest to more recent I-129F filers. Perhaps, and I do mean perhaps, you won't have to wait as long as we have. All of this is TBD, clearly, but hopefully it helps fill in the picture for a lot of you.

FWIW.

[CharlieTanger 76]

Interesting news. I just spoke with my contact in my local congressman's office. She called the TSC this morning and spoke with a supervisor to get a better idea of what is happening with these transfers. I don't have much time at the moment to write a detailed post, but here are the highlights of what she learned:

1) The TSC was most definitely slowed by DACA, of this there was no doubt

2) The TSC continues to be slowed by the employment visas, either the 2-year renewal or AOS flavor

3) The I-129F petitions that are to be transferred will go to the CSC

4) The TSC has recently hired a whole slew of new adjudicators

5) Once those adjudicators are trained, processing times are expected to decrease

Personally I think that #4 and #5 are of particular interest to more recent I-129F filers. Perhaps, and I do mean perhaps, you won't have to wait as long as we have. All of this is TBD, clearly, but hopefully it helps fill in the picture for a lot of you.

FWIW.

Well 3, 4, and 5 sound quite promising. So what does that mean for January 2015 filers? We're right on the verge of either being transferred or are waiting for more adjudicators to be moved in...hmmmm

[naddy 14]

I know am I annoyingly speculative right now, but I just noticed that the USCIS website has no alert on the public record about last year's transfer. What do you suppose that could mean, if anything at all?

The only workload transfer mentioned in 2014 was for "Form I-751 Workload Transfer From the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center" on November 6, 2014. The next one is only on December 23, 2013 for "Workload Transfer from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center".

Also, am I missing the public notice about last year's transfer? If so, please correct me!

I am going to continue with the speculation and hope that this transfer is much more significant than last years, perhaps involving several months worth of petitions. They would have to transfer several months IMO to lessen the disparity between the 2 centers. Let's hope this makes a significant dent, and we see more reasonable processing times for all soon

[jsowter 0]

I'm also sceptical of this news.. Hopefully it helps some of you out but we're October filers and I'm just so over waiting!

I know some people have been waiting even longer and it's just awful. It's like being in limbo.

I've still estimated about another 2 month wait, I wish I could just go visit my fiancée but it's just not practical to get the 25 hour flight there.

I hope some good comes out of this though I really do!

[GH8283 5]

what does, or could this mean for December filers?

[TabeaK 516]

what does, or could this mean for December filers?

We do not know at this time.

[Kyle and Linh 64]

OK for all of you thinking you are still in line and nothing has changed, let me explain something about what I see in this process that bears watching with the new announcement.

I look at this like we are in a line at Disneyland (mind you Disney would never put up with this) and there are two lines for two rides that are exactly the same that sit side by side. Now one ride only takes people from 25 states that are in the south and east of the US. This ride has a problem and can only take so many riders each hour. So as people line up, the line seems to get longer since more people join the ride line than riders going on the ride. So this ride line has been getting longer by the day

Next to it is a second ride that takes people from 25 states in the Midwest and West. This ride has a very efficient crew and seems to be able to keep its line very low and it seems that as soon as you get in line, you get on the ride. This ride now is going to take people from the ride next to it. Where they pick people from the line is open for debate. It seems that they have chosen the last people in line so far. If so... that still is not bad for us in line because.....

...what nobody is looking at is the fact that there are people who have a "Special Pass" that allows them to cut the line, in fact they can cut both lines on both rides. These Special Passes are given to those who have a rider from the Philippines. They have had this pass for the last 2 years and when you analyze it... about 15-20% of ALL riders are from here and get to cut the line always on both rides.

SO... if the plan is (as some suspect) to shift all the new riders from the slow ride to the fast one... I am OK with that as long as they shift over the Special Pass people too. If they do that, then the capacity for all of us in the slow line goes 15-20% faster even if we are doomed to stay in line.

So key to me... watch what happens to the Philippine applications filed at TSC. If they are all shifted, then we can reduce our wait times by 15 to 20% even if they never transfer any of us standing in line.

Good Luck to all in line on the Black Hole of Texas Ride

[dsldesch 27]

Thank you to the original poster for sharing this news, and for all the tremendously helpful and informative comments that have critically analyzed what this might possibly mean.

I noticed many people mentioned contacting representatives, and I was wondering if there's a thread where people have given guidelines for talking points about the processing delays, since I would be interested in writing my own letter. Unfortunately, I live in a state with NO representatives that support same-sex marriage, but I also see this as an opportunity to advocate for two issues at once--both deeply personal and important to me. Not to mention, as a student with a second major in political science, it always amuses me to see how representatives respond to requests for constituent services that disagree with their campaign tactics. In many cases, representatives use constituent services to bolster support from parties who wouldn't normally vote for them--so having a bunch of Tea Party Republican serving me might actually work to my benefit. Then again, as with this results of this transfer, that's yet to be seen.