Processing times

[bob72601 13]

WOW! I just looked at the processing times for Form I-751 as of June 30, 2016. The California Service Center is showing 6 months and the Vermont Service Center is showing August 31, 2015.

All I can say is those of us that have to file with the Vermont Service Center are getting the proverbial SHAFT. There is NO EXCUSE for this inequality between service centers. We don't get to file until November, so hopefully things will change, but I am not holding my breath.

[lesthatsri 9]

Im sorry if this has been asked before, but 6 months... does that mean that it will take 6 month from the time they receive the file to get a response? I am about to send my I-751 but my green card expires on September 5th. Does that mean that I will be without one until the end of the year?

[lyzdude 2]

lesthatsri: No. Once you apply for the removal of conditions on your PR, your CPR status will be automatically extended for one year. You'll receive a letter to this effect. They won't send you a new green card for this one year. But whatever you need to do that requires a valid green card, your old green card (possibly expired already) together with the letter should be enough.

I think they do transfer some I-751's from Vermont to Cali to somewhat equalize the processing time. But it doesn't seem to be helping very much.

[lesthatsri 9]

Thank you for responding so fast lyzdude I was about to erase my post, because I went ahead and found the ROC facts in the forum. But thank you, I almost freaked out. I was planning on going back to my home country for the xmas holidays for this year with my baby and my husband. But i dont know if I could have a problem to get in and out of the country. :/ I just came back from Peru in June, and I had to go through the long line, as my green card was close to expiration.

[rjgacek 6]

You will get a one year extension letter effective when your 2 year green card expires. Yes they are very slow. If no RFE or interview you can expect a wait from 6 months to a year. If they would run our government like a proficient private company, they would hire more employees and open a few more service centers to handle the work load, I feel the reason for the long wait is because they want to remain under staffed, if they were paid by the case they would move faster, and the background checks does not take much time, I have 3 concealed weapons permits from 3 different states and when I renew takes them 30 days to approve going thru the FBI , local and state law enforcement. So I feel if they would hire more staff, like any other successful business, we would not have to wait for a year for this process to unfold. Good luck

Edited August 12, 2016 by rjgacek

[BeetLover 0]

Very unfair.

Edited August 12, 2016 by BeetLover

[mindthegap 2,590]

A year? I wish... My I-751 was signed for at Vermont 15 months ago this week.

[zoomzoom1980 5]

This is so messed up.. How come one service center processes in six months, and the other one processes in one year.. (some longer)

[Unlockable 7,315]

It rotates. If you search older threads you will see that all services centers get backlogged after a while. Some more than others but none are immune.

[Harmonia 211]

It isn't fair. We pay equal fees, and we should get roughly equal service. Its ludicrous. My spouse has waited 13 months at this point for VSC.

[Mollie09 1,543]

In the past two years there has been a transfer of 751s from VSC to CSC, so here's hoping it happens again this year.

[hsa12390 30]

I did notice that for us July 2016 filers, the VSC filers have been getting their NOA1s and biometrics letters much faster than CSC filers. Got my fingers crossed that VSC will hurry up...

Edited August 23, 2016 by hsa12390

[charmander 692]

Here is a chance to bug USCIS with I-751 processing times related questions today. There is a Q&A session on twitter at 2pm. Ask your questions with #ASKUSCIS .

https://twitter.com/USCIS/status/768070927007490048

If they receive enough complaints, maybe they would escalate the concerns to someone in charge.

[chicha 9]

Here is a chance to bug USCIS with I-751 processing times related questions today. There is a Q&A session on twitter at 2pm. Ask your questions with #ASKUSCIS .

https://twitter.com/USCIS/status/768070927007490048

If they receive enough complaints, maybe they would escalate the concerns to someone in charge.

Just bugged them!!

[charmander 692]

Check the USCIS Ombudsman 2016 Annual Report (published 6/29/19). https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/DHS%20Annual%20Report%202016.pdf Section on I-751 starts on Page 76. Though the Ombudsman acknowledges the delays in I-751s, whatever data they are using doesn't reflect the current processing times. They say average processing time for VSC is 7 months. Haha! Btw, Ombudsman wants adjudication within year of receipt. So even in its current state VSC is borderline slow according to the Ombudsman.

I found one interesting statistics linked at the same document. This one is important for people going to I-751 interviews. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes%20from%20Previous%20Engagements/PED-Field_Ops_Agenda_October_2015_Cleared.pdf

Page 5 shows the average waiting time for I-751 interviews per field offices. It is shocking some field offices have more than 1.5 years waiting. Shoot! Boston, Dallas 18 months, Queens almost 2 years. These people will first wait almost 1 year for VSC to respond, then probably another 3-4 months during RFE stage, and eventually another 1.5 years if they go to interviews. Geez! They ask USCIS to improve waiting times for interviews, here's the response: "USCIS will look into this issue and will work to ensure that Form I-751s are adjudicated in a more consistent manner."

And one last note for FBI background check related delays, Ombudsman wants USCIS to form a unified monitoring system and follow up with FBI on the status of pending cases. Let's see how they respond to that.

Edited August 23, 2016 by charmander