I-751 February 2019 Filers

[Duncan21 202]

2 hours ago, aroabi said:

Anyone in this group who has not been approved yet, I did some analysis. I tracked the cases on the case tracker and put them on the spreadsheet. My case is in VSC. VSC’s timeline is 13.5-18.5-months.

For cases around 13-13.5 months wait time- VSC completed the 50% of the cases by 13.5 months. If you are lucky to be in that 50% pool than you already got approved. 25% of the cases got RFE, some cases got transferred. After VSC reached its 50% completion goal, it slowed down the approval process. Because now VSC has 5 months to complete just 43% of the cases. So, they leave the cases hanging (especially the ones that are in fingerprints received status) and will start actively working on late February/March cases to finish their 50% completion quota by 13.5 months. RFEs will be approved after certain number of days when VSC receives them. This is why cases from October-December 2018 are still pending while the February-March 2019 cases are getting approved. USCIS has target deadlines that it has to meet, they do not care about the extra wait time they are imposing on applicants

 

The Approval/RFE ratio is about 2:1. This seems to be quite consistent.

 

Here are the numbers for early February cases (500 cases on case tracker) range 5527-6027.

Total                -66

Approved       -26

RFE                  -13

Transferred     -3

Pending (Fingerprints received)  -22

So, my conclusion is that if you are not in that lucky 50%, then you have a better chance of getting approved if you got RFE than if you are in that “Fingerprints received” pool. Remember that by 18.5 months VSC  just has to complete 93% of the cases by their own admission, meaning that 7% of the cases will be outside normal processing time. So, don’t be afraid of getting an RFE!

 

I assume this does not apply to the MSC cases, where almost all cases are called for an interview.

[mseck8688 16]

EAC VERMONT ARE PROCESSING CORRECT OR ACCURATE I DO NOT BELIEVE IT ?

 

[nj59516 16]

I check processing time now and it has moved backward to august “25 2019 till yesterday it was sept 15 2019. Now it says 13.5to18.5

[mseck8688 16]

1 hour ago, nj59516 said:

I check processing time now and it has moved backward to august “25 2019 till yesterday it was sept 15 2019. Now it says 13.5to18.5

this been happening a lot thats why i dont belive those processing time and orders ..

i cannot wait to finis with this hell of process .

i married to a us citizen we have 3 kids born here 

[aroabi 21]

1 hour ago, Duncan21 said:

I assume this does not apply to the MSC cases, where almost all cases are called for an interview.

Yes, this is for cases starting with EAC (Vermont Service Center).

[aroabi 21]

40 minutes ago, mseck8688 said:

this been happening a lot thats why i dont belive those processing time and orders ..

i cannot wait to finis with this hell of process .

i married to a us citizen we have 3 kids born here 

They update their time line every few weeks or once a month. Usually they update the timeline toward the end of the month. When it is freshly updated it is accurate. By accurate I mean that by 13.5 months they have completed 50% of cases and by 18.5 they have completed 93% of the cases. They just care to meet those two deadlines and if they realize they are not meeting those deadlines they simply increase the processing time. Maybe I should quit my job and become an immigration officer- seems like they have a nice stress-free jobs with those stretchable deadlines.   

Edited February 25, 2020 by aroabi

[xillini 71]

1 hour ago, aroabi said:

They update their time line every few weeks or once a month. Usually they update the timeline toward the end of the month. When it is freshly updated it is accurate. By accurate I mean that by 13.5 months they have completed 50% of cases and by 18.5 they have completed 93% of the cases. They just care to meet those two deadlines and if they realize they are not meeting those deadlines they simply increase the processing time. Maybe I should quit my job and become an immigration officer- seems like they have a nice stress-free jobs with those stretchable deadlines.   

You can check with Glassdoor for juicy details of what is happening in USCIS working as ISO, but generally, all the comments commonly shares one point: ISO is expected to meet quota for processing cases and evaluated their job performances based on the processed cases, so if you think their life are easy, then clearly, you want to check the juicy details in Glassdoor. 

 

I agree that USCIS's convenient interpretation on timeline to justify their actions. Without knowing their tacit knowledge and practices, though, it is not easy to tell what is wrong with them. I do know, however, that in the past, USCIS outside of normal processing time is "After 50%", but when Trump assumed the office, they changed the definition of "outside of normal processing time" to 93% with a rationale that by changing definition of outside of normal processing time, it is expected that more ISOs are available for adjudicating actual cases sounds familiar when USCIS changes the infopass from making appointment to "call only" when they say more ISOs will be available for adjudicating cases. Now the problem continues because people can not even get I 551 stamps and they have to waste couple of hours to get connected and try for the best luck. 

 

Well, Welcome to USA! 

[niggabells 5]

On 1/14/2020 at 3:34 PM, niggabells said:

Congrats to all February i751 LIN filers whose case has been approved

Anyone in my situation?

I filled since late February 2019, I received my extension 2weeks  after and till now I have not received biometric appointment

my status still shows case received. and I have called USCIS twice and I got a same response that "you would be scheduled for and notified for an appointment at the appropriate time"

the wait time is taking too long.

I Just want to share an update. I called USCIS and requested to speak with a Tier 2 Officer, I was told my Biometric appointment was sent out since September 2019 but i didn't receive any mail so i got an appointment scheduled and sent to my personal email. Hopefully i get a response soon.

I suggest that anyone with this kind of situation do the same

Warm Regards

[aroabi 21]

14 hours ago, xillini said:

You can check with Glassdoor for juicy details of what is happening in USCIS working as ISO, but generally, all the comments commonly shares one point: ISO is expected to meet quota for processing cases and evaluated their job performances based on the processed cases, so if you think their life are easy, then clearly, you want to check the juicy details in Glassdoor. 

 

I agree that USCIS's convenient interpretation on timeline to justify their actions. Without knowing their tacit knowledge and practices, though, it is not easy to tell what is wrong with them. I do know, however, that in the past, USCIS outside of normal processing time is "After 50%", but when Trump assumed the office, they changed the definition of "outside of normal processing time" to 93% with a rationale that by changing definition of outside of normal processing time, it is expected that more ISOs are available for adjudicating actual cases sounds familiar when USCIS changes the infopass from making appointment to "call only" when they say more ISOs will be available for adjudicating cases. Now the problem continues because people can not even get I 551 stamps and they have to waste couple of hours to get connected and try for the best luck. 

 

Well, Welcome to USA! 

I agree that on individual level IOs may have somewhat of a hard time with quotas since their productivity is traceable  and they cannot easily slack off. But are their officers working more than 8 hours? I doubt. What are their upper management doing? Why after 18.5-26 months they still have 7% of the cases not completed? This is where the problem is. They are hiding behind the 50% and 93% completion rate and posting an eye-pleasing time line based on that. They have to post a timeline in which their upper range shows 100% completion. They do not have to approve the cases but they have to make a decision on those cases. Then we will see the real ugly picture of their true backlogs and the unreasonable delays they are imposing on the applicants. With today's technology it is not hard to know their tactics and practices. The head of this agency deserves to be fired. If this was another agency and has created this crisis a lot of people would have been fired. As to the increase in application numbers, well the population worldwide is increasing and number of the applications are increasing as well. They have to have a reasonable "IO/# of cases" ratio to be able to keep up with number of the applications. We hear about increased number of applications, but we do not hear about the extra money they got from those applicants and what they have done with it.

 

You mentioned earlier that they have the right to prioritize the type of applications. Fair enough, but they have to make sure that the congress/house agrees with them.

 

As a Manhattan resident I have to wait 13-26.5 months for N-400 processing, yet a Queens resident that lives 10-15 min subway ride from me has to wait 10-15.5 months, not to mention offices where upper range is 10 months. If this not absurd and gross mismanagement, then I do not know what it is.

 

 

 

[TheKingmaker 153]

Just got a text notification regarding our case being transferred to "another office" for processing.

 

Wonder is this is good news, bad news or neutral news. Will let y'all know what the physical letter says.

[Duncan21 202]

6 hours ago, TheKingmaker said:

Just got a text notification regarding our case being transferred to "another office" for processing.

 

Wonder is this is good news, bad news or neutral news. Will let y'all know what the physical letter says.

Hoping for the best!

[xillini 71]

8 hours ago, aroabi said:

But are their officers working more than 8 hours? I doubt. What are their upper management doing? Why after 18.5-26 months they still have 7% of the cases not completed? This is where the problem is.

You are trying to hold them accountable, who are highly bureaucratic and does't care simply because they can do. I agree their lack of efficient processing, but you are not the 1st one trying to hold them accountable, and certainly not the last person, but it is almost assured that USCIS won't simply be changed. 

 

8 hours ago, aroabi said:

They are hiding behind the 50% and 93% completion rate and posting an eye-pleasing time line based on that. They have to post a timeline in which their upper range shows 100% completion. They do not have to approve the cases but they have to make a decision on those cases. Then we will see the real ugly picture of their true backlogs and the unreasonable delays they are imposing on the applicants.

Again, they know how this waiting game works, so they simply don't care, unfortunately. This is like, Chinese changing definition of corona virus confirmation cases every week to manipulate the number and give twisted prospects, which every employer and agency does. Some are governed by legal basis (i.e: accounting for operation net profit), but this processing time is not governed by any part of INA, and therefore it is discretionary of USCIS's making its definition until Congress specifically defines the processing time. 

 

8 hours ago, aroabi said:

The head of this agency deserves to be fired. If this was another agency and has created this crisis a lot of people would have been fired. As to the increase in application numbers, well the population worldwide is increasing and number of the applications are increasing as well. They have to have a reasonable "IO/# of cases" ratio to be able to keep up with number of the applications. We hear about increased number of applications, but we do not hear about the extra money they got from those applicants and what they have done with it.

Well, Trump's first USCIS's director was almost sacked due to his professionalism, and second USCIS director is now promoted to acting to DHS. Currently director is a vacant position, but apparently, Ken Cuccinelli is de-facto director who is following and enforcing Trump's immigration policy and agenda is a de facto director.

 

To be fair, USCIS is not the only agency that has this kind of attitude (we don't care simply because we can). if you deal with IRS, they have same mindset where you are required to provide detailed documentations if you are in their hook.

 

The thing is in both IRS and USCIS, it is applicants' responsibility to demonstrate eligible benefits, and therefore, the burden of proof is more rigorous than other agency. 

 

Same thing goes for Veteran Affairs, HUD, and not to mention, DMV, just to name a few. 

 

We may hope someone else (such as Sen. Sanders) will become a president, who promised to abolish agency like ICE and reform USCIS, but that is different issue, political landscape is unpredictable, and most importantly, out of our hands. Since you would have your USC spouse, please tell them to vote! 

8 hours ago, aroabi said:

You mentioned earlier that they have the right to prioritize the type of applications. Fair enough, but they have to make sure that the congress/house agrees with them.

Again, USCIS does not have to agree with Congressional guidance simply because they can, for which they don't have to beg for budget since their finance is from application fees. As you know, USCIS director is not required to be appointed by Congress, but President can simply nominate anyone, and President Trump has been taking advantage of this system while effectively enforcing his political agenda on the table. The big picture here is democratic institution must be manged by "rule of laws", but many USA's agency is out of Congress's hands, and therefore there is big shadow that is not governed by Congress. 

 

8 hours ago, aroabi said:

As a Manhattan resident I have to wait 13-26.5 months for N-400 processing, yet a Queens resident that lives 10-15 min subway ride from me has to wait 10-15.5 months, not to mention offices where upper range is 10 months. If this not absurd and gross mismanagement, then I do not know what it is.

To me, this practice is highly misleading and undemocratic, and potentially this will lead to impeach and prosecute elected officials involved in this, but for someone escaping from violence or low income countries, this is much better practice run in their country of home's government practice, and therefore, not that much gross practice, if not pleasant experience. USCIS deals with everyone from every part of the world, and will advise you that if you don't agree with our practice, you are more than welcome to go back to your home, or seek for another country's immigration benefits. Again, same thing, but they don't care daily human lives simply because they can, which is unfortunate. 

 

So this question must be individually answered for each individual who is seeking immigration benefits: "Is USA really a great country to live?" 

[aroabi 21]

2 hours ago, xillini said:

To be fair, USCIS is not the only agency that has this kind of attitude (we don't care simply because we can). if you deal with IRS, they have same mindset where you are required to provide detailed documentations if you are in their hook.

 

The thing is in both IRS and USCIS, it is applicants' responsibility to demonstrate eligible benefits, and therefore, the burden of proof is more rigorous than other agency. 

 

Same thing goes for Veteran Affairs, HUD, and not to mention, DMV, just to name a few. 

 

We may hope someone else (such as Sen. Sanders) will become a president, who promised to abolish agency like ICE and reform USCIS, but that is different issue, political landscape is unpredictable, and most importantly, out of our hands. Since you would have your USC spouse, please tell them to vote!

 

To me, this practice is highly misleading and undemocratic, and potentially this will lead to impeach and prosecute elected officials involved in this, but for someone escaping from violence or low income countries, this is much better practice run in their country of home's government practice, and therefore, not that much gross practice, if not pleasant experience. USCIS deals with everyone from every part of the world, and will advise you that if you don't agree with our practice, you are more than welcome to go back to your home, or seek for another country's immigration benefits. Again, same thing, but they don't care daily human lives simply because they can, which is unfortunate.

Thanks for your insights. I agree with you that they simply do not care and it is largely because they can.

 

I personally dealt with IRS 4-5 times and found them very reasonable and fair. I was even shocked how professional and reasonable they were given their scary reputation.  Same goes for DMV. I would put USCIS in a very different category, not its individual employees but the agency itself; it is the most unreasonable, illogical, inefficient and incompetent agency I have ever dealt with.

 

As to voting for elections, we live in New York, so whoever the democratic candidate is will win here. There is no chance for a non-democrat to win this state.

 

One thing I would point out is that even though USCIS is 99% funded by the application fees, at least for some cases those funds are taken from US citizens. If USCIS does not care about immigrants minimally USCIS should treat the constituents fairly. Otherwise they are going to open themselves to lawsuits for subjecting constituents from different jurisdictions to very different processing time lines. Local congressman/congresswoman and/or senator may chose or try to protect their constituents from unfair delays by USCIS. And a lot of local representatives are doing it. USCIS is hurting US citizens as well not just the immigrants and simply telling the immigrants to go back or find a different country is not the answer. And you would think that they as an agency would have a little respect for people who "pay" their salaries.

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by aroabi

[valefercrs 21]

Update today: Case received at my local office 

[nj59516 16]

You filed for n400? What is your service center and your filing date