HUSKERKIEV

Hello everyone,
This is my first post so don't flame me for protocol or if I say something out of place.
I joined VJ because of two reasons. First, I just sent off my initial I-129F packet to NSC for processing and 2) I used to be an Applications Adjudicator (Immigration Officer) at the NSC (2003) so I thought perhaps I could help out someone with any questions they have on how the NSC operates. Or at least the part that I worked in. Some of the processes are the same regardless of departments. I'd be happy to give you as much info as I can as there aren't any real secrets and since I don't work there any longer I can speak about it.
As for my K-1 journey, to make a long story short, I travelled last summer to Kiev and met a wonderful woman (and her daughter) quite by accident. We spent a lot of time together during my trip, fell in love and the rest as they say is "history".
We finally got around to compiling all the docs and as I said, I sent them off to NSC yesterady so I guess I fall into the February Filers category. I hope to have her and her daughter here by August (hopefully)!
So, I make myself available to anyone who has questions about the Nebraska Service Center and its quirks or the BCIS as it were in general.
Finally, to answer a question that some of you might be thinking - "no, I can't do anything to help you specifically with your petition. Just like I have to wait in line with everyone else on mine also. Yes, i still have friends who work there, but its againstthe rules to do favors and can get a person fired. And I would never put my friends in that position." But I'd be happy to answer other non-specific questions as I can. I don't know everything but I will try to help where I can.
Thanks.
D.

Well lets see how much I remember...
Maybe it might be easier if I just described what I would do to approve a petition - my process.
First, I would select a case file/folder. All petitions/files are kept in folders that a have a scanable bar code identifier. This folder has everything that a person submits on the left side of the folder and all the agency generated documents on the right side. They should be in date order, Petition and then most recent from top to bottom. The left side has the pictures on top.
You begin by looking at the petition for correctness by checking the information via several databases depending upon what type of petition you are adjudicating. Also if the form was complete and everything was in order. Descrepancies in peoples names from what the database had vs. what the petition said, birth dates, things like that all had to be resolved and could generate a RFE if the adjudicator couldn't figure it out with the tools he had.
There were some standard criminal and background type databases that were required for all petitions. A "hit" in any of these databases would flag the petition and it would be sent to a special group who worked to resolve why the "hit" occurred. Sometimes it could be something simple as a similar name of a bad guy, but every hit had to be resolved.
I remember that certain surnames would invariably cause a hit, but they could be resolved rather quickly by comparing the applicants background information with those of the "hit" name. There were various ways to do this of course, and it took time. Thats why some applications take longer to process because there are stumbling blocks along the way that must be worked through before approval. Consequently, all the other petitions that the officer was working get set to the side. or, the adjudicator/officer might set the difficult one to the side and work on less complicated ones. Remember it was a production environment where you had to be accurate but fast. Getting a petition kicked back for mistakes to be re-worked hurt your overall stats, so, you tried to be a thorough as you could, but also as quick as you could.
After clearing a applicant through the various mandatory database searches, then you could begin to review the various information on the petition. Sometimes there would be stupid mistakes like forgetting to sign it, or using a copy when an original signature was required etc... Kinda careless mistakes or from not really understanding the instructions type of thing. Anyway, these would generate an RFE, and the file's staus would be update in the computer as awaiting repsonse to RFE or something like that, I don't recall the exact terminology.
Anyway, instead of sending the newly RFE'd file back to the large file storage area, it would be kept at the officers desk in a holding cue. Then when an RFE reply would come in, I wpuld pull it (the file) off the shelf and rework it. I tried to clear all my answered RFE's out first thing every morning because it was "old" work as compared to the dates I was working at the time. If the RFE had the required information, it would continue to be processed and/or approved and sent on its way. If the RFE did not address the item, then another RFE would be generated and back on the shelf it would go.
A word about RFE's. It was my experience that no two officers would always see eye to eye on if an RFE was required. Some officers could or would spend some more time digging around the file or a database to find the information (if they thought it could be found) and others would just as soon rip off an RFE. So it varied. Then there were some times that an RFE was required because of the situation. Again, it depends a lot on who was looking at your case and what the question was / what information was needed. No hard and fast rule.
Also, each adjudicator/officer had a master list of RFE "phrases that they could pull off thier computer and plug into a standard RFE form depending upon the situation. Each of these "phrases" could be further "wordsmithed" to suit a particular situation. Again depends on the officer. Thats why you may see some RFE's that are similar but not exact. We would borrow each others RFE phrases to add to our list as we came across one that fit a particular situation.
It would be like "Hey, cube mate. I've got this situation, do you have anything in your RFE library that might fit?" answer "Sure, try this one. I'll email it to you". And thats how that worked.
You asked about country of birth etc.. Yes and no. There were "watch lists" of certain countries that meant that certain procedures had to be followed when processing petitions from these countries, but it was just a couple more things to check/verify along the approval process. It didn't slow things down dramatically. So, I wouldn't worry about that being a big factor.
Additional review. Mainly if you came up as a "hit" for a surname of a bad guy (or gal) that would have to be resolved. Marriage Fraud. Overstaying your visit. Lying. Criminal activity/organized crime, police reports, things that would be outside of a "normal" person's life you might say.
So back to the approval process. So if no RFE was needed then i would "approve' the petition, affix my stamp with my identifier # , sign and date it. I would then scan the file, update the status and send it on its wayto the next stop wherever that was. Actually, all the approved petitions/files were placed in a separate box and those were collected as you went along and taken for final disposition/processing.
Then you start all over again with the next case...

Thanks. There are storage shelves in each section of the building that house the boxes full of applicants files. These shelves are continuosly replenished as boxes are removed by the officers to be worked or turned in to be further processed after being approved. This resupply as it were is handled by the CIS contract employees.
So as a Adjudicator/officer I would go and get a box of case files every morning, scan/wand each file into the sytem under my user ID # (so people could track who had it) and then begin to adjudicate the cases. A box might hold 50 case or so.
They also had a rack for "expedites" which were cases whose petitioners had selected/paid for "premium processing". You were slected on a rotating bais to do "expedites". But the process was the same for these they just were staged diferently in the overall que of things, so to speak. MOved further ahead in line or something. Congressionals were pulled by the congressional office and routed to the appropriate supervisor for dissemination to his employee's to work with a short turn around time.
So, your number of files vary at any given time during the day. Officers who did the work form home I spoek about earlier would come in to the office maybe once or twice a week, scan in all thier new files (to their ID), then scan in all the approved files they were returning back into the system (from thier ID) and take the multiple boxes back home with them to work. Enough to last a few days or so.
The reason for some hanging so long could be several. One could be an RFE and while the officer is waiting for the response he is working more current dates. In other words more and more applications are getting in front of the RFE'd application. Another reason could be that the boxes that are staged on the shelves are chosen at random by the officers. For some reason a box of files might sit longer on the shelf than another. Usually not more than a day at the most though. Or the officer could be hording a box at his desk (for some strange reason) and then goes on vacation and deoesn't scan them out of his name and back into (return) them to the system so they can be picked up by someone else to work. So it sits for awhile.
Usually unless a file gets misplaced, applications are always kept in date groupings and date order. If you look in a box of files, they will all have been initially entered into the system either on the same day or within a day. That way they can work from oldest to newest in a organized fashion. They are kept that way so it will be fair to everyone waiting in line for approval.
On the rare occurance a file will be mistakenly sent to district office or other Service Center, the error will be caught when a file search is done and it shows the location of the file (there is a system code showing its physical location). The the file is recalled to its proper center or office. Very rare though.

Just a quick note. This is my thoughts as if I were to receive your package as an adjudicator and not based on anything else.
So, as I would heft this door stop of a packet onto my desk I would first think to myself that while it may be a tad much, this person has their stuff in one sock so to speak (translated – you have your act together, maybe a bit over the top- but together none-the-less). I would always have too much information to look through than not enough and have to send out an RFE. It just may happen that a piece of supplemental information is found on those extra documents. One never knows…
As an adjudicator, I know what exactly I’m looking for, what’s relevant and what’s not needed to be looked at right at the moment. I’d check the things I needed to check and basically ignore the rest, (unless I needed to find a specific piece of info that I thought might be included within your packet). Otherwise, it all stays in the file, but unless its something I’d deal with to make a determination on your case I wouldn’t bother (unless it was a real slow day and I wanted some entertainment or something to talk about at lunch with the co-workers. “Hey Mary, you should’ve seen the packet I got today…” Just kidding. We usually never talked shop and because we’re always busy, time to browse doesn’t usually happen.
So to answer your question more directly – I don’t think its gonna hurt your case any if that’s what you’re worried about.

Yes, either you misunderstood my comments or I did a poor job explaining it.
If you want to refer to it as a checklist of things that must accompnay a petition then call it that, but really it's a good working knowledge of the regulatory guidance as spelled out in 8 CFR which is our bible as Immigration Officers. Some have a written checklist at thier desks and some have it committed to memory. But we all know what "has" to be in the application packet at a minimum, for any petition. If a question arose we would consult the CFR.
So as to not confuse anyone, you must always provide what the petition is calling for or run the risk of not being approved or RFE'd. I would not approve a petition of any kind unless it had at least the minimum items required by the law. Thats just following the law I was working under. I think I would speak for other officers as well. If it doesn't meet the criteria set forth under the CFR, its a no-go.
Proof of relationship is a requirement and therefore you must provide the neccessary information to prove that. Don't leave it out!
What I was referring to was that I knew what required items I HAD to look at or HAD to be included in the packet to receive an approval stamp. Outside of the mandatory things the rest is considered supporting information. And while it may not be applicable to me and my small part of the approval process, it could be VERY relevant or even a required piece of information to the consular officer down the road at the Embassy or to someone else.
Its usually all relevant information to someone, but I would not focus on it because it was not relevant to my small part of the overall approval process. Thats what I meant to say... Does that help?

Here's what happens at the center. Once your mailed petition arrives at the service centermail room the money and application are separated, then your information/application will be removed from whatever you place it in and put into a standard applicant file just like all the others. As I said earlier up the page, all the petitioners stuff/docs etc... is placed on the left side of the applicant file and the CIS geneated stuff is on the right hand side.
So it doesn't really matter what you send it in really, as long as it stays together until it hits the mail room. I sent all of my stuff in with a big black clip holding everything together and my check paperclipped on the cover letter. Then put everything in a US Mail Express mail envelope. it made it there yesterday AM and I'm sure I' was in my own little cozy A-file by the end of yesterday afternoon.

I wanted to post this to hopefully put everyone who is waiting there NOA1 and NOA2's mind at rest a bit.
To the best of my recollection, the denial rate for I-129F's is/was relatively low. The majority of people that apply for a I-129F will receive approval, it may take time because of the workload/backlog but you should eventually get it. You may get an RFE or two or none - it all depends, but again barring that you haven't got something illegal or very bad in your past, were honest and forthright and the petition is for a valid relationship (on both parties part) and everything is legit, you should go through at some point.
IMBRA is a whole different matter as I was not there when it took effect. So I may be eating my words at some point. but typically if you played by the rules, filed an accurate and complete petition and without any major hiccups along the way, you should be approved. So, hopefully now everyone can relax a bit.
Where the rub might come is that even though your I-129F is approved, the consulate can still nix the whole deal and deny granting the K Visa based upon thier recommendations for whatever reason they deem fit and appropriate. Again, State Dept tries to approve everyone, but some just don't make the final cut for legitimate reasons. I saw on the State Dept's website that they were posting around a 75% approval rate for K-1 Visa's. My personal opinion would be that if State was deadset on denying K Visa's, they typically wouldn't be giving the denied applicant an opportunity (in most cases) to correct the noted defiencies and reapply.
So I hope this helps everyone.

Pardon the typos' in advance
Thats a tough question and things might have changed since I was there almost 4 years ago now. But Nebraska was lagging behind at that point also. Management really was pushing a numbers game as far as adjudicators cranking out as many as they can. I also see that the NSC has a new Director (who used to be the Omaha District Manager). He's a good man.
An Adjudicators job performance is based on several factors. 1) how many files (petitions) you process everyday 2) number of applications "kicked back" because you made a mistake and they shouldn't have been approved and 3) attention to details and how many errors you make. Management gets a report on each Adjudicator (we all have a individual ID #) showing the total # of petitions processed, number kicked back and how many errors we made. They can call this up anytime and we wree required to keep a daily tally of the work we did. When performance appraisel time came around, you would discuss your individual performance with your supervisor.
Thats one of the reasons why you might see that your application was "touched" several times ona given day but no change in status. The adjudicator began working it (touch), went to lunch (touch), came back from lunch (touch) and finished reviewing it and sent it off to be processed (touch). Its touched when it goes back into the que and etc...
Keep in mind everytime a file changes hands whether its signed out to an Adjudicator or some satff person, its gets "wanded" ino the system so they can track who specifically has the file. Each file has a scannable bar code. Sometimes you'd be working a file that has someone else working another compnent of the file or one of the family members. We would alwaystry to keep family members together and approve them at the same time.
getting back to the way it works,
If at any time you weren't processing enough petitions you would usually be talked to by your supervisor. Generally, this was only if there appeared to be a "trend" in your productivity. Everyone has days when they could process a lot vs. other "slower" days. A lot depends on the complexity of the petition you were working and some other "bean counting" tricks you could use to keep your #'s up. Everyone is trained on certain petitions first and progresses to the more complicated ones. This way they have the more experienced Adjudicators working the more difficult petitions like the 485's etc...
RE: RFE's and touches, see my last post about scanning in files to work them. D.