Disparity Between VSC and CSC and

[Chris Future 0]

We are unlucky enough to have two events shape our schedules - the backlog of new filings from the fee increase, which they state will carry on to 2010, and the fact that there is an election this November. I predict that we wont see an acceleration of our visas until after November. What do you think?

I think the situation will remain as-is for at least 2 more years. That's how long it's going to take President Obama to get someone in there who can do the job, and for that person to actually affect change.

Actually, you are probably more right with the two year prediction. Oh yes and BTW, President Obama will probably also sign an amnesty bill before then, legalizing those in the country who entered the country illegally to be with their loved ones, while those of us still waiting for CSC approval pull out the rest of our hair.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I thought Obama was pro Chinese Wall/mass deportation? McCain is pro amnesty.

[BigCityDave 0]

I really hope the elections aren't slowing down my petition in the CSC.

[Chris Future 0]

I thought Obama was pro Chinese Wall/mass deportation? McCain is pro amnesty.

According to his website he is pro-amnesty too, but in a weird way. He says anyone here illegally should not be allowed to work, but pay a fine and be allowed to stay in the country and go to the end of the line for citizenship. Considering how long its takes to get citizenship, have no idea what he thinks all these people will do while they are waiting. Get on welfare?

He does mention fixing the dysfunctional system and united families, but his only action on that front is to say no to the new points system for visas, which only affect non-spouse/child cases, so not us.

Clinton wants the above plus to allow non-citizens to bring in their spouses. Now those petitions take even more time than ours. She wants them to take the same amount of time, which will probably burden our system even more.

McCain's site says nothing on family visas.

Edited March 6, 2008 by Chris Future

[rebeccajo 14]

Again guys, you're mixed up on what gets processed where and why.

I129Fs are processed in CA and VT (Service Center). As you already know.

I485's (greencard or AOS) are processed in your local (District Office).

I751's (lifting conditions) are processed in all four of the Service Centers (CA,TX, VT, NB). They are considered low priority.

N400's (naturalization) are also processed at the local offices.

Naturalization applications are not 'in line' with your fiance petitions at all.

For your information, the president long ago mandated these petitions to take top priority over all other types. There is also a codified time limit within the INA (180 days) wherein the petitioner must receive an answer.

Filing for citizenship is the highest request an immigrant can ask of this Nation. The government considers itself to be honored to receive this request.

[Chris Future 0]

Again guys, you're mixed up on what gets processed where and why.

I129Fs are processed in CA and VT (Service Center). As you already know.

I485's (greencard or AOS) are processed in your local (District Office).

I751's (lifting conditions) are processed in all four of the Service Centers (CA,TX, VT, NB). They are considered low priority.

N400's (naturalization) are also processed at the local offices.

Naturalization applications are not 'in line' with your fiance petitions at all.

For your information, the president long ago mandated these petitions to take top priority over all other types. There is also a codified time limit within the INA (180 days) wherein the petitioner must receive an answer.

Filing for citizenship is the highest request an immigrant can ask of this Nation. The government considers itself to be honored to receive this request.

It doesnt matter which center processes what - at the high level decisions are made as to which centers are staffed based on priority. If they want to process more N-400s, then they add more staff to the local offices, not CSC. Therefore this influx is affecting us indirectly by sending more resources away from processing our petitions.

So you are saying that citizenship requests do take priority over citizens request to reunite with family?

[mox 298]

So you are saying that citizenship requests do take priority over citizens request to reunite with family?

As mandated by the President, yes.

mox's tip o' the day: let's not turn this into yet another immigration "debate" (this term used loosely) thread. Those threads almost always piss everyone off, and they always solve nothing. They also usually wind up locked.

[rebeccajo 14]

Again guys, you're mixed up on what gets processed where and why.

I129Fs are processed in CA and VT (Service Center). As you already know.

I485's (greencard or AOS) are processed in your local (District Office).

I751's (lifting conditions) are processed in all four of the Service Centers (CA,TX, VT, NB). They are considered low priority.

N400's (naturalization) are also processed at the local offices.

Naturalization applications are not 'in line' with your fiance petitions at all.

For your information, the president long ago mandated these petitions to take top priority over all other types. There is also a codified time limit within the INA (180 days) wherein the petitioner must receive an answer.

Filing for citizenship is the highest request an immigrant can ask of this Nation. The government considers itself to be honored to receive this request.

It doesnt matter which center processes what - at the high level decisions are made as to which centers are staffed based on priority. If they want to process more N-400s, then they add more staff to the local offices, not CSC. Therefore this influx is affecting us indirectly by sending more resources away from processing our petitions.

So you are saying that citizenship requests do take priority over citizens request to reunite with family?

I'm saying the time limit is codified. No other petition type has a legal time limit.

That being said, USCIS is still the man with the gold. Until recently, several thousand N400 petitioners were held in the namecheck crunch literally for YEARS while their petitions languished. The only alternative for these individuals was to file a Writ of Mandamus in Federal Court in the hopes a judge would force the government to 'do their job' (the Latin meaning of mandamus). These writs almost always acheived the desired result until January 07 when USCIS announced they would immediately file for a dismissal order in these actions citing 'national security' as taking precedence over the code. Many Federal Judges (annoyed with the governments attempt to spit in the face of the law) denied these motions and the plaintiff still prevailed.

The namecheck issue catches many petitioners for adjustment of status also. This is what happened to my husband and why his card was delayed for 17 months. There is an entire thread in the AOS forum which addresses this issue. There are VJ members who have been waiting three, four and five years just for the greencard. Last month, USCIS issued a change in policy wherein beginning this month, they will no longer hold a greencard petitioner hostage for more than 6 months due to namecheck. The card will be issued, but lifting of conditions and indeed, naturalization may still be delayed until the namecheck is complete.

I should also add that sometime when Colin Powell was still around, he spoke to USCIS and stated the goal of the administration should be six months for family reunification. At the time that was considered a 'mandate' of sorts - it still remains a goal.

[rebeccajo 14]

So you are saying that citizenship requests do take priority over citizens request to reunite with family?

As mandated by the President, yes.

mox's tip o' the day: let's not turn this into yet another immigration "debate" (this term used loosely) thread. Those threads almost always piss everyone off, and they always solve nothing. They also usually wind up locked.

Technically, mox, it has little to do with Bush. It's been in the INA since long before he has been around. I am at work and don't have time to find the section of the code, but if you google around you will find it.

And also (contrary to your well-intentioned admonition) as long as the tone of this thread remains civil, I see it as beneficial to the learning curve of all reading. A lot of the frustration while waiting through this process comes from a lack of knowledge of the practical aspects of how the service is run. That ain't saying that people are stupid. It is saying they often don't know where to look for the information, and even when looking the complexities can be overwhelming.

A little practical knowledge can go a long way.

[mox 298]

Technically, mox, it has little to do with Bush. It's been in the INA since long before he has been around. I am at work and don't have time to find the section of the code, but if you google around you will find it.

Hmmm...you're not saying President Bush's mandate that citizenship processing comes first was somehow redundant and possibly even a publicity stunt are you? NO ma'am, I simply cannot believe this of our President!

And also (contrary to your well-intentioned admonition) as long as the tone of this thread remains civil, I see it as beneficial to the learning curve of all reading. A lot of the frustration while waiting through this process comes from a lack of knowledge of the practical aspects of how the service is run. That ain't saying that people are stupid. It is saying they often don't know where to look for the information, and even when looking the complexities can be overwhelming.

A little practical knowledge can go a long way.

Agreed, all of it. My intention isn't to shut the current (productive) discussion down, but only to make sure it continues on an even-keeled course. Once I start throwing chairs and ruminating about other poster's potential ancestries, then it'll be time to shut 'er down.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

On the original topic, there are probably only two solutions to the inbalance between the centres and neither are very likely. Either A. They re balance the states to whom the Centers serve (which is a really bad thing in the short run, ie. lots of petitions were messed up/lost last summer do to last shift) or B. They quietly remove the CSC director and place him somewhere else whilst taking one of the VSC managers and placing him in CSC to retool their system)

Neither are likely to happen.

[Chris Future 0]

The namecheck issue catches many petitioners for adjustment of status also. This is what happened to my husband and why his card was delayed for 17 months. There is an entire thread in the AOS forum which addresses this issue. There are VJ members who have been waiting three, four and five years just for the greencard. Last month, USCIS issued a change in policy wherein beginning this month, they will no longer hold a greencard petitioner hostage for more than 6 months due to namecheck. The card will be issued, but lifting of conditions and indeed, naturalization may still be delayed until the namecheck is complete.

I should also add that sometime when Colin Powell was still around, he spoke to USCIS and stated the goal of the administration should be six months for family reunification. At the time that was considered a 'mandate' of sorts - it still remains a goal.

Yes, name check is a huge issue. The whole system is just so riddled with inconsistencies, favoritism, black holes, file losses, its not funny. I read about the 6 month issue. Thats was a good move. I think someone should just impose a 6 month negative option deadline on our visa as well: if they are not processed from beginning to end within 6 months, the visa is automatically issued. Why not? Like that ruling, we can catch offenders during the naturalization process. If its good enough for GCs it shoudl be good enough for us, don't you think?

[rebeccajo 14]

The namecheck issue catches many petitioners for adjustment of status also. This is what happened to my husband and why his card was delayed for 17 months. There is an entire thread in the AOS forum which addresses this issue. There are VJ members who have been waiting three, four and five years just for the greencard. Last month, USCIS issued a change in policy wherein beginning this month, they will no longer hold a greencard petitioner hostage for more than 6 months due to namecheck. The card will be issued, but lifting of conditions and indeed, naturalization may still be delayed until the namecheck is complete.

I should also add that sometime when Colin Powell was still around, he spoke to USCIS and stated the goal of the administration should be six months for family reunification. At the time that was considered a 'mandate' of sorts - it still remains a goal.

Yes, name check is a huge issue. The whole system is just so riddled with inconsistencies, favoritism, black holes, file losses, its not funny. I read about the 6 month issue. Thats was a good move. I think someone should just impose a 6 month negative option deadline on our visa as well: if they are not processed from beginning to end within 6 months, the visa is automatically issued. Why not? Like that ruling, we can catch offenders during the naturalization process. If its good enough for GCs it shoudl be good enough for us, don't you think?

Ah, you're a very creative thinker, Chris!

I do agree with you that family based visas need to be processed as quickly as possible. And believe it or not, I feel the service is committed to that end. Are they working as efficiently right now as they could be? No. The technology they are working with (at the moment) makes that impossible. I foresee that changing in the future. Unfortunately it will take time for that technology to be implemented.

Also remember that the relative of a USC is not subject to waiting for an immigrant visa number to become available. If for nothing else other than this, husbands, wives, children and yes even fiances/fiancees are reunited under a ratio than other immigrants.

I'm not sure where one would draw the line for when a visa 'must' be issued. A visa to admit someone to the United States is not the same thing as granting permanent residency or citizenship to someone who is already here. If it were, Homeland Security would never have been created. The focus of our nation now for admission to the US is security clearance of immigrants. You have spoken in other posts of seeking publicity to raise the hue and cry amongst the general public regarding the service. You would never convince that public that speeding up the process and admitting citizens who have not been interviewed by a consulate and produced a police certificate as to their background, that those immigrants should automatically be admitted. And well such admissions should not occur.

Edited March 6, 2008 by rebeccajo

[Chris Future 0]

On the original topic, there are probably only two solutions to the inbalance between the centres and neither are very likely. Either A. They re balance the states to whom the Centers serve (which is a really bad thing in the short run, ie. lots of petitions were messed up/lost last summer do to last shift) or B. They quietly remove the CSC director and place him somewhere else whilst taking one of the VSC managers and placing him in CSC to retool their system)

Neither are likely to happen.

Hey Lancer: Agreed. I don't think the centers are even tracked on their # of visa issuance in relation to each other. They are probably tracked at a higher level which just shows the overall average reducing due to the efforts of the VSC. So the I-129F backlog looks like its moving, but that only due to the VSC whipping them out in 1/5 the time the CSC does. So Sec. Gonzalez sees the reports looking brighter and brighter.

I still wonder why the CSC is where it is. Usually the offices are out in the middle of the country somewhere in a jobs depressed area - part of the government job creation program - maybe that area of LA is economically depressed and that why they dropped it there.

Of course if the VSC gets too fast and really rips through its backlog, they may decide to ship some of our cases to them. Not sure if thats good or bad - every time something is moved there are chances for loss.

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Today's Official "Sulu Countdown" VSC: 17 CSC: 6 (Ratio: 2.83:1)

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Edited March 6, 2008 by Chris Future

[mox 298]

I think someone should just impose a 6 month negative option deadline on our visa as well: if they are not processed from beginning to end within 6 months, the visa is automatically issued. Why not? Like that ruling, we can catch offenders during the naturalization process. If its good enough for GCs it shoudl be good enough for us, don't you think?

Well the someone to impose the rule you're talking about would be the President, and he's already mandated that all visa applications be screened for teh t3rrz0rzets. Also, USCIS doesn't control visa issuance, just the initial petition approval. So what you're really saying (I think) is that after 6 months the petition should just be auto-forwarded as approved to NVC.

But think about what you're suggesting. USCIS really do provide a service other than just speedbumping. They have the job of ensuring all pertinent documentation is in the petition, and that its filled out correctly. So do you then setup screeners at NVC to check over-6-month petitions, to make sure all the correct forms are included, that all signatures are original, proper names in the proper spaces, etc? Or do they hand it off to the consulate to do that job, and then what happens when it needs to be kicked back to USCIS again because required paperwork is missing? An entire set of bureaucratic rules would have to be put in place to catch problems like this.