Name check delay for Muslim fiance after consular interview????

[coyote 3]

My fiance and I had our interview at the consulate in Nairobi. Apart from the general humiliating nature of the process, we were devastated to find out that the USCIS had apparently not done a name check during the 6 months they sat on our application this winter. My sense was that we passed the interview with flying colors, but the name check was the one factor delaying our approval. I walked out of the embassy weeping -- our interviewer told us that the name check could take "1 month or 1 year."

My fiance is Muslim, from the island of Lamu on the coast of Kenya. There was an al Qaeda guy here in the late 90s and early 2000s, but that doesn't mean my boyfriend is a terrorist, for God's sake. (When I found out he was a Muslim, I asked him if he drank, and his reply was, "Only really good French wine." !!!) He is just an ordinary guy (although of course not ordinary to me), and not particularly religious, plus he's cohabiting with a Jewish feminist atheist journalist! No hardcore Muslim would even be in the same room with me!

We were absolutely devastated, because I had thought the name check was finished, and now I have to go back to the U.S. alone, but more important, he has to adjust to more wasting time here on Lamu, where the economy is dead because of the election problems in Kenya, and being alone.

Does anyone know how long these name checks take for Muslims, and how efficient the process is? Help! We are really distraught over this.

Edited September 2, 2008 by coyote

[KimandRuss 0]

There's no way to tell how long it will be. Sorry.

We're also stuck at the NVC in checks. It's not an easy process.

good luck

[Pak1Monster 0]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have announced a joint plan to eliminate the backlog of name checks pending with the FBI.

The organizations have created a timeline for completion of pending name checks based on the age of the name check (please see table below). The oldest pending name checks will be resolved first. The FBI has said it has already eliminated all name check cases pending more than four years.

The stated goal is to complete 98% of all name checks within 30 days. The remaining two percent, which represent the most difficult name checks and require additional time to complete, will be processed within 90 days or less. USCIS and the FBI intend to achieve and sustain these processing times by June 2009.

In addition to focusing on the oldest pending name check cases first, USCIS has also requested that the FBI prioritize the resolution of approximately 29,800 pending name checks from naturalization applicants submitted to the FBI before May 2006 in cases where the naturalization applicant was already interviewed.

Completion Goal Category

May 2008 Process all name checks pending more than 3 years

July 2008 Process all name checks pending more than 2 years

November 2008 Process all name checks pending more than one year

February 2009 Process all name checks pending more than 180 days

June 2009 Process 98 percent of all name checks within 30 days

and process the remaining two percent within 90 days

This is good news for applicants who have been waiting on FBI name checks for months, even years, to be processed. If you're currently waiting on an FBI name check, take note of the processing times.

I am sorry sister. Hope your name check don't take long!!

Edited September 3, 2008 by Pak1Monster

[Donna A 4]

i know how much of a pain name checks are. my husband waited 3 years on name check for his AOS and i still to this day dont know if it was cleared or a part of the new rule clearing out the back log. we will see when it comes to naturalation time if we have to go thru this all over again.

good luck

[Revived 0]

i know how much of a pain name checks are. my husband waited 3 years on name check for his AOS and i still to this day dont know if it was cleared or a part of the new rule clearing out the back log. we will see when it comes to naturalation time if we have to go thru this all over again.

good luck

------

the wait is brutal! been waitin' for past 9 mons now! when inquired i m told it's "unpredictable"...

[Zee Bee 61]

Name checks are not just for Muslims. A lot of people get stuck in namechecks for one reason or another. It just depends if he has a name hit in the database.

That being said, there is no way to tell how long namechecks will take. There are different lengths of time for different people and depending how fast the system works. All you can do is hope that it goes quickly.

Hoping you get out of AP soon

[belinda63 3,030]

the one month or one year is a very real answer. We were on AP for about 17 months. Depending on the country/countries he has visited lived it may consist of more than the standard FBI check, fingerprint check. I will pray for a quick AP and do not give up hope.

And btw they do start the background checks after they receive all the information in the packet so you are already six months into AP, but the embassy can always request any and all checks they want, financial, home visit, interpol, etc.

[coyote 3]

There's no way to tell how long it will be. Sorry.

We're also stuck at the NVC in checks. It's not an easy process.

good luck

We are actually beyond the NVC now; this is the US consulate in Nairobi. We've been through 8 months of this already.

[coyote 3]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have announced a joint plan to eliminate the backlog of name checks pending with the FBI.

The organizations have created a timeline for completion of pending name checks based on the age of the name check (please see table below). The oldest pending name checks will be resolved first. The FBI has said it has already eliminated all name check cases pending more than four years.

The stated goal is to complete 98% of all name checks within 30 days. The remaining two percent, which represent the most difficult name checks and require additional time to complete, will be processed within 90 days or less. USCIS and the FBI intend to achieve and sustain these processing times by June 2009.

In addition to focusing on the oldest pending name check cases first, USCIS has also requested that the FBI prioritize the resolution of approximately 29,800 pending name checks from naturalization applicants submitted to the FBI before May 2006 in cases where the naturalization applicant was already interviewed.

Completion Goal Category

May 2008 Process all name checks pending more than 3 years

July 2008 Process all name checks pending more than 2 years

November 2008 Process all name checks pending more than one year

February 2009 Process all name checks pending more than 180 days

June 2009 Process 98 percent of all name checks within 30 days

and process the remaining two percent within 90 days

This is good news for applicants who have been waiting on FBI name checks for months, even years, to be processed. If you're currently waiting on an FBI name check, take note of the processing times.

I am sorry sister. Hope your name check don't take long!!

thanks so much for the info. I wish the target dates provided more reassurance but at least my Senator and my Congressman are willing to place inquiries once we're outside the 1-month window. This entire process feels like a violation of my rights as an American citizen. This security check should have been done during the six months USCIS sat on our initial petition. The consulate in Nairobi is remarkably inefficient and the entire process is dehumanizing.

the one month or one year is a very real answer. We were on AP for about 17 months. Depending on the country/countries he has visited lived it may consist of more than the standard FBI check, fingerprint check. I will pray for a quick AP and do not give up hope.

And btw they do start the background checks after they receive all the information in the packet so you are already six months into AP, but the embassy can always request any and all checks they want, financial, home visit, interpol, etc.

He hasn't lived or visited anywhere outside his country for the past ten years and he doesn't fit any of the criteria for an extended check. Can you tell me what AP is?

[coyote 3]

Just wanted to let everyone know that my fiance sailed through the name check process in a month. Thanks for your support.

I did ultimately feel that the system worked, at least in our case. I'd love to know exactly HOW it worked, but for now focusing on moving forward. As B. Traven said, this is the real world muchachos, and your are in it --

I'm still assimilating this experience, and trying to put together my views on immigration, both legal and illegal. As a reporter, I covered the vast increase in human migration across the U.S.-Mexico border, but I had never thought deeply about the issues of legal immigration. These issues seem larger than immigration. Clearly globalization is causing immense strains in immigration systems that were designed to serve nations rather than people living in a globalized world where national borders are increasingly superfluous. Any real solution, it seems to me, must acknowledge this altered landscape.

[hyd617 1]

Just wanted to let everyone know that my fiance sailed through the name check process in a month. Thanks for your support.

I did ultimately feel that the system worked, at least in our case. I'd love to know exactly HOW it worked, but for now focusing on moving forward. As B. Traven said, this is the real world muchachos, and your are in it --

I'm still assimilating this experience, and trying to put together my views on immigration, both legal and illegal. As a reporter, I covered the vast increase in human migration across the U.S.-Mexico border, but I had never thought deeply about the issues of legal immigration. These issues seem larger than immigration. Clearly globalization is causing immense strains in immigration systems that were designed to serve nations rather than people living in a globalized world where national borders are increasingly superfluous. Any real solution, it seems to me, must acknowledge this altered landscape.

congrats! i am very happy for you!!