Backlog

[john_and_marlene 162]

Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Homeland Security Department, received a record 1.4 million petitions for citizenship in 2007, more than the combined total for 2005 and 2006.

http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3321281

[Feliz 0]

i guess most of bulk was sent in June-July, so once July is completely processed, it will be back to normal or even higher then usual speed for August and the rest of applications? but i am afraid that June- July will take more then current official speed that is 1 month of filed applications processed in 1 month, like May 19 to June 15 2007 was processed by most Field Offices from December 14 to January 19th , the article sais:

Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Homeland Security Department, received a record 1.4 million petitions for citizenship in 2007, more than the combined total for 2005 and 2006.

The sudden rush — caused by a huge increase in fees — has brought processing times almost to a standstill. More than 1 million petitions for citizenship are pending, and agency officials have warned that applications received after June 1 could take 18 months to process. The usual average is five months.

but speed 1 month in 1 month is related to May 19- June 15, so if they predict 18 months for let's say August 2007 filers - 1st month after fee raise, that means - an officially predicted oath ceremony in February 2009, that probably means that USCIS predicts June and July filers will be having interviews and oaths all year long in 2008, to regain speed by 2009.

but there is 1 case here on forum of November filer scheduled an interview in March 2008, and 2 other July cases scheduled February and March so hopefully it won't take as long as predicted.

[Feliz 0]

he subcommittee plans to hold further hearings on the backlog later this year. Lofgren promised to include FBI officials, because many cases backlogged at CIS are pending a name check from the FBI.

“I get sued 500 times a month [because of the backlog],” Gonzalez said. “And about 80 percent of those involve name-check issues.”

he gets sued 500 times a months and doesn't mention any actions taken to make it better- sounds like he's rather proud of situation

[Feliz 0]

The agency’s short-term solution to the citizenship backlog relies heavily on increased staffing. In his prepared remarks, Gonzalez announced plans to hire 1,500 new employees, half of whom will be adjudicators who will process applications. And he said the hiring plan is on track: CIS has hired 580 permanent staff members since October.

i guess those 580 people hired since October were the real cause of massive November check cashing and NOA sending, let's hope if they hire 1000 more as they plan, it will speed up things even more.

I just can't believe how slow US CIS is, it even took them 4 month to start hiring new people, and there's absolutely no sane organization that would let those un-cashed checks worth (1 mln pending x 400$ old fee=) 400 000 000 USD to just be sitting there in envelops - earning no interest for 6 months from June to November... just amazed how INEFFICIENT it is, starting with paper applications and paper communications that takes most of that workforce money which could instead be used processing cases, ending with this 400 mln dollars.

[bakofoil 27]

he gets sued 500 times a months and doesn't mention any actions taken to make it better- sounds like he's rather proud of situation

Complacent more like

[nscvet 0]

Any news on Senator Schummer's proposal for CIS to rehire, on a temporary basis, retired employees who know the procedures? Contract employees can do no more than process receipts, checks, etc. They would be unable to check application packages for completeness or much else that really matters. Probably too logical for the bureaucrats to even consider.

[cmartyn 0]

Name check issues? For LPR's? lol.. they should run them through that database you go in when you buy a gun. It just comes back ok in 2 seconds.

[john_and_marlene 162]

he gets sued 500 times a months and doesn't mention any actions taken to make it better- sounds like he's rather proud of situation

Complacent more like

You missed the point of his statement. He is being sued for something beyond his control. Name checks are not conducted by USCIS -- they are submitted to the FBI and the USCIS can't approve a case until they get the name check back. I imagine the vast majority of the cases are dismissed.

[annatenna 0]

Any news on Senator Schummer's proposal for CIS to rehire, on a temporary basis, retired employees who know the procedures? Contract employees can do no more than process receipts, checks, etc. They would be unable to check application packages for completeness or much else that really matters. Probably too logical for the bureaucrats to even consider.

Yes, the plan was approved. It was mentioned in the Director of USCIS's Testimony - available on pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/testimony/testi...ETG_17jan08.pdf

relevant extract

In addition, the Office of Personnel Management has approved our request to authorize

us to re-hire experienced annuitants to further bolster our workforce with temporary staff.

This authority will help us meet hiring goals upon which our production plan is based.

To the extent that an annuitant has the ability to be productive more quickly than a new

hire, we anticipate that use of annuitants would reduce processing times. There is a

database with the capability to identify former USCIS personnel. We have identified 704

former USCIS employees through our database who have retired. Of those, 469

individuals were in adjudication-related positions. Also, the other immigration agencies

have databases for former employees who at one time worked for legacy INS.

[bakofoil 27]

he gets sued 500 times a months and doesn't mention any actions taken to make it better- sounds like he's rather proud of situation

Complacent more like

You missed the point of his statement. He is being sued for something beyond his control. Name checks are not conducted by USCIS -- they are submitted to the FBI and the USCIS can't approve a case until they get the name check back. I imagine the vast majority of the cases are dismissed.

I'll submit that he quotes 80% of the instances he has been sued have stemmed from FBI name check delays but I hardly think I missed the point. I read the hearing report and Gonzalez admitted that he required more staff to deal with the backlogs but refused the offer of any financial assistance. If the problem for him is the FBI and not USCIS then it would have been useful had he suggested that financial aid should be redirected to the FBI to help them overcome delays in their process. The FBI issue may be beyond his control but if HIS service is dependent on it then it is in HIS interest to ensure that outside agencies are not preventing HIS agency from meeting deadlines. He was given the opportunity to improve things and settled for longer delays in future. I'd say that was a complacent attitude.

[Feliz 0]

more interviews of Chertoff and Gonzales http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=275485