Facing backlog, Feds ease path to green card

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Marisa Taylor

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - In a major policy shift aimed at reducing a ballooning immigration backlog, the Department of Homeland Security is preparing to grant permanent residency to tens of thousands of applicants before the FBI completes a required background check.

Those eligible are immigrants whose fingerprints have cleared the FBI database of criminal convictions and arrests but whose names have not yet cleared the FBI's criminal or intelligence files after six months of waiting.

The immigrants who are granted permanent status, more commonly known as getting their green cards, will be expected eventually to clear the FBI's name check. If they don't, their legal status will be revoked and they'll be deported.

The decision to issue green cards demonstrates how federal agencies are struggling to keep up with surging immigration applications while applying stringent post-Sept. 11 background checks.

About 150,000 green card and naturalization applicants have been delayed by the FBI name check, with 30,000 held up more than three years.

DHS officials are determining exactly how many are affected, but confirmed that tens of thousands of people could be eligible for the expedited procedure. Officials said the policy will be posted this week on the department's Web site.

Attorneys who represent immigrants applauded the new policy and predicted green cards would be issued faster. However, advocates of stricter immigration enforcement accused DHS of creating security loopholes, rather than solving the backlog problem.

DHS officials said the new process does not pose any new security risks because green-card applicants have been allowed to remain in the country while they wait to be screened.

"We will do nothing that cuts corners or compromises national security," said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship will continue to be required to clear the name checks before being naturalized. Officials said the requirements remain in effect for naturalization because U.S. citizenship is more difficult to revoke than a green card.

At the same time, the bureau tightened its background-check requirements. The FBI runs applicants' names against lists of suspects in criminal and intelligence files and looks for names that have surfaced during an investigation.

A surge of applications flooded CIS last year, prompted partly by the announcement of fee increases.

Although the FBI clears about 70 percent of the name checks within 72 hours, the bureau struggles to keep up with more than 74,000 requests per week, roughly half arising from immigration applications.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/021...ration0211.html

[Nagishkaw 510]

Wow! Thanks for this article, Steven. It was very interesting!

[Cassie 8]

So it's not all USCIS's fault, we can blame the FBI too! woo!

It' scary though, that 30,000 cases have been delayed for three years! Crazy.

[rebeccajo 14]

This is what we were caught in.

The figures in the article are misleading. There have been as many as 440,000 people caught in this. USCIS does not count 'cases beyond their control' in the number. Namecheck is beyond their control.

It's good they are going to go ahead and issue the cards. But it doesn't solve the real problem....if Homeland Security is really going to be just that, then background checks should not take months or years.

[LaL 418]

This will also help with the path to citizenship. As of now, my husband has been in this country 2.5 years, and like others, will start the eligibility for citizenship clock once the greencard is approved. Of course others, who receive their greencards in as little as 2 months start their "clocks" in quick order.

The goal as stated by the memo isnt that greencards are issued without a background check done, its is to bring the FBI part of the workflow in line with their adjudication goals of 6 months/180 days. I still find it a ridiculous display on behalf of the DHS that my husband's background check could not be completed as of yet 2.5 years later. What a crock.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

This will also help with the path to citizenship. As of now, my husband has been in this country 2.5 years, and like others, will start the eligibility for citizenship clock once the greencard is approved. Of course others, who receive their greencards in as little as 2 months start their "clocks" in quick order.

The goal as stated by the memo isnt that greencards are issued without a background check done, its is to bring the FBI part of the workflow in line with their adjudication goals of 6 months/180 days. I still find it a ridiculous display on behalf of the DHS that my husband's background check could not be completed as of yet 2.5 years later. What a crock.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

This will also help with the path to citizenship. As of now, my husband has been in this country 2.5 years, and like others, will start the eligibility for citizenship clock once the greencard is approved. Of course others, who receive their greencards in as little as 2 months start their "clocks" in quick order.

The goal as stated by the memo isnt that greencards are issued without a background check done, its is to bring the FBI part of the workflow in line with their adjudication goals of 6 months/180 days. I still find it a ridiculous display on behalf of the DHS that my husband's background check could not be completed as of yet 2.5 years later. What a crock.

I'm sorry that you two have waiting so long, Laura. They need to revamp who gets caught up in a name check. It's silly that it's simply someone's last name. There should be more evidence to go on than simply, "Oh no! This person's last name is the same as one of hijackers of 9/11."

[rebeccajo 14]

This will also help with the path to citizenship. As of now, my husband has been in this country 2.5 years, and like others, will start the eligibility for citizenship clock once the greencard is approved. Of course others, who receive their greencards in as little as 2 months start their "clocks" in quick order.

The goal as stated by the memo isnt that greencards are issued without a background check done, its is to bring the FBI part of the workflow in line with their adjudication goals of 6 months/180 days. I still find it a ridiculous display on behalf of the DHS that my husband's background check could not be completed as of yet 2.5 years later. What a crock.

Right.

Those of us following this have recently seen the FBI workflow actually pick up (re: the long thread in AOS forums) wherein many peeps who have been caught for more than 2 years are at last receiving word the namecheck is done and the card is being issued.

When the fee increase was proposed, one of the goals was better funding of the namecheck process. I don't think it's any coincidence that after the fees were processed, the backlog started to clear out. I'm sure more money is flowing from USCIS to the FBI for increased staff on their part to process USCIS requests.

[Fandango 1,439]

background checks should be complete before ANY pot immi steps on American soil

[LaL 418]

This will also help with the path to citizenship. As of now, my husband has been in this country 2.5 years, and like others, will start the eligibility for citizenship clock once the greencard is approved. Of course others, who receive their greencards in as little as 2 months start their "clocks" in quick order.

The goal as stated by the memo isnt that greencards are issued without a background check done, its is to bring the FBI part of the workflow in line with their adjudication goals of 6 months/180 days. I still find it a ridiculous display on behalf of the DHS that my husband's background check could not be completed as of yet 2.5 years later. What a crock.

Right.

Those of us following this have recently seen the FBI workflow actually pick up (re: the long thread in AOS forums) wherein many peeps who have been caught for more than 2 years are at last receiving word the namecheck is done and the card is being issued.

When the fee increase was proposed, one of the goals was better funding of the namecheck process. I don't think it's any coincidence that after the fees were processed, the backlog started to clear out. I'm sure more money is flowing from USCIS to the FBI for increased staff on their part to process USCIS requests.

They were also "thrown 20 million at the problem" separate from the fee increase

[rebeccajo 14]

This will also help with the path to citizenship. As of now, my husband has been in this country 2.5 years, and like others, will start the eligibility for citizenship clock once the greencard is approved. Of course others, who receive their greencards in as little as 2 months start their "clocks" in quick order.

The goal as stated by the memo isnt that greencards are issued without a background check done, its is to bring the FBI part of the workflow in line with their adjudication goals of 6 months/180 days. I still find it a ridiculous display on behalf of the DHS that my husband's background check could not be completed as of yet 2.5 years later. What a crock.

I'm sorry that you two have waiting so long, Laura. They need to revamp who gets caught up in a name check. It's silly that it's simply someone's last name. There should be more evidence to go on than simply, "Oh no! This person's last name is the same as one of hijackers of 9/11."

It's more than that already, Steven. The name doesn't have to be a terrorist name. Any name contained within an FBI file (even a witness) can produce a hit.

The name is also permutated by re-arranging given and surnames. Soundex matching is applied to the surname which will create further hits (syllabic variations of the surname). A range of birthdates is also applied.

[LaL 418]

background checks should be complete before ANY pot immi steps on American soil

I have heard this before as well (especially when they hear how long its taking for them to complete my husbands).

In most cases police reports are all USCIS deems necessary to issue an immigrant or intending immigrant visa. In other cases wether its a name hit, or on the list of ties to the "list of 26" countries that must go through standard administrative processing in order to have "clearance".

My husband was cleared for his visa in 2005, and got stuck 3 months later when he applied for AOS. Kinda makes little to no sense.

Edited February 11, 2008 by LaL

[rebeccajo 14]

background checks should be complete before ANY pot immi steps on American soil

That happens with CR1. It doesn't happen with K1 or K3. DOS seems to be able to process these requests faster. Have you ever wondered why?

[reeses16 8]

Awesome! This will make a huge difference for a lot of families.

I wonder if this is related to Barack Obama's efforts? Excerpt below, full details at http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/Immi...onFactSheet.pdf

"Obama joined Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to introduce the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure that immigration application fees are both reasonable and fair. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has decided to raise fees on applications to as much as $2,400 for a family of four. Obama’s bill reverses large fee increases for legal immigrants seeking to become citizens and provides grants to states to help promote citizenship. Another key choke point in the process to becoming a legal permanent resident or a U.S. citizen is the F.B.I. name/security check. Many law-abiding legal immigrants see their immigration applications delayed by months and often years as the overwhelmed F.B.I. completes their background checks. Obama introduced legislation that passed the Senate to improve the speed and accuracy of these background checks."

[mawilson 2,133]

In most cases police reports are all USCIS deems necessary to issue an immigrant or intending immigrant visa. In other cases wether its a name hit, or on the list of ties to the "list of 26" countries that must go through standard administrative processing in order to have "clearance".

List of 26?