How We Process Your Application at a Service Center

[JenT 0]

Hi Everyone,

I was browsing the USCIS web site and found this. I personally haven't seen anyone reference the text I highlighted in red below and wanted you call your attention to it....

Patiently (or not) waiting,

Jen

How We Process Your Application at a Service Center:

Normal Processing:

The first step is the receipt of mail. Mail is generally opened within twenty-four hours of receipt. The majority of mail arrives on Monday (40%) and Friday (20%). The other three days of the week share an equal amount of mail. Because of the volume of mail arriving on the two busiest days, sending a case via express mail to arrive on either of those days does not ensure faster processing. The lower volume of mail arriving on Tuesdays means that the mail is usually opened by Tuesday evening.

Applications are stamped with the time and date of physical receipt, not the time and date they are actually opened. Mail with fees enclosed is routed immediately to mail assembly. Cases that are filed prematurely (before the applicant was eligible or met the legal criteria) or that were filed on an outdated form are prepared for manual rejection at this point. Cases lacking proper signature or correct fee are identified for system rejection.

Mail without a fee enclosed is considered correspondence and is sorted by type, if the appropriate destination can be quickly determined. If mailroom personnel are unsure as to the routing, the material is sent to the Customer Contact Services unit where it is read and either responded to or routed to the appropriate division for action.

Properly filed cases and cases flagged for system rejections are then forwarded to the Data Entry unit. In the Data Entry unit, information is keyed into the USCIS computer system and fees processed.

The Data Entry unit collects the appropriate fee or when necessary, rejects the case if the fee is incorrect or the form is not signed. If a case is not clearly acceptable, it is immediately passed to our Case Resolution unit for review. If they are unable to overcome the obstacle to processing, the case is returned to the applicant/petitioner for correction. Receipt or rejection notices are generated during Data Entry and mailed no later than the next morning.

Fee receipts are printed and mailed after the electronic record is created. This means the date on the fee receipt may be different from the date the mail was received for priority date purposes.

Once the fee has been properly receipted and the electronic records created, cases are routed to the Work Distribution unit to await a call for work by the Product Line or Field Office.

If the application will be adjudicated at the Service Center, an Adjudications Officer will review the case; the appropriate data (including cable requests) will be noted on a processing sheet and forwarded with the application/petition to the clerical section. The system is then updated, and the completed application or petition is sent to the file room, consulate or other appropriate office, and original documents are returned as required.

The Center makes every effort to process each application/petition without returning it for further information. Applications that are well prepared take less time to process, thereby facilitating faster processing of all cases. Therefore, to help applicants better prepare cases and applications before sending them to us, please refer to our General Tips on Assembling Applications for Mailing. Following these procedures will help us to serve applicants better and faster.

Requests for Evidence (RFEs):

When an application or petition is not immediately adjudicable, a request for additional evidence or other documentation is generated. The applicant/petitioner has 12 weeks to respond. During that time, s/he may:

Submit all of the requested evidence,

Submit some or none of the requested evidence and ask for a decision based upon the record, or

Withdraw the application or petition.

If a correction is needed to the petition or application, a photocopy of the form will be included with the request for evidence. The correction can be made on the photocopy and then will be included in the formal USCIS file of your case.

NO extension of this twelve-week response time is possible. Please also note that NO interim benefits will be granted during the time waiting for additional evidence to be submitted. If a response is not received within the time limit, the case will be considered abandoned and denied; the denial may not be appealed. NOTE: IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT THE LETTER REQUESTING EVIDENCE BE RETURNED WITH THE EVIDENCE AND THAT THE SPECIAL MAILING ENVELOPE PROVIDED BE USED. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL DELAY PROCESSING OF THE CASE AND MAY RESULT IN A DENIAL DUE TO ABANDONMENT. Evidence submitted without the letter and/or proper return mailing envelope will be difficult to match up with the pending case and may be treated as general correspondence.

Motions to Reopen (MTR):

A Motion to Reopen a case denied due to abandonment may be filed if one of the following is demonstrated:

The requested evidence was not material to the issue of eligibility;

The required evidence was submitted with the application or petition or the request for evidence was complied with during the time allowed; or

The request for evidence was sent to an incorrect address and USCIS was notified of a change of address before the request was sent.

As with appeals, any Motion to Reopen or reconsider must now be filed within 30 days of the date of the denial.

Denials:

If the Center Adjudications Officer finds that a case should be denied, the denial is written and forwarded to the Clerical unit for printing. The printed denial is then given to the supervisor for review and then returned to the Clerical unit for updating and mailing. In the case of a denial, all material is usually retained in the file.

Denials (other than Legalization/SAW cases) are held in the Records Division of the Center until the time limit for filing an appeal has been reached. Material clearly marked as an appeal will be directly routed to the Records Division to be connected to the appropriate file and then forwarded to the Adjudications Division for processing. Legalization/SAW denials are held in the Legalization records area. Clearly marking the material as an appeal will expedite the time it takes to get the material to the Adjudications Division.

If any evidence and/or argument submitted with an appeal overcomes the grounds of the denial, the case will be treated as a Motion to Reopen and the application/petition will be approved, without forwarding the case to the Administrative Appeals unit, the Legalization Appeals unit or the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Quality Assurance Review:

All adjudications at a Service Center undergo a quality assurance review. This review seeks to ensure that the decision made by the officer is correct and complete, that proper procedures have been followed, and that quality standards have been met.