USCIS Testimonies and Speeches

[Al422 221]

There are numerous improvements they can make right now without spending any money:

1. Stop giving preferences to petitioners who happen to belong to one specific ethnic group.

2. Process petitions in the EXACT order they come in.

3. Give useful answers to our calls instead of reading excuses off of a sheet.

4. Stop entertaining fantasies like "VCS has no backlog".

Although I feel that the United States has zero responsibility to give away our resources to other countries based on need, if Congress is going to do that with immigration resources, don't dump the whole load on us! There are 300 million people in this country. Spend tax money to fund projects like these instead of taking resources away from people who just want to get married.

Thank you again for the information, as I intend to put it to good use. I will raise a stink at my Congressman's office about how most of us are getting screwed so they can give priority processing to members of one particular race. The last time I checked, there were laws which said that the government can't do that.

[mckay76 11]

Not so. What about the onslaught of TPS that has been clogging up the system for most of 2010 and continuing? Where are the citizens in that?

As I have said before and firmly adhere to in the face of a lot of opposition, some even suggesting that I am a racist, K1 and K3 are special because they directly impact the right of American citizens to marry as they see fit. Those petitions should get TOP priority over ALL other petitions, but USCIS seems to think that we should be at the bottom of the pile instead.

As for USCIS giving non-citizens the priorities they deny giving to them, look at the last entry in your timeline. That e-mail is the smoking gun proof that our K-1 petitions are indeed getting pushed aside so that petitions NOT involving American citizens get worked on first. That is the wrong choice and needs to stop, ASAP.

Couldn't agree with you more...we are the taxpayers of course

[Paul_Sasha 4]

for the politicians especially democrats and current administration :

for ourselves nothing short of

Divine intervention is going to get our citizen, paying USCIS petitions moving.

VSC is a complete and utter disaster - totally because of Congressional

and the Obama administration 'policies'.

I feel for the actual VSC staff - caught between us - the upset users

and congress who are so in denial (no backlog) and keep dumping on the already

overburdened system.

nov 2012 time to have your voice heard.

[Rwlaird 18]

Interesting discussion. Regardless of the effect of TPS applications or anything else that may be affecting processing times the main point I have tried to make the last several weeks during my waiting process is that the most important thing needed is real transparent communication, especially after you have already waited 5 months. I waited almost 6 months for my NOA2. I wasn't happy about the wait but the most frustrating part was the few weeks after the 5 month mark when I was told to wait 30 more days and then call back. It isn't expecting too much for them to have a better tracking system for their workload so that they can tell you that the backlog is tracking at X right now and yours should be approved in about X more days. At least knowing what to expect could have been helpful instead of feeling like you have to hope each day that you may hit the lottery.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Forgive me, but I find this difficult to agree with. I, too, read through the entire PDF and watched the entire video. Afterall, I posted them for your benefit.

Whether any of you like it or not the TPS applications were real. The numbers are real. The shake up in the normal processing of petitions and applications did happen and all are effected. I do understand that we are an acute population of petitioners and beneficiaries focused on a sector of the USCIS. I get that.

But what I find myself frustrated with is the blind eye I am finding some (not all, obviously) are turning to the hundreds of thousands of other things going on at USCIS.

Drives me crazy.

Alas, nothing I can do or control other than myself, my research, education and what I do with it. But I cannot sit here and pretend through my silence that you are correct in your assumptions. Not to say you are wrong. Not to take away from your opinion. Just...are you kidding me? Pulling at heart strings? Seriously? As if it didn't happen? CMON son.

The fact is these folks DO NEED more money after a backup to fund the additions needed in order to catch back up. or at the very least start shifting petitions around so they do catch up.

I'm gonna leave this thread to it. Y'all are gonna get me all worked up .

----------

On a side note, I am happy that you all are finding some use of the information I found. I had hoped it would give some insight that the USCIS is not silent, and are working to improve. But if you must use it to find some way to make yourselves more miserable, well then I guess that's okay too. Not preferred, but OK.

TPS applications are a drop in the bucket.

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/Reports/Application-Benefits/applications-for-benefits-2010-nov.pdf

At the end of November (the last month for which statistics have been published) pending applications included:

449,823 I-130 petitions

402,035 I-485 petitions

179,840 I-765 employment authorizations

202,881 I-90 green card renewal/replacement applications

73,599 I-129 petitions

70,121 I-131 travel document applications

45,708 I-821 TPS applications

Do the math yourself. TPS applications were 3.2% of the total pending applications for immigration benefits (not including applications for naturalization). This doesn't include a variety of other applications USCIS processes. Only applications for immigration benefits. Even if TPS applications had grown from nearly 0% to the November total of 3.2%, that would not explain the sudden increase in processing times. It simply is not enough to make that much of a difference.

As I said, the PDF was a statement by the director to the Congressional committee that controls his budget. What's more, the statement was made last March - 10 months ago. The numbers I provided were from a USCIS report from November. Draw your conclusions from real statistics, and not speeches given by government bureaucrats to other government bureaucrats.

[DiZZyLoX 114]

Ah, ok. So an increase of 50,000 petitions that were directed to be processed in place of the 73,000 petitions wouldn't put a delay in the pending petitions. Ah, ok.

Everything is so clear to me now.

Thank you.

I feel so much more enlightened.

The most interesting thing I have learned on this forum is that it isn't the wait that is aggravating.

That is all.

[Palladin 18]

WE ARE A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS. The department of UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION deals with IMMIGRANTS.

I am glad to know that my application was prioritized. If you have problems with that, take it up with Napolitano.

Right, they treated me well. I am a US citizen with a loved one in Haiti. This email was in response to my request as a US CITIZEN for an expedite for my fiance.

JoyDee:

Let me say this: the USCIS are indeed preferentially giving priorities to the illegal haitian immigrants already living in the USA, versus legitimate needs of US citizens who needs to bring their loved ones in. What we are complaining here is that they put the first priority on processing TPS versus K-1/K-3 cases. That is wrong.

In your case. You are NOT a TPS case. You are a K-1 case just like the rest of us are: US citizens trying to bring a loved fiance/fiancee in. You are on the same boat. Actually consider the special circumstance of that country your fiancee comes from, we might agree that you can get a little bit priority over the rest of us K-1 petitioners.

But please don't for a moment have the illusion that your K-1 case is given a priority consideration just because you received that email from USCIS. I am pretty sure that email actually means NOTHING pertaining to your case. I can bet, your K-1 file is just sitting in that box with the rest of the K-1 files, collecting dust, waiting ... waiting ... waiting, while they put priority in processing the TPS cases first. You are not getting a single day ahead of the rest of us K-1 filers. If you do I will be surprised and I will be happy for you. How long have you been waiting? When did you get that email? If they really mean to have pulled your file off that box and processed it expeditely you would have gotten your approval by now, because it really only takes 20 minutes to adjudicate a case once it was pulled off a box.

Again sadly they put priorities of illegal immigrants over US citizens.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Palladin

[JoyDee 21]

JoyDee:

Let me say this: the USCIS are indeed preferentially giving priorities to the illegal haitian immigrants already living in the USA, versus legitimate needs of US citizens who needs to bring their loved ones in. What we are complaining here is that they put the first priority on processing TPS versus K-1/K-3 cases. That is wrong.

In your case. You are NOT a TPS case. You are a K-1 case just like the rest of us are: US citizens trying to bring a loved fiance/fiancee in. You are on the same boat. Actually consider the special circumstance of that country your fiancee comes from, we might agree that you can get a little bit priority over the rest of us K-1 petitioners.

But please don't for a moment have the illusion that your K-1 case is given a priority consideration just because you received that email from USCIS. I am pretty sure that email actually means NOTHING pertaining to your case. I can bet, your K-1 file is just sitting in that box with the rest of the K-1 files, collecting dust, waiting ... waiting ... waiting, while they put priority in processing the TPS cases first. You are not getting a single day ahead of the rest of us K-1 filers. If you do I will be surprised and I will be happy for you. How long have you been waiting? When did you get that email? If they really mean to have pulled your file off that box and processed it expeditely you would have gotten your approval by now, because it really only takes 20 minutes to adjudicate a case once it was pulled off a box.

Again sadly they put priorities of illegal immigrants over US citizens.

I'm waiting like the rest of you, and I'm not frothing at the mouth over wait times. I knew how long it would take when I sent my application out, and now I wait and see how long it takes to go through. Other Haitian cases on VJ have gone through in two-three months which is an expedite from the standard six months wait time. I'll take whatever I can get.

[cedwards001 18]

I'm waiting like the rest of you, and I'm not frothing at the mouth over wait times. I knew how long it would take when I sent my application out, and now I wait and see how long it takes to go through. Other Haitian cases on VJ have gone through in two-three months which is an expedite from the standard six months wait time. I'll take whatever I can get.

Not so fast, JoyDee. There is another VJ member from Haiti who sent the I-129F petition on October 1, 2010 and received their NOA1 on October 7, 2010 from the VSC. As of today that is 3 and 1/2 months of waiting. At the pace VSC is moving at, this person may not get their NOA2 until February which would put it at over 4 months. I also know a friend of a co-worker that has the exact same wait time from Haiti. This so called "expedited" processing probably will cut 1, maaaaaaybe 2 months off the wait time but not much more. Get ready to wait like the rest!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Ah, ok. So an increase of 50,000 petitions that were directed to be processed in place of the 73,000 petitions wouldn't put a delay in the pending petitions. Ah, ok.

Everything is so clear to me now.

Thank you.

I feel so much more enlightened.

The most interesting thing I have learned on this forum is that it isn't the wait that is aggravating.

That is all.

I must have missed the evidence that USCIS adjudicators were told to drop only I-129F's in favor of TPS applications. If that were the case then you've got a valid argument. Otherwise, given that USCIS processes more than 5 million applications and petitions every year, I don't see how an additional 50K applications is going to bring everything to a grinding halt, even if they stop processing everything else in order to handle them. Their capacity for processing applications far exceeds the number of TPS applications they've received.

In all seriousness, I think it's great that you brought this information to everyone's attention. I thought the director's statement was interesting and informative. I'm just not willing to jump to the conclusion, based on his statement, that prioritizing TPS applications for Haitian refugees is causing the current slowdown. I just don't believe it's enough applications to make that much of a difference. We've seen slowdowns like this before, and USCIS never provides a formal explanation for them, so we're left guessing. My guess is that it's the new procedures for handling I-129F's since the recent rise in processing times at each of the service centers coincides with when these changes went into effect last summer. On the other hand, they've been accepting the TPS applications for nearly a year.

[Palladin 18]

I must have missed the evidence that USCIS adjudicators were told to drop only I-129F's in favor of TPS applications. If that were the case then you've got a valid argument. Otherwise, given that USCIS processes more than 5 million applications and petitions every year, I don't see how an additional 50K applications is going to bring everything to a grinding halt, even if they stop processing everything else in order to handle them. Their capacity for processing applications far exceeds the number of TPS applications they've received.

Here is your proof that USCIS diverted resources away from I-129F processing, to handle the TPS cases:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

Look at the numbers for example at the Vermont Service Center:

In June, 2010 there were 1121 cases waiting for customer action, 5983 cases otherwise pending. Total pending 7104 cases. In the month they completed 4140 cases. That looks not so bad.

By November, 2010, the backlog grows to 9872+216 = 10088 cases. They completed a mere 866 cases while there are 1607 new cases filed. The cases completed is only 20% what they completed in June, 2010. At such a pace, the people whose files is among the 10088 waiting cases can expect to wait 10088/866 = 12 months!

So be prepared to wait NOT five months, but 12 month!!! That is unless something changes. And it is getting worse. If people don't shout out loud nothing will change.

See the data yourself:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

I must have missed the evidence that USCIS adjudicators were told to drop only I-129F's in favor of TPS applications. If that were the case then you've got a valid argument. Otherwise, given that USCIS processes more than 5 million applications and petitions every year, I don't see how an additional 50K applications is going to bring everything to a grinding halt, even if they stop processing everything else in order to handle them. Their capacity for processing applications far exceeds the number of TPS applications they've received.

Here is your proof that USCIS diverted resources away from I-129F processing, to handle the TPS cases:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

Look at the numbers for example at the Vermont Service Center:

In June, 2010 there were 1121 cases waiting for customer action, 5983 cases otherwise pending. Total pending 7104 cases. In the month they completed 4140 cases. That looks not so bad.

By November, 2010, the backlog grows to 9872+216 = 10088 cases. They completed a mere 866 cases while there are 1607 new cases filed. The cases completed is only 20% what they completed in June, 2010. At such a pace, the people whose files is among the 10088 waiting cases can expect to wait 10088/866 = 12 months!

So be prepared to wait NOT five months, but 12 month!!! That is unless something changes. And it is getting worse. If people don't shout out loud nothing will change.

See the data yourself:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

I must have missed the evidence that USCIS adjudicators were told to drop only I-129F's in favor of TPS applications. If that were the case then you've got a valid argument. Otherwise, given that USCIS processes more than 5 million applications and petitions every year, I don't see how an additional 50K applications is going to bring everything to a grinding halt, even if they stop processing everything else in order to handle them. Their capacity for processing applications far exceeds the number of TPS applications they've received.

Here is your proof that USCIS diverted resources away from I-129F processing, to handle the TPS cases:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

Look at the numbers for example at the Vermont Service Center:

In June, 2010 there were 1121 cases waiting for customer action, 5983 cases otherwise pending. Total pending 7104 cases. In the month they completed 4140 cases. That looks not so bad.

By November, 2010, the backlog grows to 9872+216 = 10088 cases. They completed a mere 866 cases while there are 1607 new cases filed. The cases completed is only 20% what they completed in June, 2010. At such a pace, the people whose files is among the 10088 waiting cases can expect to wait 10088/866 = 12 months!

So be prepared to wait NOT five months, but 12 month!!! That is unless something changes. And it is getting worse. If people don't shout out loud nothing will change.

See the data yourself:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

[JoyDee 21]

Not so fast, JoyDee. There is another VJ member from Haiti who sent the I-129F petition on October 1, 2010 and received their NOA1 on October 7, 2010 from the VSC. As of today that is 3 and 1/2 months of waiting. At the pace VSC is moving at, this person may not get their NOA2 until February which would put it at over 4 months. I also know a friend of a co-worker that has the exact same wait time from Haiti. This so called "expedited" processing probably will cut 1, maaaaaaybe 2 months off the wait time but not much more. Get ready to wait like the rest!

Your post ads nothing new. Read what I wrote before you start moralizing and teasing about my wait time! Why would you stick your tongue out, childish much? Or perhaps you are jealous that my future husband lives in a nation where there is a deadly epidemic of cholera, no clean water, in fact, no government, lack of proper housing and increasing crime because of these problems.

"I am waiting like the rest." AND "I am not frothing at the mouth about wait times." My momma taught me about patience when I was a wee lass. As many other people have said in other posts: if you're not over five months, shut your yapper. If you are, call your congressman and get over it.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Here is your proof that USCIS diverted resources away from I-129F processing, to handle the TPS cases:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

Look at the numbers for example at the Vermont Service Center:

In June, 2010 there were 1121 cases waiting for customer action, 5983 cases otherwise pending. Total pending 7104 cases. In the month they completed 4140 cases. That looks not so bad.

By November, 2010, the backlog grows to 9872+216 = 10088 cases. They completed a mere 866 cases while there are 1607 new cases filed. The cases completed is only 20% what they completed in June, 2010. At such a pace, the people whose files is among the 10088 waiting cases can expect to wait 10088/866 = 12 months!

So be prepared to wait NOT five months, but 12 month!!! That is unless something changes. And it is getting worse. If people don't shout out loud nothing will change.

See the data yourself:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=6&charttype=1

Posting your response three times doesn't make it any more true.

All this demonstrates is what we already know - processing of I-129F petitions has slowed down. You're jumping to conclusions when you say that processing of TPS applications is the cause for it. Compare the I-129F charts with the TPS charts. The backlog for I-129F's bottomed out last summer and has been rising ever since. The major surge in TPS applications (I-821's) began in January (just after the earthquake), peaked just after the current I-129F backlog began, and has been dropping rapidly ever since. If your "proof" were really that then the I-129F backlog should have started when the surge in TPS applications started, and begun dropping in September, when the backlog and receipt of new TPS applications began to drop. That hasn't happened. The charts show a trickle of new TPS applications in November, and USCIS rapidly catching up to them. I assume there will be another surge this month as a result of people trying to get in under the deadline.

In order to even start down the road of "cause and effect" you need to be able to put the charts on top of each other and see a clear correlation. If you FIND that correlation then the next step is to determine if "A" caused "B", "B" caused "A", a third unseen factor caused both, or it's an anomaly and they're not related. You can't even get past step one - the charts don't match up.

FWIW, there was a much bigger surge in TPS applications in January of '09. The backlog of I-129F's was also very large - much larger than it is now, but that backlog preceded the surge in TPS applications, and they dramatically reduced the I-129F backlog by October of '09. Still, I filed in April of '09 when the I-129F backlog was bigger than it is now, and it was approved in August of '09. If I recall, the quoted processing time back then was 4 months. In January of '09 everyone on VJ was wailing about the slow processing, especially at VSC, and grasping at straws to find a reason for it.

[cedwards001 18]

Your post ads nothing new. Read what I wrote before you start moralizing and teasing about my wait time! Why would you stick your tongue out, childish much? Or perhaps you are jealous that my future husband lives in a nation where there is a deadly epidemic of cholera, no clean water, in fact, no government, lack of proper housing and increasing crime because of these problems.

"I am waiting like the rest." AND "I am not frothing at the mouth about wait times." My momma taught me about patience when I was a wee lass. As many other people have said in other posts: if you're not over five months, shut your yapper. If you are, call your congressman and get over it.

Perhaps you should also read my signature and know that I got my NOA2 last year and my fiance had her interview on 12/20..... which she passed and is now living with me

I said what I said just to elbow you a little and let you know that you will be waiting like the rest around here

[cedwards001 18]

WE ARE A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS. The department of UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION deals with IMMIGRANTS.

I am glad to know that my application was prioritized. If you have problems with that, take it up with Napolitano.

Right, they treated me well. I am a US citizen with a loved one in Haiti. This email was in response to my request as a US CITIZEN for an expedite for my fiance.

JoyDee,

I just want to say that I have nothing against you. If I came across as being rude, I am sorry as it was not my intention

I quoted a post from you and bolded some things that bothered me a little. You said you were glad your application was prioritized. I thought it was wrong for you to say that in front of hundreds of VJ'ers that have been waiting 5-6 months. I just don't think it was nice and that is why I gave you a bit of a hard time in my other post.

I did not mean to offend or anger you, but I just wanted to let you know that I felt it was not nice. Thanks