5 marks the spot

[I Love Islam 1]

hello all, im going on 6 months and called USCIS yesterday. Rumor has it, the processing time has been 6 months (huge delay) it's crazy to see all these updates on my fone of NOA2 Approvals from CR-1 filers that filed after us... they told me to wait 15 days for any notification, if nothing to call USCIS back... Very fruastrating and Annoyed!!!

[katchoo12 8]

I'm at almost 6 months too and not able to do a service request ! They are still processing Jan 9!!?? They have been processing Jan 9 for weeks now so I know it is a totaly bul)&)) answer ! We contact my fiance local congressman 2 weeks ago and still nothing...

[Louza 10]

hello all, im going on 6 months and called USCIS yesterday. Rumor has it, the processing time has been 6 months (huge delay) it's crazy to see all these updates on my fone of NOA2 Approvals from CR-1 filers that filed after us... they told me to wait 15 days for any notification, if nothing to call USCIS back... Very fruastrating and Annoyed!!!

I'm hoping we don't get the typical response to our service requests stating that we will have a decision in the next 60 days which really sucks since we've been waiting all this time. Let's pray we just get our NOA 2's within the next week or two

[Louza 10]

I'm also curious to see how they will update their processing times on July 15th. Throughout the whole process I've seen the National Average go from 5 months to 7.4 months & now 9 months.

[rade2rising 205]

I am getting upset too, the wait is too long

[I Love Islam 1]

So now it's 9 months instead of 7 months... Ugh!! Inshallah.. We'll hear great news mid July.. Amin. When we called on our USCIS the national average of processing time was 5months for I-130.. Let's keep our heads up.. At times I feel like crying & screaming bcuz the process sux!! Unorganized & ppl gttn Approved that filed after us...

[Louza 10]

Insha'allah ILI.

Q&A with former adjudicator

I found the above link while browsing some of the threads in this forum, I'm going to paste part of it here because after I read it, for some reason it put my mind at ease.

Q Part of the frustration you might hear about is that what happens at USCIS is completely invisible. From our perspective, petitions go into a black hole and come out at an indeterminate time.

Perhaps you could provide an overview of the types of processing that happens and where delays are introduced into the system. Also, I'm sure that people would be interested in understanding the common mistakes to avoid when filing a petition. I understand that part of the purpose for the petition process is to prevent immigration fraud so I'm not asking you to divulge any of those red flags.

Two specific questions I have are:

What are the key metrics the service centers are measured on?

Why is Vermont so much faster than the other centers (especially California)?

Pardon the typos' in advance

That's a tough question and things might have changed since I was there almost 4 years ago now. But Nebraska was lagging behind at that point also. Management really was pushing a numbers game as far as adjudicators cranking out as many as they can. I also see that the NSC has a new Director (who used to be the Omaha District Manager). He's a good man.

An Adjudicators job performance is based on several factors. 1) how many files (petitions) you process everyday 2) number of applications "kicked back" because you made a mistake and they shouldn't have been approved and 3) attention to details and how many errors you make. Management gets a report on each Adjudicator (we all have a individual ID #) showing the total # of petitions processed, number kicked back and how many errors we made. They can call this up anytime and we were required to keep a daily tally of the work we did. When performance appraisal time came around, you would discuss your individual performance with your supervisor.

That's one of the reasons why you might see that your application was "touched" several times on a given day but no change in status. The adjudicator began working it (touch), went to lunch (touch), came back from lunch (touch) and finished reviewing it and sent it off to be processed (touch). Its touched when it goes back into the queue and etc...

Keep in mind every time a file changes hands whether its signed out to an Adjudicator or some staff person, its gets "wanded" into the system so they can track who specifically has the file. Each file has a scannable bar code. Sometimes you'd be working a file that has someone else working another component of the file or one of the family members. We would always try to keep family members together and approve them at the same time.

Getting back to the way it works,

If at any time you weren't processing enough petitions you would usually be talked to by your supervisor. Generally, this was only if there appeared to be a "trend" in your productivity. Everyone has days when they could process a lot vs. other "slower" days. A lot depends on the complexity of the petition you were working and some other "bean counting" tricks you could use to keep your #'s up. Everyone is trained on certain petitions first and progresses to the more complicated ones. This way they have the more experienced Adjudicators working the more difficult petitions like the 485's etc

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Q I always wondered about how many petitions each adjudicator has at once? Does each person lug a boxful to their desks, take an armful of 10 or 20, or what? Because most people with NOA1 from certain dates get approved, while a few are left hanging sooo long. I always imagined a stack of files on a slow pokes desk...

Thanks. There are storage shelves in each section of the building that house the boxes full of applicant's files. These shelves are continuously replenished as boxes are removed by the officers to be worked or turned in to be further processed after being approved. This resupply as it were is handled by the CIS contract employees.

So as a Adjudicator/officer I would go and get a box of case files every morning, scan/wand each file into the system under my user ID # (so people could track who had it) and then begin to adjudicate the cases. A box might hold 50 case or so.

They also had a rack for "expedites" which were cases whose petitioners had selected/paid for "premium processing". You were selected on a rotating basis to do "expedites". But the process was the same for these they just were staged differently in the overall que of things, so to speak. Moved further ahead in line or something. Congressionals were pulled by the congressional office and routed to the appropriate supervisor for dissemination to his employee's to work with a short turn around time.

So, your number of files vary at any given time during the day. Officers who did the work form home I spoke about earlier would come in to the office maybe once or twice a week, scan in all their new files (to their ID), then scan in all the approved files they were returning back into the system (from their ID) and take the multiple boxes back home with them to work. Enough to last a few days or so.

The reason for some hanging so long could be several. One could be an RFE and while the officer is waiting for the response he is working more current dates. In other words more and more applications are getting in front of the RFE'd application. Another reason could be that the boxes that are staged on the shelves are chosen at random by the officers. For some reason a box of files might sit longer on the shelf than another. Usually not more than a day at the most though. Or the officer could be hording a box at his desk (for some strange reason) and then goes on vacation and doesn't scan them out of his name and back into (return) them to the system so they can be picked up by someone else to work. So it sits for awhile.

Usually unless a file gets misplaced, applications are always kept in date groupings and date order. If you look in a box of files, they will all have been initially entered into the system either on the same day or within a day. That way they can work from oldest to newest in a organized fashion. They are kept that way so it will be fair to everyone waiting in line for approval.

On the rare occurrence a file will be mistakenly sent to district office or other Service Center, the error will be caught when a file search is done and it shows the location of the file (there is a system code showing its physical location). The file is recalled to its proper center or office. Very rare though.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Louza

[Musashii 21]

I'm hoping we don't get the typical response to our service requests stating that we will have a decision in the next 60 days which really sucks since we've been waiting all this time. Let's pray we just get our NOA 2's within the next week or two

My wife did a Service Request on 15 June 2012, which was replied on 28 June 2012.

Response was typical and generic "Your case is being adjudicated and you shall receive a Notice of Action within 45 days". Same reply to congressional inquiry on 6 June 2012.

Good luck to all of us who are waiting.

[X Factor 1,112]

My wife did a Service Request on 15 June 2012, which was replied on 28 June 2012.

Response was typical and generic "Your case is being adjudicated and you shall receive a Notice of Action within 45 days". Same reply to congressional inquiry on 6 June 2012.

Good luck to all of us who are waiting.

[Louza 10]

My wife did a Service Request on 15 June 2012, which was replied on 28 June 2012.

Response was typical and generic "Your case is being adjudicated and you shall receive a Notice of Action within 45 days". Same reply to congressional inquiry on 6 June 2012.

Good luck to all of us who are waiting.

My service request was submitted June 28th & still no word from them. I remember one member submitted a service request & was told to wait 60 days for a decision or NOA. So I guess the 45 days is better than 60 & maybe you'll hear something before that.