USCIS Service Centers Slowing Down?

[Captain Ewok 1,900]

It has been noted by several sources including members that the USCIS has been slowing down considerably!  As shown below (gathered from the VisaJourney timelines) I-129F processing times are at all time highs with the CSC processing getting rapidly slower (taking far longer than 200 days).  The same is true for I-130s with the VSC taking well over 300 days and getting far worse by the day.

What do you think?  Are their things that may be causing this that we can raise awareness on?

 

 

[Zipline 23]

Ewok please see my Youtube presentation on this if you have not already done so ...

[catie-b 2]

I hope this is just a brief slow down maybe they can hire more people or send some of their workload to other service centres?

[Caryh 5,206]

Ewok please see my Youtube presentation on this if you have not already done so ...

One glaring problem with your hypothesis, is DACA didn't start until August 2012, yet the peak in backlog occurred in April of 2012. Many months earlier. If you track was was going on with AOS backlog, you'll see a huge backlog of AOS applications started building up 2ith the growth beginning in the third quarter of 2011.

To accurately reflect what is going on, you're going to have to dig deeper than just I-129F applications and DACA. USCIS has long been known to jump around human resources making some applications faster while others languish in the back room, constantly playing a catch up game. You'll need to look at the numbers of all applications coming in, and how that has been reflected in all backlogged cases.

[Ramsey 16]

It has been noted by several sources including members that the USCIS has been slowing down considerably! As shown below (gathered from the VisaJourney timelines) I-129F processing times are at all time highs with the CSC processing getting rapidly slower (taking far longer than 200 days). The same is true for I-130s with the VSC taking well over 300 days and getting far worse by the day.

What do you think? Are their things that may be causing this that we can raise awareness on?

Captain ewok, while what you are saying is definitely true, we have noticed that the CSC have been trying really hard to play "catch up" recently, especially during the month of April (last month). Monitoring Igor's list, we were getting between 20-30 NOA2 approvals per day here on VisaJourney which is unheard of!! There were also a great deal of RFE's (I am one of them). Now that it's May, things have definitely slowed down again although not nearly as slow as what we experienced for the 6 months prior.

After talking with the USCIS on several occasions (from different VJ members), it turns out that they were flooded with "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”)" petitions. As you know, this program was signed into law last year and on August 15, 2012 (the same time everything slowed down) they started processing this paperwork which basically pushed all I-129F's (and probably I-130's too) to the sidelines. This has been the common understanding among most VJ members.

Good news is that at least the CSC is doing better than it has in the past, so there is a glimmer of hope Cheers.

[Zipline 23]

One glaring problem with your hypothesis, is DACA didn't start until August 2012, yet the peak in backlog occurred in April of 2012. Many months earlier. If you track was was going on with AOS backlog, you'll see a huge backlog of AOS applications started building up 2ith the growth beginning in the third quarter of 2011.

To accurately reflect what is going on, you're going to have to dig deeper than just I-129F applications and DACA. USCIS has long been known to jump around human resources making some applications faster while others languish in the back room, constantly playing a catch up game. You'll need to look at the numbers of all applications coming in, and how that has been reflected in all backlogged cases.

I agree, my video doesn't give the full spectrum of the problem. It is a synopsis of recent events and stats. I am sure there have been other K-1 slowdowns over the years for reasons both known and unknown, especially at VSC.

[Natsukiii 35]

My wife and I just sent out our CR-1 package yesterday. I hope we don't get caught in the backlog

[TylerDurden 45]

Are we allowed to post our information here? It seems relevant to your questions.

[Captain Ewok 1,900]

Does your organization have a website, blog or other source that publishes your mission statement and other press information? We have no objection to reporting news that falls within our TOS. The most useful information (as you can imagine) is concise and summarized in a way that a broad audience can understand and relate to such as in a press release. We frequently report on breaking in news in our news section which is then highlighted on our homepage and visible to our membership and visitors.

[Bayareaguy 156]

The slowdown was in Dec-April. The "increasing " in days to NAO2 is a function of them processing a lot of the backlog...the chart in the OP is misleading in that when the CSC was at its worst, the time on the chart is actually low (artificially), since it seems to take the few NOA2's entered in the system (many with expidites or congressional help), and not the bulk that is waiting.

In actuality, it is much better now than it was in Dec/Jan/Feb.

Cap't ewok, could you please post the algorithm that the Igors list charts use? (I am guessing it is the average of x# of the last NOA2's in time from NOA1-NOA2....which would be the reason it does not show reality since it doesn't get data from a huge # of NOA1's waiting to be processed as in Dec-April)

[TylerDurden 45]

We are not an organization but rather a collective. A mission statement is not possible because that would require a single view a single cause and a leadership. As a collective with all parts equal our views are as varied as those of the populace. We operate in truly the most democratic of methods, excluding no one and excluding no view.

While we agree with the promotion of immigration as a cause, there are others who do not. Each branch chooses its cause, members, and methods.

If there were a mission statement it would be ‘to improve’... what is improved, what is viewed as improvement is as diverse as the rage of possible views.

If establishing a website or blog to publish our findings and data is what you want we can gladly do that. If you wish us to publish a mission statement for our branch we have already done so on YouTube.

If we do so will members be able to refer to and link the data we provide externally?

In the mean time…

We bet if someone had a copy of the status of ALL CSC petitions it sure would be handy for answering these question.

Imagine knowing for example that there were oh just tossing out some numbers… just some good guesses…

Form Description Count Percentage

------ ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- ----------

I765 APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION 257104 36.29%

I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE 172370 24.33%

I821D Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 169594 23.94%

I821 APPLICATION FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS 41396 5.84%

I539 APPLICATION TO EXTEND OR CHANGE NONIMMIGRANT STATUS 20782 2.93%

I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E) 16894 2.38%

I131 APPLICATION FOR USCIS TRAVEL DOCUMENT 6022 0.85%

I526 IMMIGRANT PETITION BY ALIEN ENTREPRENEUR 5888 0.83%

I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS 3330 0.47%

EOIR29 NOTICE OF APPEAL FROM DECISION OF DISTRICT DIRECTOR 3380 0.47%

I290B NOTICE OF APPEAL TO THE COMMISSIONER 3252 0.45%

I824 APPLICATION FOR ACTION ON AN APPROVED APPLICATION OR PETITION 2489 0.35%

I102 APPLICATION FOR REPLACEMENT 2040 0.28%

I360 PETITION FOR AMERASIAN 1979 0.27%

NA Unknown 1802 0.25%

I601 Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility 47 0.00%

We bet it would be cool to know how many DACA applications were approved by month… something like…

Month Approved

----------- -----------

9 838

10 10990

11 16927

12 15554

1 15498

2 17167

3 16976

4 18260

5 2197

Then you could compare it to how many I-129F petions were approved in the same time… like…

Month Approved

----------- -----------

9 392

10 279

11 324

12 201

1 367

2 241

3 225

4 3287

5 134

Just guessing mind you, but we bet it would take like ohhhh… 72 approvals per business day to keep in pace with the normal annual petitions.

We wonder if the jump in april I129F approvals is due to a combination of things, like CSC records being transferred, the H1B cap limit being hit, a stop in processing of some classes of work visas and the hiring of new staff? Just guessing.

[Nate and Malou 0]

I filed a K1 petition on 08/27/2012 and received my first NOA on 08/30/2012. We are still waiting.

The current date that the USCIS CSC is processing is 18 July 2012. They have been stuck on that date for several months now. When I call the USCIS customer service they tell me that they can't file a inquiry because the USCIS is still within its "posted processing date".

253 day's have passed since our first NOA. There there seems to be absolutely nothing I can do on my own to find out the status of our petition.

What can I do to find out the status of our petition?

[TylerDurden 45]

I filed a K1 petition on 08/27/2012 and received my first NOA on 08/30/2012. We are still waiting.

The current date that the USCIS CSC is processing is 18 July 2012. They have been stuck on that date for several months now. When I call the USCIS customer service they tell me that they can't file a inquiry because the USCIS is still within its "posted processing date".

253 day's have passed since our first NOA. There there seems to be absolutely nothing I can do on my own to find out the status of our petition.

What can I do to find out the status of our petition?

Go to https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do and enter your receipt number.

This will give you your current status.

[TylerDurden 45]

The overall status of august filers is as such:

Acceptance 3

Decision 81

Initial Review 90

Post Decision Activity 1029

Request for Evidence 404

Request for Evidence Response Review 72

Sorry, we cannot just leave this guy hanging.

This is a few days old.

Edited May 11, 2013 by TylerDurden

[Nate and Malou 0]

The USCIS CSC graph if telling me that there processing time is 7.5 months for K1 visa. Our petition is nearly at 8.5 months of being "under review". I want to know the true status of our petition.

I can imagine a couple of hundred people working in cubicles in a large building in Laguna Niguel, and my folder folder/petition sitting at the bottom of a big heap of other folder/petitions.