USCIS-AILA meeting October 23

[BOS_LHR 829]

I received an update from the AILA lawyer about the October 31 meeting. There's nothing really new or exciting, and I'm guessing when the official Q&A is posted to uscis.gov, there won't be any game changers there either.

"As you mentioned the NBC is now routing new stand-alone Forms I-130 to the Nebraska, Texas, and California Service Centers based upon the capacity of the Service Center and not the address of the petitioner. NBC stopped sending stand-alone Forms I-130 to USCIS Field Offices for adjudication in March 2013 and have since been holding them at the NBC. The NBC will also send backlogged stand alone I-130s to the service centers starting with the longest pending cases. Cases that are transferred should receive a transfer notice. The goal is for I-130s to be adjudicated in 5 months but the actual processing time right now is much longer – they are working on cases received on 10/1/2012. Note, however, that all of the service centers are now reporting processing times for immediate relative I-130s so at least we will be able to track USCIS progress on these cases whereas before we had no clue what was going on."

[quitepainful 56]

baby steps i guess! positive thinking....

[BOS_LHR 829]

My main question based on her response is whether NBC will be adjudicating anything at all. Overland Park was meant to be the single home for all I-130s as of Oct 1, but NBC is shipping its "backlog" for processing elsewhere. I'm curious as to which of their files are considered backlog, and whether they'll hang onto petitions that aren't so far out of date for processing at NBC. Since this particular lawyer has been exceedingly friendly and responsive, I'm considering sending this question to her to see what she makes of it. We know Feb and March filers are being transferred, but April-May and the beginning of June are officially outside the goal processing time (likely eligible for "backlog" status) and remain in limbo at NBC. It would be nice to know if those petitioners are waiting for a transfer or not. Wishful thinking, I know!

[katieflossom 54]

My main question based on her response is whether NBC will be adjudicating anything at all. Overland Park was meant to be the single home for all I-130s as of Oct 1, but NBC is shipping its "backlog" for processing elsewhere. I'm curious as to which of their files are considered backlog, and whether they'll hang onto petitions that aren't so far out of date for processing at NBC. Since this particular lawyer has been exceedingly friendly and responsive, I'm considering sending this question to her to see what she makes of it. We know Feb and March filers are being transferred, but April-May and the beginning of June are officially outside the goal processing time (likely eligible for "backlog" status) and remain in limbo at NBC. It would be nice to know if those petitioners are waiting for a transfer or not. Wishful thinking, I know!

Exactly what I'd like to know too (I'm an April filer). Please keep us posted if you do get a response and thanks for sharing.

[NoelAnne 62]

Yes, I was thinking that they will possibly ship out files up to June. It will make it look better for them as June is JUST inside the 5 month USCIS goal. Will be so disappointing if Overland Park will not be adjudicating 130s, it was our hope of getting off this downward spiral. I still have some hope that our petition will remain there and be approved in January as predicted on our timeline.

[BOS_LHR 829]

Here's her response to my follow-up:

"I believe they are transferring cases on a rolling basis so while Feb. and Mar. files are being transferred now, I imagine we will see April, May, and June moving soon. However, USCIS is constantly reviewing and reevaluating workload distribution so it is possible that things could change again. I also understand that some petitions will remain at NBC for adjudication, which, again, is all a part of the workload-balance thing.

Once the committee pulls together their collective notes, there may be some additional insights to share."

Has anyone made note of how long it took from the beginning of Feb transfers to the beginning of March transfers? Perhaps that will give us an idea of when we might look out for our own notices. Approval rates compared to number of transfers is depressingly low, though.

[quitepainful 56]

Thanks BOS_LHR... i created a transfer thread but that got shot down by people saying just use the timeline... so perhaps there is a way a report can be run using the timeline? some kind of search functionality... i would say perhaps a couple weeks for the transfers already...

[BOS_LHR 829]

I took a quick dive back through Feb and March threads. First Feb post about a transfer was Oct 17, first March post about a transfer was Oct 29. Maybe next week it'll start for April? =\ It would be nice if USCIS followed a pattern for a change.

[MJP 7]

Looking at the timelines, I see a March user (NOA1 6-Mar) who was transferred 17-Oct and got NOA2 4-Nov.

I took a quick dive back through Feb and March threads. First Feb post about a transfer was Oct 17, first March post about a transfer was Oct 29. Maybe next week it'll start for April? =\ It would be nice if USCIS followed a pattern for a change.

[Sukie 1,465]

So what does this mean for July - October 2013 filers? Are we staying at NBC? Are *we* the ones who are being adjudicated at Overland Park?

(My submission date is June 27, but my priority date is July 1.)

Sukie

[BOS_LHR 829]

My guess is that petitions still within normal processing times stand a chance of staying at NBC to be adjudicated there. But it seems like USCIS will do whatever's necessary to balance the workload from month to month -- i.e., change stuff up all the freaking time. I don't think there'll be enough consistency in their actions to accurately predict what'll happen to any of us for some time yet.