Nov 2014 update

[robinanis 77]

C Backlog: Over the past year, the NVC received increasing numbers of Immediate Relative petitions from USCIS. Prior to October 2013, the NVC used to receive approximately 8,000 cases per week. That number swelled to up to 25,000 cases per week in 2014 and has since subsided to around 17,000 petitions per week. The NVC is now receiving a large increase in non-current cases as well. Over the past several months, much of the NVC backlog was at the front end of the process case creation. The case creation process was at 45 days over the summer. It is now at 12 days. At present, delays continue at the document review stage (55 days, down from 60 days). Staff are cross-trained and resources have been reallocated to document review to bring the backlog down. The NVC is hiring additional staff and looking at its internal processes and will continue to work on improvements. NVC Overview: The NVC opened in 1994 for the purpose of centralizing immigrant visa processing and eliminating administrative burdens on Posts. NVC allows Posts to focus on adjudications. NVC is a public/private partnership of the Department of State and FCi Federal. There are more than 560 FCi Federal employees representing 33 languages and more than 40 nationalities. Prior to this, legacy INS would send all approved petitions (both current and non-current) to Posts. Current Cases: NVC processes and ships files to Post. NVC processing consists of document collection and appointment scheduling. Consular Returns: NVC receives about 50,000 cases per year; 10 days to process returns, conduct quality checks, and return to USCIS. Non-Current Cases: NVC stores until they become current, then processes and ships to Post. 1