1st post former NSC adjudicator now petitioner

[Cmehat 0]

This is an awesome post. I've been touched Oct 14,15,16/08 and I was getting quite worried. But this definitely rests my spirit knowing that it doesn't necessarily mean a 'denied'. GOod luck to everyone

Pardon the typos' in advance

Thats 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 wree required to keep a daily tally of the work we did. When performance appraisel time came around, you would discuss your individual performance with your supervisor.

Thats one of the reasons why you might see that your application was "touched" several times ona 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 que and etc...

Keep in mind everytime a file changes hands whether its signed out to an Adjudicator or some satff person, its gets "wanded" ino 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 compnent of the file or one of the family members. We would alwaystry 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...

Hi HuskerKiev,

Welcome. 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. My solution is to over-analyze the data to come up with what feel like reasonable expectations.

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)?

Thanks for your insights and good luck with your Jouney from this side of the fence

PPFKL

Welcome to VJ Good to hear from you and your story

I can't imagine how many applications for various things must come in everyday. It's incredible they get it all done

Do "touches" really mean an NOA2 or RFE is coming soon do you know

RE: RFE's and touches, see my last post about scanning in files to work them. D.