AOS interview successful, but waiting for FBI name check

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Yeah, it really is shocking what these federal agencies get away with. The blanket "national security" excuse essentially gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want, hold up people's lives for years, keep charging them fees for the privilege, and make them feel like ingrates for showing some degree of impatience. Just today, we received my husband's AP renewal NOA. I sent off the application April 23, for some reason it took a full week to get to Missouri from Phoenix (I paid extra for the delivery confirmation). The Received Date is May 8, and the Notice Date is May 14. What was it doing for all that time? I added it to the now pretty lengthy online portfolio, and it says, "On May 14, 2007, we received your application..." May 14? Two full weeks after the application arrived at their office?

It had taken me about a half hour to figure out where to send the damn thing because no renewal address is given on the application, and I couldn't find it on the rather muddled USCIS Web site (as it turns out, an AP renewal should be sent to the address on the NOA for the previous AP application--assuming you held onto it).

My husband, who is typically a mild-mannered chap, is getting really pissed off, and I can't blame him. It's not just having to shell out $350 to renew docs, but how excruciatingly slow the processing is, even for renewals. Why do we have to send in a whole new application, complete with new passport photos? We've already sent them about six sets of photos for various applications. And on the AP form, it still says to submit a 3/4 photo, which I believe was changed to frontal three or four years ago. They can't even get someone to update that part of the form?

Oliver, to answer your question, I don't think anyone knows what holds up these background checks. We've actually never been told specifically that it's the name check part of the background check, but that's what we're assuming. My husband has a pretty common first, middle, and last name. In terms of how long you might wait, I don't think there's any way to tell. Some people only have a to wait a few weeks, others years. If the FBI Web site is to be believed, less than 1% of cases are pending more than a year. So I guess we're to believe that we're just exceptionally unlucky. But often the delay is with USCIS, which is why it's a good idea to inquire with them from time to time.

[Donna A 4]

1% last more then a year....thats a joke right? there is probably 10%of us vjers right now waiting well over a year.

[WifeOHunkyJohn 2]

I worked it out online and we have been waiting for the FBI to finish our name check for 252 days now. It has been 300 since we sent of our AOS at all but only 84 days since our last touch, so I guess that's not too bad.

On a positive, it is only 101 days till our second wedding anniversary and, considering how fast time has flown so far, our celebrations will be upon us before we know it. And it's my brother's birthday today so that's also good, though I doubt he will remember to post us any cake.

Sigh...

[LaL 418]

for those interested in articles about the namecheck:

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2007,0403-mehta.shtm

[rebeccajo 14]

Laura, you rock! That was the memo we had seen once but couldn't find anymore! Good on you for digging it up (you're much more dilligent than I).

[LaL 418]

rebecca - this call is shocking. truely.

[rebeccajo 14]

rebecca - this call is shocking. truely.

AFU?

[LaL 418]

ok guys - to sum up the call we had last night regarding the proposed bill set to go to the floor on monday - "this bill is ####### and you need to contact your senators right away". Here is a synopsis that I also posted in OT.

This bill is focused on taking immigration out of the hands of the people (ie : families and businesses) and giving it to the government to support unskilled laborers. What that means is as part of the bill reduced backlog and wait times (sounds good right?, but wait...) by ELIMINATING whole categories of family-reunification visas.

the proposed bill does not classify spouses and children of permanent residents as immediate relatives (huh? ####### are they then??).

Waiver reform? ha! no such luck. those who are currently traversing the waiver system are lucky. IF this ####### bill gets passed 3 or 10 year bars get turned into PERMANENT BARS. Yup - that means that our dear member Girona's son will be permanently barred from the country.

How about those of us that are stuck for years in security clearances? This is our 2nd round going through this (can we say redundancy??) and not surprisingly- not an important issue! hmmm last I knew having someone in the country for YEARS while a background is checked dosen't sound like national security at its best to me! (especially for my boogey-man arab husband! oooo scary)

If this garbage proposal passes, the best hope any of us going through the legal system can hope for would be to beg for amendments. These are band-aids that got the system all mucked up and disjointed in the first place. Bottom line is this bill is an absolute disaster and goes as far as punishing for those going through the legal way. I am disgusted that a bill that is being brought to the floor on Monday, trying to get rushed through prior to their off session departure from DC so they can all have champagne and pat each other's backs and say we saved the day!

I am not buying an ounce of it. Immigration should be a family and employer benefit. Period. Eliminating family members from immigrating goees against everything this country is founded on. Limiting the number of skilled workers is detrimental for our country as well. It should not be ok for unskilled laborers to have a higher priority than familes. ever.

I would implore those who are currently going through legally to bring your families here to call and email your senators this weekend so they can see first thing on Monday what utter rubbish they are going to be presented with, and how it will negatively affect us all going through legally. We need comprehensive immigration reform deparately, but not at the expense of families.

Edited May 19, 2007 by lal_brandow

[SC & TF 1]

I just read the proposed bill on Comprehensive Immigration Reform on the USCIS website. Part of it reads:

"Ending Chain Migration

In Place Of The Current System Where Nearly Two-Thirds Of Green Cards Are Awarded To Relatives Of U.S. Citizens, Our Immigration System Will Be Reformed To Better Balance The Importance Of Family Connections With The Economic Needs Of Our Country.

* Visas for parents of U.S. citizens are capped, while green cards for the siblings and adult children of U.S. citizens and green card holders are eliminated.

* A new Parents Visitor visa is created to ensure that parents are allowed to visit their children in the United States regularly and for extended periods of time.

* The Diversity Lottery Program, which grants 50,000 green cards per year through random chance, is ended.

* These rebalanced green cards are used to clear the Family Backlog in eight years and then applied to the new Merit System for future immigration once the backlog is cleared."

This is preposterous! I can't believe a group of educated people actually came up with this bunch of nonsense! Have they forgotten that their ancestors were also immigrants? We need to fight this 'cos it is an injustice to families of those in the US, who need to be reunited with their relatives.

Edited May 19, 2007 by SC & TF

[zsam 0]

ok guys - to sum up the call we had last night regarding the proposed bill set to go to the floor on monday - "this bill is ####### and you need to contact your senators right away". Here is a synopsis that I also posted in OT.

This bill is focused on taking immigration out of the hands of the people (ie : families and businesses) and giving it to the government to support unskilled laborers. What that means is as part of the bill reduced backlog and wait times (sounds good right?, but wait...) by ELIMINATING whole categories of family-reunification visas.

the proposed bill does not classify spouses and children of permanent residents as immediate relatives (huh? ####### are they then??).

Waiver reform? ha! no such luck. those who are currently traversing the waiver system are lucky. IF this ####### bill gets passed 3 or 10 year bars get turned into PERMANENT BARS. Yup - that means that our dear member Girona's son will be permanently barred from the country.

How about those of us that are stuck for years in security clearances? This is our 2nd round going through this (can we say redundancy??) and not surprisingly- not an important issue! hmmm last I knew having someone in the country for YEARS while a background is checked dosen't sound like national security at its best to me! (especially for my boogey-man arab husband! oooo scary)

If this garbage proposal passes, the best hope any of us going through the legal system can hope for would be to beg for amendments. These are band-aids that got the system all mucked up and disjointed in the first place. Bottom line is this bill is an absolute disaster and goes as far as punishing for those going through the legal way. I am disgusted that a bill that is being brought to the floor on Monday, trying to get rushed through prior to their off session departure from DC so they can all have champagne and pat each other's backs and say we saved the day!

I am not buying an ounce of it. Immigration should be a family and employer benefit. Period. Eliminating family members from immigrating goees against everything this country is founded on. Limiting the number of skilled workers is detrimental for our country as well. It should not be ok for unskilled laborers to have a higher priority than familes. ever.

I would implore those who are currently going through legally to bring your families here to call and email your senators this weekend so they can see first thing on Monday what utter rubbish they are going to be presented with, and how it will negatively affect us all going through legally. We need comprehensive immigration reform deparately, but not at the expense of families.

RE; security check--they will have a commission to review checks pending for 2+ years---/i am so disgusted by the anti-family nature of this bill and how everything was done behind closed doors. I am disgusted at how they are thinking of "permanent bars" for people who are trying to work within this system and do the right LEGAL thing. This is "#######" as was said last night.

[LaL 418]

please be sure to check in to this thread

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69036

[Omid 0]

Hi all,

sorry if this has been addressed before but we rec'd this email yesterday - is this anything to get excited about? or concerned about? it was the first time we've seen anything since the interview in december.

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: MSC*************

Application Type: I485 , APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR

TO ADJUST STATUS

Current Status: Interview conducted; case under review.

An interview was conducted and your case is under active review by an

immigration officer. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision

or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is

pending, call customer service. We process each kind of case in the order we

receive them. Typically it may take between 60 days and our current

processing time for this kind of case. You can use our processing dates to

estimate when yours will be done. This case is at our NATIONAL BENEFITS

CENTER location. Follow the link below for current processing dates.

You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case.

Just follow the link below to register.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case

status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from

USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS

Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at

www.uscis.gov under Case Status & Processing Dates.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Thanks,

Omid

[Donna A 4]

which date is everyone using when saying they have been waiting _______ days in name check?

im not sure how to calculate when this mess started cuz i dont know what date everyone uses. i just want to see how long we have really waited.

[LaL 418]

many people have been able to find out the date when the checks were ordered. Mostly if you need to guess the namecheck occurs just after NOA1. I do recall someone on here who was told their namecheck was not ordered (slipped through the cracks) and it was ordered on the day of the interview or thereabouts.

[Sabrina_mei 0]

many people have been able to find out the date when the checks were ordered. Mostly if you need to guess the namecheck occurs just after NOA1. I do recall someone on here who was told their namecheck was not ordered (slipped through the cracks) and it was ordered on the day of the interview or thereabouts.

Yes...that was my case...the interviewer said they forgot to send it and she sent it the same day of the interview...I did the biometrics months before the interview, so it does not seem to be related to the FBI name check. She said the name check should be sent to the FBI when the AOS petition is received. Now I have been waiting for two months since my interview for the name check to be cleared.

Edited May 21, 2007 by Sabrina_mei