Checks in 2022

[Holly&Andreas 38]

20 hours ago, Tommyz44 said:

i guess i should word it more like are card filers quicker than checks? it seems many more card filers seem to get quicker noa responses. i get not comparing to others, but it is why we have people fill out the profiles. it helps to build a rough estimate. would be nice to know are check filers longer than card at this point. 

From a purely banking/AR side of things, checks are generally slower for a few reasons.

 

Debit card payments go through near-instantly and the vendor receives a response from the banks that money has been requested/received within 1 or 2 business days generally depending on the time of day you initiated the transaction. Depending on their AR processes, they probably have a team that goes in and checks bank deposits on a daily basis so they can reconcile those charges and post them to their ledgers, plus credit the appropriate accounts. 

 

Checks go to a lockbox and then from there they probably go to their facility that processes payments (accounting/AR) and I am willing to bet they scan the checks in the office and process them as an ACH. This is what I did when I was in AR. The check batches then get entered into their accounting system and posted to the appropriate accounts/ledgers. 

 

That being said, I don't know what their internal processes are for once they receive a payment and credit an account. I've worked in AR/AP for several years and each company does things a little differently. My role when I did AR was to scan the checks and post the deposits to the bank, then my colleague would actually credit the customer accounts and generate receipts once she got the posted batch from me. USCIS probably does something similar since they have to deal with so many payments. There is also the consideration of paper checks being incorrect, the name spelled wrong, invalid dates, future or post dating, missing signatures, incorrect payee name, etc. These issues will all cause delays or rejection of the check payment.

 

Like I said though, this is just from a banking/AR side of things for processing the different payments. There can always be other reasons why a payment process is delayed, and why it might take some filers longer to receive a NOA than others. 

[Crazy Cat 41,887]

21 hours ago, Tommyz44 said:

i cant believe the govt wouldn't want its money asap

Do you realize how many petitions and application they receive every day?  It takes time to scan process payments.  They will not process payments until your package has been deemed acceptable.    For example, if a package is rejected, they don't process payment. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Tommyz44 67]

1 hour ago, Holly&Andreas said:

From a purely banking/AR side of things, checks are generally slower for a few reasons.

 

Debit card payments go through near-instantly and the vendor receives a response from the banks that money has been requested/received within 1 or 2 business days generally depending on the time of day you initiated the transaction. Depending on their AR processes, they probably have a team that goes in and checks bank deposits on a daily basis so they can reconcile those charges and post them to their ledgers, plus credit the appropriate accounts. 

 

Checks go to a lockbox and then from there they probably go to their facility that processes payments (accounting/AR) and I am willing to bet they scan the checks in the office and process them as an ACH. This is what I did when I was in AR. The check batches then get entered into their accounting system and posted to the appropriate accounts/ledgers. 

 

That being said, I don't know what their internal processes are for once they receive a payment and credit an account. I've worked in AR/AP for several years and each company does things a little differently. My role when I did AR was to scan the checks and post the deposits to the bank, then my colleague would actually credit the customer accounts and generate receipts once she got the posted batch from me. USCIS probably does something similar since they have to deal with so many payments. There is also the consideration of paper checks being incorrect, the name spelled wrong, invalid dates, future or post dating, missing signatures, incorrect payee name, etc. These issues will all cause delays or rejection of the check payment.

 

Like I said though, this is just from a banking/AR side of things for processing the different payments. There can always be other reasons why a payment process is delayed, and why it might take some filers longer to receive a NOA than others. 

thank you for the info! thats kind of what i was thinking is it is possible overall the check could add a few extra days to the process. It would be nice if VJ would start to track that. great statistical information. 

[Tommyz44 67]

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

Do you realize how many petitions and application they receive every day?  It takes time to scan process payments.  They will not process payments until your package has been deemed acceptable.    For example, if a package is rejected, they don't process payment. 

hmm interesting. i never heard that at all. I always thought they take the money no matter what. Its the application fee. And yes i understand how many they receive every day. i get a few days difference, but I'm seeing cases that summitted weeks after mine was received at the office and getting NOA1. which makes me worry that even thought it was signed at the USPS whos to say they even have my packet. that's more so my worry. Government always accepts the money quick. That is what concerns me most. not the NOA1 is lacking but they haven't taken the money yet. 

 

VIA USCIS I-485 page "When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing and biometric service fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request."

[Holly&Andreas 38]

7 minutes ago, Tommyz44 said:

hmm interesting. i never heard that at all. I always thought they take the money no matter what. Its the application fee. And yes i understand how many they receive every day. i get a few days difference, but I'm seeing cases that summitted weeks after mine was received at the office and getting NOA1. which makes me worry that even thought it was signed at the USPS whos to say they even have my packet. that's more so my worry. Government always accepts the money quick. That is what concerns me most. not the NOA1 is lacking but they haven't taken the money yet. 

 

VIA USCIS I-485 page "When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing and biometric service fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request."

There's probably also a difference in processing times when you send a form or petition and payment through the mail vs. filing online and paying online. Physical mail takes more time for obvious reasons. It has to physically get to them (and we all know USPS is abominably slow right now) and then it has to be sorted and sent to the correct department, opened, contents verified and sorted and payments sent to the AR department for processing. They have to read through the information on your petition to set up your profile in their database and then apply your payment to your profile, all before sending out the NOA. I'm sure there are any number of things that could delay this process. It's one of the reasons why I chose to file online and pay with a debit card. 

[Crazy Cat 41,887]

1 hour ago, Tommyz44 said:

I always thought they take the money no matter what.

Not always.  Many people have had their checks returned for rejected packages.   It's a processing fee.  Not an receiving fee.   If you withdraw a case, it has undergone some processing.  If you receive an RFE, they keep the fee. Of course, your miles may vary....

 

One example might be that a form was not signed....

Edited May 12, 2022 by Crazy Cat