USCIS has no competition and no legal requirement to do their job efficiently and in a timely manner

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

The process is very complex but it is certainly extremely inefficient.

There are plenty of publicly available audits and reports that describe in full detail the problems and possible solutions, but it is clear not much has been done. 

 

One of the main issues, IMO, is that there is no punitive system in place that could deter USCIS components -read contractors, employees- from messing up things. 

Basically, if someone somewhere along the way messes up, there are no consequences. No one is fired or fined or even reprimanded for losing documents, not processing cases in order or not following policy. 

 

The ones that end up paying -financially, physically and emotionally- are the immigrants directly affected. The rest, just wait for their journey to end and don't want to do anything with USCIS once they're done. 

 

And the general public -who is constantly manipulated with immigration issues for political gain- are completely clueless about what the whole immigration phenomenon implies and they don't really care enough to get acquainted. 

[W199 290]

2 hours ago, godspeed said:

they do not connect to the databases that are used by the CIA, NSA, FBI. And require you to communicate between agencies for them.

 

their attitude is that they are providing a benefit that you have to pay for at every step

 

when tax money has already paid for it

 

 

 

What do you mean?  AFAIK, USCIS is by and large a self-funded agency from the service fees you pay, not from our tax money.

 

And what do you mean, they require us to communicate between the CIA, NSA, and FBI for them?  I never heard of such a thing. They are the ones that have full access to our in-depth sealed, expunged, and other records. Not us. They are certainly not going to accept any FBI records or data from us or ask us to communicated between the CIA and FBI!. They have their own means of efficient access and a full in-depth fraud team when they suspect fraud too. which is rather often, crimes against kids, etc...  As crazy cat said, the process is much more complicated than what you seem to be implying.   That said, sure the whole system could be reforned and improved.  Years ago it only took 3 months and a few pages to get a K-1. But our new Presidents have made it much more complicated and trippled the size of the I-129F petition to help reduce all the severe abuse to the immigrants and fraud. 

 

That said, no one disagrees, including USCIS, that huge improvements in efficieny, technology, and so forth is needed. And that great harm is happening to people in the meantime.  Personally, I don't see why they don't just have in-house DOS access to issue a NVC case number and e-file it directly with the embassy. 

[devusr 40]

What about Consulate Officers? One officer having a bad day can 221g everybody and there is no review process whatsoever. We seriously need "panel reviews" where 3 people come to a unanimous decision.

[JeanneAdil 6,398]

 

9 hours ago, Sammy_2496 said:

I honestly wish they had processing centres in each state that handle K1 and CR1 cases….. but one can dream 😂

Actually they use to use state offices 

the intending immigrant would come to US and be interviewed here (to see if they could stay)

but that bought in  many who didn't qualify  to stay and disappeared in the illegal community of which we now have over 11   million

 

and with the 1st attack on the world trade center with a bomb it was evident that we needed stronger security checks in the immigrants home country(s)

 

[JeanneAdil 6,398]

6 hours ago, godspeed said:

That’s what my attorney told me too.

 

and they aren’t required to do a good job the entire centralization scheme is UN-American I'm sure a private company could blow them away 

Coming from one VJ  member that went thru a 6 year process i can honestly say it seems unfair but then reading about all kinds of schemes from fake colleges doing student visas and dating scams to get people here plus 9/11,    human trafficing,     it is no wonder this process is long 

it is meant to protect both the USC and the alien 

 

And fees will change /they are set to change soon   $1225 for AOS to $2820

 

And if u can get Congress to do anything,  i will give u a lot of credit

i write to my repres all the time and i get the monthly bulletins from their office to check on what is important to each one and what they vote on

Edited April 14, 2023 by JeanneAdil

[Sammy_2496 116]

5 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

 

Actually they use to use state offices 

the intending immigrant would come to US and be interviewed here (to see if they could stay)

but that bought in  many who didn't qualify  to stay and disappeared in the illegal community of which we now have over 11   million

 

and with the 1st attack on the world trade center with a bomb it was evident that we needed stronger security checks in the immigrants home country(s)

 

Oh i had no idea about that. The more you learn!

[SteveInBostonI130 3,344]

11 hours ago, godspeed said:

We need to develop political initiates to get congress to pass laws to enact oversight over the USCIS to ensure ;

 

timely processing 

 

a transparent rules-based approach 

 

competition for performance improvements 

 

competition for lower fees 

 

I have seen several people new to immigration get fired up and typically pick USCIS as their complaint target -- they should do this, they should do that, gov should do something.

 

Usually that fire is limited to this forum or similar and at times end up in echo chamber posts.

 

I have never seen anyone organize a grass roots campaign, about USCIS or, better yet, immigration legislation in general.  And I have seen few politicians run on pro-immigration platforms.  There are far more anti-immigration candidates.

 

Even many immigrants balk at rule or system changes -- they had to go through a grueling process so "why should the gov. make it easier for newcomers? That is not fair!"

 

Vent as much as you need.  

[JeanneAdil 6,398]

11 hours ago, godspeed said:

We need to develop political initiates to get congress to pass laws to enact oversight over the USCIS to ensure ;

 

timely processing 

 

a transparent rules-based approach 

 

competition for performance improvements 

 

competition for lower fees 

 

 

 

in all honesty if 100 of us got together to propose a petition to make Congress act on the problems,  we would have 100 different ideas on what they should do

the rules are transparent /they and any changes are posted online in  the Federal Registry

 

One thing that does bother me is  CO's are suppose to treat people with respect at an interview and they often don't 

[igoyougoduke 1,632]

11 hours ago, godspeed said:

We need to develop political initiates to get congress to pass laws to enact oversight over the USCIS to ensure ;

 

timely processing 

 

a transparent rules-based approach 

 

competition for performance improvements 

 

competition for lower fees 

 

 

 

we need to replace the entire congress and government. its not USCIS but the bureaucracy of 90 year olds in congress for like 50 years 

[godspeed 41]

Seems to be a lot of insight in these forums I’m sure we could come up with a unified petition to send to US Congress members.

[carmel34 3,574]

Only Congress can fix the mess by changing the very old, inefficient immigration laws.  Many in both houses have tried, hearing from plenty of unhappy constituents and receiving lots of petitions over the years.  The basic problem is that Congress is very divided and can't agree on anything, so nothing happens.  Immigration is probably the most contentious issue of all, so the chances for any improvements in the foreseeable future are very low in my opinion.  That's the cold reality unfortunately.

[B_J 2,752]

USCIS is not pressured by congress to improve.  Congress has no reason to pressure USCIS because their constituents don't care about, or know anything about,  legal immigration.  Legal immigration is simply not a priority. Honestly, most of us knew almost nothing about legal immigration before we started this. It never even crossed our minds. Legal immigration certainly never makes the news.  And I really don't think any of this is going to change. 

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,010]

18 hours ago, godspeed said:

when in reality they could connect to the intelligence databases and verify our information

I'm sure that is exactly what they do for background checks. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[JeanneAdil 6,398]

10 hours ago, godspeed said:

Seems to be a lot of insight in these forums I’m sure we could come up with a unified petition to send to US Congress members.

Then go for it

happy to sign one that i agree on

the one thing i would change is Joint sponsorship/get rid of it  and only approve visa if USC petitioner can afford the immigrant and themself

with the income set so low,   $18,310 for 2 for K1 ,,   and joint sponsor is not required to support the immigrant,  to me there is just no way 2 people can live on that especially in NYC or Miami

 

if u read VJ  the requirements are different for embassies /don't like that either /if i have to prove multiple visits to have a visa approved,,   everyone in every country should

[SalishSea 17,383]

On 4/14/2023 at 10:30 AM, godspeed said:

they do not connect to the databases that are used by the CIA, NSA, FBI. And require you to communicate between agencies for them.

 

their attitude is that they are providing a benefit that you have to pay for at every step

 

when tax money has already paid for it

 

as for the USCIS, the CATO institute did a study which said that COVID was not a valid excuse for the present situation - not that the wait times were acceptable before COVID

 

any institution without legal requirements to perform and without competition 

 

will likely be as slow and painful as the USCIS 

 

The wait times cause harm to families and individuals… and the processes need to be completely spelled out and transparent so that they can’t be abused by agents due to their emotional whims 

‘Our tax dollars’ do not pay for people to bring their parents, siblings, children and spouses here from the old country.  Or a fiancé met once for two magical weeks.

Can you imagine the uproar if they did?

 

The USCIS/DOS fees is why they are referred to as self-funded.