Interesting information regarding huge delays in I-130 processing

[uniquelyd 3]

I'm just confused. The USCIS received our IR-/CR-1 I-130 Petition document on June 18, 2013. They said they forwarded it to the NBC (National Benefits Center). If I have to check our status online (which is still/always on "Initial Review"), the only service center selection is Vermont Service Center nothing about NBC. But they did not send any email to my husband about transferring our case.

I know exactly how you feel. They actually sent my file to the local field office in Dallas on April 04 for processing and Dallas sent it back to NBC less than a week later. I did not receive any notifications and I only found out about it this because I called and talk to several confused USCIS IOs. When I went on my infopass appointment last month, the rep confirmed that Dallas did have the files at one time but sent them back and he could not explain to my why. His best guess was that it was to be redirected to a new field office (which made no sense).

I know they are extremely backed up with at the moment but the strategy they implemented was a major fail and it is upsetting to me that they are and have giving an unbalanced amount of attention to individuals seeking DAs than those who are going through the process legally.

[Abilene 0]

That's right. So, the thing is, we have to practice patience and always on prayer and fasting. On the other hand, I like that snail crawling in the grass. How to do that and have it here in the box?

Edited September 17, 2013 by Abilene

[r060106 109]

This thread just ruined my day. So depressed and angry right now...

[imse82 45]

I don't understand how USCIS look at the things... Hey citizens sorry you gotta wait a year or so to be with your spouse because illegals who are ALREADY in the country WITH their families are more important... Just depressing.

[r060106 109]

While I am impatient too, I find it hard to get upset at an illegal immigrant whose parents brought him or her here as a child. It's not like they had a choice. But now they can be legal in the country in which they were raised. Based on what happened in Washington, DC at the Navy Yard today, I don't think crime is limited to illegal immigrants.

I assume that when Division XIII at Overland Park becomes operational (sometime before the end of September) we'll see some movement. Division XIII will handle stand-alone I-130s ONLY - so hopefully that will streamline the process. Those of you with I-130s with other forms, or doing DCF will go through another processing center.

I guess I'm confused. Per the link, isn't the Overland Park Kansas facility meant only for the Deferred Action cases? How then is it only going to be processing stand alone I-130s? Can you please explain this?

[jkedhd 5]

I just saw a jan filer from nyc get an approval and as I understand you don't lose your place in line. have you tried calling up an IO? if your case is on a desk, they can tell you that

i hope what you say is right.. this is really taking so long.

but what is the IO ?

can i schedule infopass to my local field office ? i tried to schedule one but all kind of infopass requested requires some paper works that i dont have!

[Boiler 45,411]

Immigration Officer

It would be have to be something they can address at the local office, what was your question?

[Smoochies2011 19]

It looks like Jan, Feb, March and April filers will get screwed by this new location. Soon it will be may and june filers getting approved before us. What a Mess!

march filer ! and how do you know that I havent heard about that you guys are sure I think it doesnt.make senss they go by the procesing time may and june cant get approved before us jan feb and march ots crazyyyyyy (

march filer ! and how do you know that I havent heard about that you guys are sure I think it doesnt.make senss they go by the procesing time may and june cant get approved before us jan feb and march ots crazyyyyyy (

[Sukie 1,454]

I guess I'm confused. Per the link, isn't the Overland Park Kansas facility meant only for the Deferred Action cases? How then is it only going to be processing stand alone I-130s? Can you please explain this?

To the best of my knowledge, the Overland Park Facility opened earlier this year (April), and started processing I-90s. This office is technically part of the NBC(MSC), but is physically in Kansas, not in Missouri, where the NBC is located. Division 7, which is the first Division to become functional at Overland Park, ONLY processes I-90s. Division 8 is set to open sometime before September 30 (the end of the fiscal year for USCIS) and it will handle stand-alone I-130s.

What's confusing is that it appears there have been several switcheroos with the I-130s in the past year. At one point in 2012 (August), the big service centers in California and Vermont were told to send stand-alone 130s to the NBC(MSC). After they got to the NBC, they were then shipped to "local offices" on a bi-weekly basis, based on the petitioner's zip code. But...most likely in May 2013, this changed again - because USCIS knew that Overland Park Division 8 was going to open. I have no idea exactly when THIS particular change happened, but, most likely, I-130s dated sometime in May began to be shipped to Overland Park (look at the address on your NOA1 - perhaps someone can figure out when the addresses changed), and are just waiting for Division 8 to be operational.

Yes, my assumption is that there is quite a backlog of I-130s just waiting to be dealt with in Overland Park. But I hope that this Division 8, which will ONLY handle stand-alone I-130s will get their act together, and we'll begin to see some streamlined throughput.

I really don't know where Feb - April stand-alone I-130s ended up. I think most of them (that did not go to Texas) probably ended up in Missouri - but I don't know if they started working on them centrally, or if they were shipped to "local offices" or whether they, like May filers through now, have been waiting on Overland Park's Division 8 to open.

I found somewhere on Google where the USCIS has leased the space in Overland Park for 8 years - meaning they are intending to stay there for a while. The article said they'd hired 500 employees in Overland Park, if I remember correctly, and were going to expand to over 900. This doesn't include contractors.

I'm not an insider, by the way. Most of this is conjecture by reading the minutes of the AILA Q&A session held in May of this year, and trying to figure out what the heck has been going on. I'm a June filer, by the way, with a priority date of 1 July 2013.

It would be good to know what address the NOA1s of Feb - April filers are - maybe we could extrapolate the queuing based on that info. I know someone posted that they had a 15 May priority date, and their address was Overland Park.

Here is the data from the AILA Q&A session...this is as of 1 May 2013. I've highlighted some of the interesting facts...

April 8, 2013

NBC opened its new office in Overland Park, Kansas, where Adjudications Division 7 will process Form I-90 applications. A new division, Adjudications Division 8, also will be located at the Overland Park, Kansas facility. NBC anticipates that Division 8 will begin to adjudicate stand-alone immediate relative Form I-130 petitions by the end of Fiscal Year 2013.

Stand-Alone Forms I-130

Question 4:

At the November 30, 2012 engagement, the NBC reported that the California Service Center(CSC) and the Vermont Service Center (VSC) began shipping stand-alone Immediate Relative (IR) I-130 petitions to the NBC on August 15, 2012. Then NBC ships the I-130s to the appropriate USCIS Field Office bi-weekly based on jurisdiction (petitioner ZIP code). According to the minutes from the meeting, there are two exceptions to this policy: I-130s that are filed by an overseas petitioner, and those filed with a request for expedited processing. It was reported that once NBC is staffed for this workload in 2013, the NBC will assume jurisdiction of the stand-alone I-130 petitions.

a)

What is the status of the transition of stand-alone I-130s to the NBC?

Response: <ed. note: As of May 1>NBC continues to receive I-130s and ship them to the appropriate field office for adjudication. Based on staffing, we anticipate being able to adjudicate these in the fall. <ed. note: Has anyone with February filing dates going forward gotten a transfer letter to their local office?>

b)

How are I-130s for beneficiaries in removal proceedings handled? Does the NBC still ship the I-130 to the appropriate USCIS Field Office based on jurisdiction (petitioner ZIP code)?

Response: Currently, all I-130s filed for beneficiaries living in the U.S. are sent to the appropriate field office for adjudication.We do not currently review I-130s before they are shipped. Shipment to the Field Office is based on zip code of the petitioner’s address.

c)

What is the processing time expected to be for stand-alone I-130s filed by an overseas petitioner?

Response:

The current processing time for stand-alone I-130s filed by an overseas petitioner is approximately 60 days from the date of receipt at NBC.

d)Although all I-130s are assigned a“MSC” case number, I-130 processing times are not listed on

the NBC Processing Time Information page on the USCIS website. Will the processing times for all I-130 petitions, including those forwarded to a field office, be posted on the USCIS Processing Time Information website?

Response:

Currently the NBC is working with HQ Field Operations to post processing times on

the USCIS website.

e)

Would NBC consider implementing a procedure to expedite the adjudication of I-130 petitions for beneficiaries who are in removal proceedings, as indicated in Question 16 on Form I-130, Part C? Immigration Judges are under no obligation to continue removal proceedings until a Form I-130 has been adjudicated, even though relief often depends on its approval. Attorneys could be instructed to include the Notice of Hearing issued by EOIR to alert the NBC of the next hearing date when requesting expedited processing.

Response:

NBC is not considering implementing such a procedure at this time. Our current level of resources does not allow us to do this. When we resume adjudication of I-130s at the NBC<ed. note: i.e., when they stop sending stand-alone I-130s to field offices - I think this was in May, personally>, we will evaluate the feasibility of this suggestion.

However, all petitioners for expeditious adjudication are considered on a case by case basis. Expedite criteria and instructions are published on the USCIS website.

This is from:

http://tinyurl.com/o9po26u

Hope this might help with some of the questions.

Sukie

Edited September 18, 2013 by Sukie

[stevie b 141]

Sukie

Sukie!

awesome research

there is a trickling of approvals from the local offices. there are also some transfer notices.. stating local office.. my feeling is that this is the same thing as the k1 fiasco from earlier this year.. first it started with erroneous transfer messages... more to the point, I think these transfer notices are for the new facility.

I hate to say it but the filers in the pre-may position may be in that same temporary black hole that the k1r's went through earlier. they did get approved, but it was a little painful.

again this is just an observation based on what I have seen and read here on vj.. so please don't beat me up

but again, nice research

[r060106 109]

To the best of my knowledge, the Overland Park Facility opened earlier this year (April), and started processing I-90s. This office is technically part of the NBC(MSC), but is physically in Kansas, not in Missouri, where the NBC is located. Division 7, which is the first Division to become functional at Overland Park, ONLY processes I-90s. Division 8 is set to open sometime before September 30 (the end of the fiscal year for USCIS) and it will handle stand-alone I-130s.

What's confusing is that it appears there have been several switcheroos with the I-130s in the past year. At one point in 2012 (August), the big service centers in California and Vermont were told to send stand-alone 130s to the NBC(MSC). After they got to the NBC, they were then shipped to "local offices" on a bi-weekly basis, based on the petitioner's zip code. But...most likely in May 2013, this changed again - because USCIS knew that Overland Park Division 8 was going to open. I have no idea exactly when THIS particular change happened, but, most likely, I-130s dated sometime in May began to be shipped to Overland Park (look at the address on your NOA1 - perhaps someone can figure out when the addresses changed), and are just waiting for Division 8 to be operational.

Yes, my assumption is that there is quite a backlog of I-130s just waiting to be dealt with in Overland Park. But I hope that this Division 8, which will ONLY handle stand-alone I-130s will get their act together, and we'll begin to see some streamlined throughput.

I really don't know where Feb - April stand-alone I-130s ended up. I think most of them (that did not go to Texas) probably ended up in Missouri - but I don't know if they started working on them centrally, or if they were shipped to "local offices" or whether they, like May filers through now, have been waiting on Overland Park's Division 8 to open.

I found somewhere on Google where the USCIS has leased the space in Overland Park for 8 years - meaning they are intending to stay there for a while. The article said they'd hired 500 employees in Overland Park, if I remember correctly, and were going to expand to over 900. This doesn't include contractors.

I'm not an insider, by the way. Most of this is conjecture by reading the minutes of the AILA Q&A session held in May of this year, and trying to figure out what the heck has been going on. I'm a June filer, by the way, with a priority date of 1 July 2013.

It would be good to know what address the NOA1s of Feb - April filers are - maybe we could extrapolate the queuing based on that info. I know someone posted that they had a 15 May priority date, and their address was Overland Park.

Here is the data from the AILA Q&A session...this is as of 1 May 2013. I've highlighted some of the interesting facts...

April 8, 2013

NBC opened its new office in Overland Park, Kansas, where Adjudications Division 7 will process Form I-90 applications. A new division, Adjudications Division 8, also will be located at the Overland Park, Kansas facility. NBC anticipates that Division 8 will begin to adjudicate stand-alone immediate relative Form I-130 petitions by the end of Fiscal Year 2013.

Stand-Alone Forms I-130

Question 4:

At the November 30, 2012 engagement, the NBC reported that the California Service Center(CSC) and the Vermont Service Center (VSC) began shipping stand-alone Immediate Relative (IR) I-130 petitions to the NBC on August 15, 2012. Then NBC ships the I-130s to the appropriate USCIS Field Office bi-weekly based on jurisdiction (petitioner ZIP code). According to the minutes from the meeting, there are two exceptions to this policy: I-130s that are filed by an overseas petitioner, and those filed with a request for expedited processing. It was reported that once NBC is staffed for this workload in 2013, the NBC will assume jurisdiction of the stand-alone I-130 petitions.

a)

What is the status of the transition of stand-alone I-130s to the NBC?

Response: <ed. note: As of May 1>NBC continues to receive I-130s and ship them to the appropriate field office for adjudication. Based on staffing, we anticipate being able to adjudicate these in the fall. <ed. note: Has anyone with February filing dates going forward gotten a transfer letter to their local office?>

b)

How are I-130s for beneficiaries in removal proceedings handled? Does the NBC still ship the I-130 to the appropriate USCIS Field Office based on jurisdiction (petitioner ZIP code)?

Response: Currently, all I-130s filed for beneficiaries living in the U.S. are sent to the appropriate field office for adjudication.We do not currently review I-130s before they are shipped. Shipment to the Field Office is based on zip code of the petitioner’s address.

c)

What is the processing time expected to be for stand-alone I-130s filed by an overseas petitioner?

Response:

The current processing time for stand-alone I-130s filed by an overseas petitioner is approximately 60 days from the date of receipt at NBC.

d)Although all I-130s are assigned a“MSC” case number, I-130 processing times are not listed on

the NBC Processing Time Information page on the USCIS website. Will the processing times for all I-130 petitions, including those forwarded to a field office, be posted on the USCIS Processing Time Information website?

Response:

Currently the NBC is working with HQ Field Operations to post processing times on

the USCIS website.

e)

Would NBC consider implementing a procedure to expedite the adjudication of I-130 petitions for beneficiaries who are in removal proceedings, as indicated in Question 16 on Form I-130, Part C? Immigration Judges are under no obligation to continue removal proceedings until a Form I-130 has been adjudicated, even though relief often depends on its approval. Attorneys could be instructed to include the Notice of Hearing issued by EOIR to alert the NBC of the next hearing date when requesting expedited processing.

Response:

NBC is not considering implementing such a procedure at this time. Our current level of resources does not allow us to do this. When we resume adjudication of I-130s at the NBC<ed. note: i.e., when they stop sending stand-alone I-130s to field offices - I think this was in May, personally>, we will evaluate the feasibility of this suggestion.

However, all petitioners for expeditious adjudication are considered on a case by case basis. Expedite criteria and instructions are published on the USCIS website.

This is from:

http://tinyurl.com/o9po26u

Hope this might help with some of the questions.

Sukie

That all makes sense now. Thanks a lot for the update! Let's hope that the Kansas facility is up and running fairly soon so they can start approving things and get this backlog removed.

[scienceworks 64]

Let's assume that Overland office in fact started functioning in April. Let's say Div 8 is also there since April. Counting 6 months from April is end of September. It's possible that they are undergoing a 6 months training now. I am hoping that things start slowly picking up by next month. Overall, they expect to have 1300 contract staff and 916 Feds. We shouldn't expect them to be 100% efficient in the beginning since, most are new employees. I am also expecting lot of RFE's since they are not seasoned enough.

Div 8 seems to be exclusively for i-130 as per the aila document.

[stevie b 141]

Let's assume that Overland office in fact started functioning in April. Let's say Div 8 is also there since April. Counting 6 months from April is end of September. It's possible that they are undergoing a 6 months training now. I am hoping that things start slowly picking up by next month. Overall, they expect to have 1300 contract staff and 916 Feds. We shouldn't expect them to be 100% efficient in the beginning since, most are new employees. I am also expecting lot of RFE's since they are not seasoned enough.

Div 8 seems to be exclusively for i-130 as per the aila document.

my guess ... from may to now are at division 8 already.. that is why this set of petitions has gone kind of blank

anything before may will go through a transfer shortly to division 8

highly probably that the first in first out thingy is going to be inconsistent at best in the beginning

not seasoned enough?? what is that??? I betchya all these may - September petitions are the training materials and training is going on now

100% efficient when they open.. for adjudication .. yes .. to ensure a june petition gets adjudicated before an april petition.. unlikely

[scienceworks 64]

I meant the employees will not be experienced enough to ignore minor issues that can be corrected in later stages and obvious typos which are inconsequential.

[stevie b 141]

i hope what you say is right.. this is really taking so long.

but what is the IO ?

can i schedule infopass to my local field office ? i tried to schedule one but all kind of infopass requested requires some paper works that i dont have!

what information are you trying to get at the local office?

case status? that is available with an IO at the call center