NewsFlash - INS Service Centers to Accept Mail / Deliveries by Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001
Posted Oct 15, 2001

This morning, on Monday, October 15, 2001, during the Law Office of Sheela Murthy's routine check on the status of some of our clients packages at the Vermont Service Center (VSC), Federal Express advised us that they were unable to deliver courier packages since VSC had refused delivery of all packages today.

Paul Novak, the Director of VSC confirmed this fact to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) today. Apparently, on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2001, VSC received a suspicious package with powder and feared that it could be anthrax. The building was evacuated and all operations were shut down. Federal authorities were called on Saturday itself but the powder tested negative during preliminary tests.

NSC has stated that overnight courier services should have been accepted by NSC's mailroom contractor on Monday, October 15, 2001. Apparently, the contractor incorrectly denied courier services the facility to drop off packages. NSC hopes to start accepting packages from Tuesday, Oct. 16th, 2001.

 William R. Yates, the Assistant Commissioner at INS Headquarters confirmed that all the four INS Service Centers were closed for accepting mail and packages, today. INS hopes to accept mail at all of the local INS District offices by tomorrow morning, Tuesday, October 16, 2001. Later in the day tomorrow, all mail and courier packages should be accepted by the INS Service Centers.

 INS has assured AILA that they will provide "proper consideration" with respect to deadline cases. For those of you who have asked us at the Law Office of Sheela Murthy about processing delays at the TSC and other INS Service Centers, it is reasonable to expect some additional delays in obtaining receipt notices and approvals. Mondays are particularly heavy for mail deliveries at all of the INS Service Centers. However, after the tragic events of Sept. 11th, 2001, INS was generous and flexible when it exercised its discretion to provide several additional days "grace period" before the INS would consider a deadline to have been missed. We expect similar latitude based on the circumstances of this incident since it is considered as an event beyond the control of the applicant or petitioner and was caused by the INS decision not to accept mail or courier service today.