NSC : July 2002 Update
Posted Aug 16, 2002

The information in this update from the INS Nebraska Service Center (NSC) was obtained during a liaison meeting with representatives of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and senior NSC officials on July 10, 2002.

IBIS Delays

NSC reports that IBIS checks take approximately 4.5 minutes per case to complete. This additional step is taking about 1/3 of the time available for case adjudication, causing a substantial reduction in the number of cases completed per month.

NSC is attempting to address these delays by shifting personnel from I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) adjudications, for cases with priority dates that are not current, to other types of filings. The Service Center is also implementing some technological improvements that will reduce processing time for IBIS checks. NSC has hired 150 more adjudications officers in order to speed case processing. Of course, those new staff members will need training before they can be assigned cases, so it may be awhile before we witness any significant reductions in case backlogs.

I-485s

NSC advised that the processing dates of I-485s (Application to Register Permanent Resident Status or to Adjust Status) range approximately 120 days from the published processing dates, meaning that NSC is working on cases that were filed as much as 120 days before the listed processing dates. (Nebraska dates are available on MurthyDotCom.) These dates are not exact. It often appears as though one's particular case is processed after all the others!

I-140s

The NSC estimates that I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) processing times will be approximately 80 days, now that concurrent filing of I-140/I-485s is allowed. (It is unclear what the connection would be between concurrent filing and the I-140 processing time, but NSC implied that the concurrent filing procedure would lead to quicker processing of I-140s.)

Change of Address

A person with a case pending at NSC is required to notify NSC of an address change AND file a separate Form AR-11 (Change of Address Form) with INS Headquarters. As we have reported previously, the AR-11 must be filed to meet INS notification requirements. Since 9/11, INS has begun strict enforcement of this long-standing rule. As a practical matter however, the AR-11 is likely to take awhile to be processed. Therefore, address changes must also be provided to the NSC in compliance with their particular procedures.