Delays Due to Religious Worker Deadline
Posted Aug 15, 2003

The California (CSC) and the Nebraska (NSC) Service Centers have each advised AILA that they are reallocating their adjudicators in order to meet an October 1, 2003 "sunset" date for certain types of religious worker petitions. The CSC stated that they would be directing resources to adjudicate the religious worker cases. They did not indicate specifically which of the other types of pending cases would suffer due to the reassignment of examiners. Since the religious worker petitions include I-485s, it may be reasonable to assume that the I-485 examiners will be working on religious worker I-485s rather than other types of I-485s.

The NSC has stated, however, that their I-485 adjudicators will be working on the religious worker cases, as well as adjustments of status for persons granted asylum, for the remainder of fiscal year 2003. The BCIS Fiscal year 2003 ends on September 30, 2003. This will take them away from all other types of adjustment of status cases, including those filed in the employment-based categories.

This is not a particularly unusual situation. From time to time, adjudicators at BCIS will be reassigned to work on a particular type of case as a priority matter. This often arises when there are deadlines that require the cases to be adjudicated by a set date. It can also happen when backlogs simply reach a point that requires action. In order to meet these demands, other types of cases are delayed. What this means for MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers with cases at CSC and NSC is that they should expect little, if any, processing of employment-based I-485s over the next two months. The reason religious worker adjustment of status cases are currently a priority is explained in our article, Religious Workers Provisions 'Sunset,' published concurrently with this article (Aug 15, 2003). It appears that the NSC is adjudicating the heavy asylee backlogs in response to a lawsuit filed when the BCIS failed to issue the annual allotment of visa numbers in asylum-based adjustment of status cases. It may be an effort to adjudicate the proper number of these cases before the end of the fiscal year. [See, Government Sued over Mishandling of Asylee Adjustment Cases from March 15, 2002, available on MurthyDotCom.]

I-765s and I-131s

One ray of hope is that the NSC is working hard to reduce processing times for Applications for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs or I-765s) and Applications for Travel Documents (Advance Paroles or I-131s) that are filed with I-485s. Applicants are reminded to include clear copies of their photo IDs and the photo ID pages of their passports, proof of relationship to the principal, if the applicant is a dependent, and all relevant I-797 Notices of Action (if applicable) to ensure that speedier processing is possible.

Conclusion

We understand the need to meet the deadline for the religious workers and to resolve the long-standing problems faced by those seeking adjustment of status as asylees. However, the NSC and CSC should have adequate funding allocated to them to process all cases within a reasonable time. With sufficient staff, they could meet deadlines without greatly disrupting the processing of other cases. It is particularly problematic when processing times are already measured in years. For this reason it is important that our readers lobby their Congresspersons for additional funding for immigration services, as well as for greater oversight to ensure funds remitted as immigration filing fees are used exclusively by BCIS for service-related functions, and not diverted for other purposes. This would enable BCIS to provide better service to those who are paying fees with the reasonable expectation of receiving, maintaining, or extending lawful status in the United States in a timely and efficient manner.