Update on H-1 Processing at VSC
Posted Nov 27, 2000

As many of our readers of the MurthyBulletin may have noticed, it is taking a bit longer these days to get an H1B petition processed through the Vermont Service Center (VSC) of INS. VSC has acknowledged that they have not yet been able to process many of the cases they received during October and November 2000.

In September 2000, as the fiscal year drew to a close, VSC was trying to complete as many cases as possible to meet the year's processing goals. (The 2000 fiscal year ended on September 30, 2000.) As a result, rather than spending time reviewing responses to INS requests for further evidence (RFEs), which can be time consuming, they focused on newly filed cases. Consequently the number of RFEs issued was higher than usual. The required response time on an RFE is 12 weeks, so the responses to those RFEs are due back now, i.e. during November and December 2000. So right now VSC has no choice but to devote a substantial amount of time and resources to working on RFE responses, and to pay less attention to new filings coming in.

An official at VSC stated that more cases would be worked on once the peak in RFEs is past. Of course, some observers might say that this RFE peak is VSC's own creation. At both VSC and NSC, attorneys have seen a marked increase in RFEs, including many that either ask for information already provided or that go beyond what is legally required to decide the case.

Adding to the problem is the lack of overtime funding. As we mentioned previously in the MurthyBulletin, INS is one of the agencies that still has no budget for the 2001 fiscal year, even though the fiscal year began on October 1, 2000. Congress was due to return to Washington, D.C. and finish work on the remaining spending bills after the Presidential election. In view of the continuing uncertainty surrounding the election results, however, that extra session of the U.S. Congress has been postponed. Until there is a new budget, there will not be sufficient overtime funding to make a significant dent in the caseload.