VSC Update on H1B Processing and Other Information

The Vermont Service Center (VSC) has recently advised us that they have four (4) new liaison officers who work in the Congressional Unit at VSC. We hope that having these four people dedicated to customer service issues should improve their ability to liaise with Congressional members and the general public.

The VSC has provided an update on H1B processing. As mentioned in previous issues of the Immigration Law Bulletin of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, the four INS Service Centers are processing H-1B Petitions at more or less the same rate in order to ensure uniform processing times at all of the four Service Centers. The reason is not to provide any specific advantage to an employer located in a particular geographic location over a different region.

Even though the INS claims that this policy should only affect those H1B Petitions subject to the H1B cap, we, at the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, find that all H1B Petitions, even those that are not subject to the cap, seem to be affected by this uniform processing time. For example, VSC, which was processing H1B extensions within about two or three weeks, now takes about sixty to eighty days for many H1B cases which are not subject to the cap!

For those companies or individuals requiring an expedite on their H1B Petition, VSC generally has concerns about placing one person ahead of others in the line who have been waiting their turn. As mentioned in previous issues of the Immigration Law Bulletin of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, if the employer can show an expedited processing is required due to an emergent reason, humanitarian considerations, a severe financial loss, or INS error, VSC will consider these factors. Please note that the standard financial loss caused by a delay in obtaining an H1B approval, as any employer would face, is not considered to be sufficient financial loss for the purpose of expediting an H1B approval.

Some of the hints that VSC is providing to ensure that cases are processed faster are as follows :

(a) Ensure that the checks are dated correctly. Some employers are using the day and the month in the reverse order. The rule is always: month, day and year. Preferably, the date should be spelled out to avoid confusion, for example, February 18, 2000.

(b) When INS issues a request for additional evidence or information, the blue request sheet with the bar coding information should be sent with the package, and should be the first page in the package.

(c) Photographs with I-765s tend to be of poor quality. Apparently, approximately 50% of photographs submitted are rejected by the INS. Photograph specification instructions provided by the INS should be carefully followed.

Finally, the VSC has hired 25 additional officers for processing I-485 Adjustment of Status cases. INS now believes that I-485s will slowly begin to be processed. They intend to start with the oldest cases first, particularly those Chinese and Indian cases which were subject to the backlog, then the health care worker cases. VSC intends to send fingerprint notices shortly for I-485s which were filed in April 1999.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.