Ombudsman's Teleconference on 2008 Annual Report
Posted Aug 08, 2008
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The Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman's office held a July 29, 2008 teleconference on the topic, "CIS Ombudsman's 2008 Annual Report: Your Questions and Comments." This was the latest in a series of teleconferences held by the CIS Ombudsman's office. The July 29, 2008 teleconference was aimed specifically at discussing recommendations made in the 2008 Annual Report (PDF 16.8MB). Callers were invited to share their experiences and provide recommendations with regard to customer satisfaction and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)'s ability to manage its caseload.
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Ombudsman's Earlier Teleconference on July / August 2007 Filings
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MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers first learned of a teleconference regarding USCIS problems arising from summer 2007 filings in our June 20, 2008 article, Ombudsman Teleconference on July/Aug 2007 Filing Issues. During the July 29, 2008 teleconference, Ms. Wendy E. Kamenshine, the Chief of Programs, Policy, Strategy, and Research at the CIS Ombudsman's office, accepted questions from teleconference participants and addressed the on-going, residual impact of last summer's surge in filings and related matters.
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CIS Ombudsman's 2008 Annual Report
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Ms. Kamenshine began the teleconference by reporting on the CIS Ombudsman's 2008 Annual Report to Congress. The CIS Ombudsman's office is required to submit its report by June 30th of each year. This annual report carries recommendations made to the USCIS to address systemic issues that cause delays in adjudicating immigration benefits, as well as serious problems that USCIS customers experience when interacting with the agency. The USCIS has 90 days to report back on the recommendations and its progress towards correcting problems identified in the Ombudsman's report.
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Problems Persist with Delays in Processing Earlier-Filed Cases
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The vast majority of teleconference participants reported their concerns over continuing delays in the adjudication of cases filed during the summer of 2007. Many callers reported that the major source of their frustration was the longer adjudication time of concurrently-filed forms for the Immigrant Petition for an Alien Worker (I-140) and Application to Adjust Status (I-485), as opposed to I-140s and I-485s filed after last summer's "visa fiasco." Callers reported anecdotal data, according to which the Texas Service Center (TSC) is not following its reported processing times and adjudicating later-filed petitions or applications ahead of petitions or applications filed before and during last summer. One caller, in particular, reported that his employer's I-140 petition, filed on his behalf, with a priority date of 2004, has been pending for over a year while the second I-140 petition, filed on his behalf in March of 2008, which had a recent priority date, has already been approved. According to the caller, this seriously affects his situation, as he is not able to use his earlier priority date for adjustment purposes. It also affects his eligibility for AC21 portability. Other callers provided similar examples. Ms. Kamenshine indicated that this question would be posed to the USCIS and the answer would be posted on the CIS Ombudsman's website.
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Problems with USCIS Policy on Issuance of Two-Year EADs
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Some teleconference participants expressed frustration over the new restrictive rule for the issuance of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) with the 2-year validity dates. As MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers learned in our July 25, 2008 article, Two-Year EADs and Reported Errors on EAD Cards, in order to be eligible for a 2-year EAD, the I-140 must be approved. At least one teleconference participant expressed an opinion that this is contrary to logic. One would imagine that a situation in which the I-140 is still pending would involve a longer adjudication time and, therefore, would require an EAD with a longer validity period. Therefore, it would make less sense to require that the I-140 already be approved in order to receive a 2-year EAD. Ms. Kamenshine commented that the USCIS is not likely to change its current policy with regard to eligibility for the 2-year EAD.
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Problems with USCIS Customer Service Phone Numbers
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Teleconference participants also complained of the lack of transparency and meaningful communication with the USCIS. Individuals often get routed to different offices, receiving different answers to even basic questions relating to the status of their filings or whether specific mailings were actually sent to them at the correct address, per the online case status information.
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Problems with Name-Check Backlog Delays
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Another matter discussed in the teleconference was the stated USCIS goal to eliminate the name-check backlog. According to teleconference participants, this has not yet been accomplished. The CIS Ombudsman will follow up with the USCIS on this issue and post its response on the Ombudsman's WebSite.
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Conclusion
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The CIS Ombudsman's teleconferences are a helpful tool to voice one's concerns or problems regarding the USCIS's practices and procedures. Callers may sometimes obtain a quick recommendation and helpful advice with regard to certain issues. In addition to, or as an alternative to this venue, individuals who have exhausted all other administrative remedies to resolve their situations should file DHS Form 7001, available on the CIS Ombudsman's WebSite, so that the CIS Ombudsman may follow up with the USCIS directly on these specific cases.