Ombudsman : USCIS Service Centers and Lockboxes
Posted Aug 31, 2007
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The CIS Ombudsman, Mr. Prakash Khatri, held a teleconference August 23, 2007, on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) service centers and lockboxes. The matters addressed related to USCIS service center and lockbox filing, receipting and processing concerns, local field office customer service and application processing issues, Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), the processing of I-485 Applications to Adjust Status, and other important procedural and substantive matters. A number of USCIS officers, including service center officers, signed on to the teleconference so that they also could hear the topics raised by callers during the conference.
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This was part of the teleconference series, entitled "How Is It Working for You?" The series provides a forum for individuals and employers who have problems or concerns as they interact with the USCIS. Three earlier teleconferences have been reported to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers, including our August 24, 2007 article, Ombudsman on Service Center Issues: EADs, RFEs, Etc, available on MurthyDotCom.
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USCIS Service Centers
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The role of the USCIS service centers is to adjudicate applications and petitions for immigration benefits filed by foreign nationals, their employers and/or Lawful Permanent Resident or U.S. citizen relatives. There are four service centers with designated roles based upon geographic location and/or the type of petition or application. They are the Vermont Service Center (VSC), the California Service Center (CSC), the Nebraska Service Center (NSC), and the Texas Service Center (TSC). In addition, there are two lockboxes designated to accept certain types of filings, and 70 field offices across the United States to conduct interviews and adjudicate family-based cases, naturalization applications, and other immigration benefits.
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USCIS Receipting : "Frontlog"
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The Ombudsman explained the nature of the current receipting "frontlog" at the service centers. The frontlog occurs when the USCIS receives an unprecedented number of applications, and is unable to generate receipts immediately. As a result, applications are sitting, waiting to be receipted. All the service centers and the Chicago Lockbox received a substantial number of cases prior to the fee increase that went into effect on July 30, 2007. Additionally, the Nebraska and Texas Service Centers were inundated as a result of the July Visa Bulletin. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of cases are awaiting receipts.
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A caller said she was receiving receipts from the Nebraska Service Center for I-485 cases filed in July, while cases filed in June were yet to be receipted. Since receipting is expected to be done on a first- in / first-out (FIFO) basis, the Ombudsman requested some follow-up information, enabling his office to review the process with the applicable service centers.
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Processing Order of I-485 Applications
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A number of callers raised the concern that I-485 applications are being processed and approved randomly, and not in the order in which they are received. According to the Ombudsman, the service centers and local offices are making every attempt to process cases chronologically, by the date of receipt. Since cases are distributed between the four service centers, however, the lockboxes and 70 field offices and the processing of cases depends on the number of officers available at each office. Some disparateness in the processing of cases is unavoidable, therefore. The USCIS has tried, to the extent practicable, to standardize processing of cases according to priority date and country limitations.
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Furthermore, during the months of June and July 2007, the USCIS processed and approved an incredible number of cases, but encountered problems in generating the approval notices and actual "green cards." Applicants whose cases have been approved may still be unaware of their approvals in August 2007, because case status is updated in the system only when the approval notice is generated. The USCIS is working to generate approval notices and green cards for these cases. However, the CIS Ombudsman encouraged anyone with an unusual experience regarding her/his case to submit DHS Form 7001, with specific case information.
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EAD Applications
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The CIS Ombudsman has been engaging in discussions with the USCIS filed offices, in an effort to institute a uniform policy to assist EAD applicants with applications pending for 75 days or more. Since interim EAD production could take several days, the Ombudsman believes it should not be necessary for an applicant to wait for 90 days before requesting an interim EAD at the field office. Field offices no longer issue EADs; however, they can request interim EADs for pending applications. Mr. Khatri regrets that some field offices are not focused on helping their customers to continue uninterrupted employment, when the customers are doing their part to abide by the laws and maintain the validity of their EADs.
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The CIS Ombudsman requested teleconference participants to notify his office if and when a field office refuses to request the production of an interim EAD card, when the application has been pending for approximately 75 days from the date of application.
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Pending I-485 Applications at Field Offices
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The Ombudsman's Office has been urging the field offices to undertake an accounting of all cases awaiting adjudication and institute a schedule to complete those cases. To date, however, the field offices have not cooperated in inventorying all of their pending cases and, as a result, many cases are unaccounted for, with applicants unable to obtain status information on their cases. Mr. Khatri requested conference participants whose cases were last known to have been transferred to a field office, and that have been pending at that field office for an extended period of time, to submit a "DHS Form 7001" (linked above), as well as send an eMail to his office, so that he may follow up with that office.
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Conclusion
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Mr. Khatri stated that the USCIS service centers and most field offices are providing good service to a lot of people. This is not always the case, unfortunately. The Ombudsman's role is to make sure that the service centers and field offices continue to improve their services and eliminate systemic problems. One of the great tools that enables the Ombudsman to fulfill his role is the teleconferences that he holds on a regular basis. The Murthy Law Firm will continue to participate in these conferences to report updated information to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.