VSC Supervisor Speaks to AILA DC Chapter
Posted Apr 04, 2003

On March 26, 2003, Donna Kane, Supervisor for Immigration Information Officers and Customer Service at the Vermont Service Center (VSC) spoke to AILA Washington, D.C. Chapter members about new developments with the transition from INS to BCIS and other ongoing changes at VSC. All attorneys from The Law Office of Sheela Murthy attended the meeting, as did our Paralegal Coordinators from each department. As anticipated, there remain many unresolved issues with respect to the INS/DHS transition. However, Ms. Kane was able to provide some helpful news and guidance that may prove helpful to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.

Communications

While Ms. Kane explained that improved communications from BCIS is a priority, she also announced that the individual service center telephone numbers will be turned off on June 1, 2003. In their place will be a national toll-free number, but they are working on a database to allow the VSC to identify calls related to the center and respond with a telephone call or letter. This change, in part, is attributable to the belief that the online case status system should have eliminated the need for a number of calls. However, we would note that, while the online system does provide frequently updated status information, it is no substitute for the live person who is needed when there is a problem or the status system has not been updated in a timely manner. On May 1, 2003, the VSC expects to implement a dedicated fax line for requests to expedite processing for a particular case. The requests must include an acceptable reason for the VSC to expedite a case. Acceptable reasons would include a family medical emergency or an age-out issue that is left unresolved by the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA).

Resources

The VSC has hired an additional 100 people to adjudicate cases and may get additional office space in the near future to handle one, selected type of case. The type of case that would go to the alternate site has not yet been determined. The 100 new hires are part of the backlog reduction plan. With over 400,000 I-130s pending at the VSC, the best guess is that the majority or all of these new adjudicators will focus on I-130s. More than 100 of the current 425 adjudicators are still reassigned to working on the IBIS security related checks. To date, there are more than 6,000 unresolved cases from the 400,000 hits in IBIS since March 2002. The BCIS is also trying to get all processing fee funds allocated to the BCIS for further improvements.

Conclusion

Those of us attending from The Law Office of Sheela Murthy also used this opportunity with Ms. Kane to request personalized information on specific matters, one being that of cases in which the BCIS had failed to follow due process. While there are still many bumps along the road before the transitions from the INS to the BCIS and other immigration bureaus are complete, it is a positive sign to see that the VSC has not reached a standstill in case processing. We hope that most changes are positive and we will continue to communicate with the VSC and senior BCIS Headquarters officials if there are concerns with due process or other fundamental issues of fairness.