USCIS Expects Significant Processing Delays for Citizenship Applications  Posted Feb 22, 2008 ©MurthyDotCom Emilio Gonzalez, the USCIS Director, has warned prospective U.S. citizens "not to get their hopes up" regarding any improvement in the waiting times for naturalization to U.S. citizenship. The problem is the result of an enormous influx of various petitions and applications, including citizenship applications, filed prior to the filing fee increase that became effective July 30, 2007. The USCIS has reported that, in July and August of 2007, the agency received about 2.5 million total applications and petitions. This is double the typical number for a two-month period. The number of citizenship applications in fiscal year (FY) 2007, 1.4 million, is more than the USCIS received in the years 2005 and 2006 combined. ©MurthyDotCom Filing Fee Increase Causes Caseload to Double ©MurthyDotCom The filing fee, including the biometric fee component,  for the N-400, Application for Naturalization, increased from $400 to $675 per filing on July 30, 2007. Following the announcement of the fee increase, many eligible U.S. permanent residents filed while they could with the old fees. The N-400 filings for FY2007 (October 2006 to September 2007) reached a level of 1.4 million. This is almost double the filings for FY2006. ©MurthyDotCom Waiting Times Up to Three Times Longer than Last Year ©MurthyDotCom The USCIS is now estimating that cases filed after July 30, 2007 may take up to three times longer to process than was typical during the previous year. This means that waiting times, which were averaging around seven months, are sixteen to eighteen months in some locations. The irony is that the USCIS justified the fee increase by promising the result would be faster and better service. ©MurthyDotCom Conclusion ©MurthyDotCom These delays, while frustrating, should not deter otherwise eligible applicants from filing for naturalization. It will simply require more patience. Of course, it is possible that the N-400s will become the focus of a backlog reduction effort in the future. This problem is compounded by the additional glut of I-485 (Application for Adjustment of Status) filings, and related applications and petitions, filed during the hectic summer of 2007, referred to by some as "VisaGate." Thus, the USCIS underestimated the number of cases that would be filed during the summer of 2007, the effects of which will be felt into the foreseeable future. Copyright © 2008, MURTHY LAW FIRM. All Rights Reserved
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