TSC on I-140/I-485 Processing Posted Oct 01, 2004 ©MurthyDotCom The USCIS Service Center procedures for adjudicating concurrently filed I-140/I-485 cases changed as of April 30, 2004. The cases are now, essentially, on one track with the intent that they will be reviewed in one step. Previously, the I-140 petition adjudication was separate from the adjudication of the I-485 application. There is more information about this change in procedure in our April 23, 2004 MurthyBulletin article, New Procedures for Concurrently Filed I-140/I-485 Cases, available on MurthyDotCom. This change has given rise to a variety of questions on how cases are actually being processed. The Texas Service Center (TSC) provided some clarification about their processing procedures and timing which was released in late September 2004. ©MurthyDotCom Concurrently-Filed Cases ©MurthyDotCom The current TSC policy is to process concurrently-filed I-140/I-485 cases according to the I-140 processing dates. As of this writing, TSC reports processing dates of July 25, 2003 for all classes of I-140s except Schedule A nurses. This means that they are working on I-140 cases that were filed on or after July 25, 2003. ©MurthyDotCom A concurrent case is one for which the I-140 and I-485 literally are filed together; but also include those cases for which the I-485 is filed after the I-140 but before I-140 approval. The TSC suggests that it is better to file the I-140/I-485 together, if at all possible. If the TSC is able to process both the I-140 and I-485 within the posted times for I-140 processing, this can significantly improve the processing time. We have seen faster processing of some of our TSC cases, as reported in our September 17, 2004 article, I-485 Adjudication Update : Fast Approvals Continue, also available on MurthyDotCom. ©MurthyDotCom Non-Concurrent Cases ©MurthyDotCom The TSC states that non-concurrent filings, for which the I-140s previously were approved, are adjudicated based upon the I-485 processing date. TSC Processing Times posted September 22, 2004 show a processing date of April 22, 2002 for employment-based I-485 cases. This means that they are working on cases filed on or after April 22, 2002. Thus, the processing for non-concurrent cases is, generally, significantly slower than concurrently-filed cases. As outlined above, TSC considers cases with the I-485 filed after the I-140 was approved to be non-concurrent cases. ©MurthyDotCom Conclusion ©MurthyDotCom As we reported to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers last week in our Sep 24, 2004 article entitled DOL Backlog Elimination – September 2004 Update, the backlog reduction measures, including concurrent processing, have had an impact on some cases. We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. continue to see isolated examples of significantly faster processing in some of our cases. The processing times continue to be fairly erratic and unpredictable, however. We are pleased that the TSC has provided this insight into their current system for adjudication of immigrant cases. © 2004 The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. All Rights Reserved
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