the hottest immigration tracker
|
 
| Got questions on U.S. immigration? |
 |
|
|
|
I-485 Discussion Forum
TX Service center introduces streamline procedure |
Like this thread? |  |  |
|
here's the text..for EB I only. But also, I find this memo very scary. At a minimum I thought at the service centers they would have a procedure to find those current I485s themselves. now they need the attorneys' help to let them know whether the applications are current or not..sigh.
Texas Service Introduces Streamline Procedure for I-485s and I-140s
The Texas Service Center (TSC) has introduced a new email procedure that which is available to attorneys who are AILA members and allows the Texas Service Center to identify I-485s and I-140s which have remained pending beyond TSC processing times posted on USCIS€™S website.
According to the new procedure, which is effective immediately, I-485s are subject to the new procedure only when an immigrant visa has been made available, according to the State Department Visa Bulletin. The new procedure allows submission via email of I-485 cases which are subject to review based on the visa numbers. An automatic system picks up the cases and determines whether they are subject to review. If they are, it has some mechanism to prioritize them and distribute the case to a case worker.
The procedures are as follows:
EB I-485 Cases
The procedure may be used by AILA-member attorneys who see that a visa number is available to his or her client according to the Visa Bulletin. The inquiry can be submitted as soon as the Visa Bulletin is published.
Identify all clients on one email whose visa numbers will be available according to the visa bulletin.
Send an email to streamline.tsc@dhs.gov
On the subject line, write €œEB I-485/€MM€ (Example:EB I-485/OCT)
In the body of the email, provide A numbers only. The system will use these A numbers to pull cases and distribute them to floor case workers.
If the applicant has more than one A number, type both separated by a €œ/€ (Example: A111222333/A444555666)
If there are multiple family members, type them all on the same line separated by commas (Example: A111222333, A222333444, A444555666)
I-140 Cases
Attorneys who are AILA members can use this procedure when the filing date is prior to the processing time date for the I-140 as published on the USCIS website.
Identify all clients on one email whose filing dates are prior to the published timeframe
Send an email to streamline.tsc@dhs.gov
On the subject line write €œI-140€
In the body of the email, provide A numbers only. If there is no A number on the receipt, provide the receipt number only. (For stand-alone I-140s where the beneficiary is out of the U.S. and will be applying for a visa at the consulate). Do not provide any additional information as the text of the email will be used to automatically check the submitted cases and pull the cases for distribution to floor case workers.
If the applicant has more than one A number, type both separated by a €œ/€ (Example: A111222333/A444555666)
Full text of these instructions is available here.
|
How come you have a PD Nov 2002 and you still penidng? I see that as too starnge especially you are with ROW EB3.
Can you clarify?
|
is this joke or true? if true where is the link?
|
this is the site I got if from. it's from their November 19th update:
http://www.cilawgroup.com/
I find this unbelievable. How incompetent are they?
|
My attorney told me about this new system. He said that he is going to send email with all the A# of all I-485 cases which have become current.
|
the link only talks of EBI though. But maybe it's just used as an example
|
http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx...
http://www.durrani.com/newsite/news_items/nacti...
http://www.laborimmigration.com/2008/11/texas-s...
personally i think it is awesome that they are coming out and doing something about it.....!!!!
we shud not be cribbing... this way we are not wasting their time with all the SRs and they can just get on with their job and it will help the rest of us who are in the queue but do not have a date as the dates will move much faster!!
after all, it is easier for a lawyer to know his 100 cases than for the uscis to know his 100s of thousands of cases....
now just wondering when nebraska will do the same... !!!!!sigh!!!!!
how come texas is the one coming up with everything???
|
I am not saying it's bad they are coming up with solutions I am just surprised they cannot filter out current petitions themselves. They are lika a big black hole of anti-material. a supernova!
|
What do you mean by EBI? I don't see any such subset mentioned. It seems they are allowing it for all pending 485 / 140s who are past their processing dates.
the link only talks of EBI though. But maybe it's just used as an example
|
So what happens to the cases whose files were NOT submitted by a lawyer do they sit and gather dust which my case seems to have been doing for some time already????????????
Knight, it is not so unusual to be still waiting with a 2002 priority date for ROW applications. Have a look at the tracker and it is surprising how many of us there are.
|
sorry murphydc ... didnt mean to mess with u...
some of the comments on ron gotcher's forum seem to indicate that it is indeed a black hole with no one knowing where the files are and it is a huge mess...
come to think of it... even if we do give them the numbers, if they have no way of organizing these files, how are they going to get to them?????????
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... i think the nightmare continues........... :((((((((
|
knight,
Do you think it could have anything to do with the fact that Murphydc did not get his 485 application in until May 2008?
Even though his PD is current his receipt date will hold adjudication up due to processing dates. As unfair as this may seem, there are so many of us that it must be overwhelming for the staff at the service centers. Also retrogression during the time he filed I-140 was terrible and for many months the PD's for EB3 ROW were at U unavailable.
Let's not make Murphy anymore fed up than he already is! I can't imagine the frustration of not being able to get 485 filed soon than he was able to, but also then have the constrains of receipt date of May 2008 and having to wait for that in "processing times" at each service center. Knocking your head on a brick wall comes to mind. July fiasco has a lot to do with it as well. AOS staff can only approve when both dates are reached, or so we are told. Or can they??? Ah, the overwhelming questions we all could add to this thread; along with some very strange answers.
Oh well, that's my thoughts on why. I had over to you Murphydc.
The best of luck to us all for a speedy, Indy500 style, approval!
Cheers,
LRIndy.
|
sorry about the EB I confusion. Got confused between EB I and I-485 way of writing. You are right it's for all employment based petitions.
Indianabacklog - don't know what that means for people without a lawyer. did you really file everything by yourself? respect
|
hi LRIndy - being fed up pretty much sums it up and I assume you are exasperated yourself. Given how much support you lend to us all I sincerely hope you'll be high and dry soon as it would be well deserved. But the processing dates don't make sense and in fact there have been several approvals of people with PD dates of 02 to 04 who have submitted their petitions in 08. Just had two soft LUDs a week ago. might mean nothing, but maybe my FBI background checks came back. keeping the faith
|
so if someone submitted without a lawyer, who is going to send email for them?
|
hi LRIndy - being fed up pretty much sums it up and I assume you are exasperated yourself. Given how much support you lend to us all I sincerely hope you'll be high and dry soon as it would be well deserved. But the processing dates don't make sense and in fact there have been several approvals of people with PD dates of 02 to 04 who have submitted their petitions in 08. Just had two soft LUDs a week ago. might mean nothing, but maybe my FBI background checks came back. keeping the faith
Murphydc; having to wait to even file your I485 till this year has to have been awful. However, I filed mine (yes, by myself) exactly one year before you, (May 2007) with a priority date in the same month as you and am still waiting to hear some good news. The processing dates are ridiculous and no real indication of the cases they adjudicate. We all just have to keep our fingers crossed. |
hi LRIndy - being fed up pretty much sums it up and I assume you are exasperated yourself. Given how much support you lend to us all I sincerely hope you'll be high and dry soon as it would be well deserved. But the processing dates don't make sense and in fact there have been several approvals of people with PD dates of 02 to 04 who have submitted their petitions in 08. Just had two soft LUDs a week ago. might mean nothing, but maybe my FBI background checks came back. keeping the faith
Robocop,
It wud be interesting to see if USCIS adjudicates ur I-485 owing to early PD, and hopefully ignoring the processing date or received date of July 2007 for I-485, like they have done for most EB2-ROW. If u get thro, then I'll get the confidence that I can get thro.... |
Hey Knight: I am with Murphy on the same boat. ROW Germany and Nov. 2002 applicants. I can only speak for myself and believe me nothing is wrong with me. It is not me. I have been with the same company and not planning to leave.
|
Indianabacklog - well I originally filed my LC RIR in Nov 02 and they shipped it to the Philly (moronically named) backlog reduction center where it lingered until August 06. My lawyer in 06 advised me of the new PERM procedure and so I did another LC. Suddenly the original LC got approved and two days later the PERM one got approved. Suddenly I had two LCs. Bizarro. so we scrambled to void the PERM and to keep my Nov 02 PD.
|
May be we shud send them a SQL query to get the applications which r current.
|
Inspite of our ancient Priority Dates, it does not matter if one is from ROW or other backlogged Nations. Due to vertical spillthrough, only a few very numbers trickle to EB3, and hence EB3 cases are all stalled. :-(
|
Hi GCrabbit - you might be able to take advantage of that new procedure. have your lawyer send them a mail. Have you seen modefrau's profile. Submitted in 08 and got approved 11/6. oh well..the wait the wait
|
Murphydc,
Thanks for sharing. My understanding is that the Service Centers do not have a system in place which will provide the case statistics. Visa Office repeatedly requested the info on pending cases in order to project accurately visa dates, but they never got it. The procedure described above should help many assuming the lawyers file the needed info.
If I read it right, an inquiry can be made just on the basis of PD being current regardless of the receipt date not being outside the published processing times. ("The procedure may be used by AILA-member attorneys who see that a visa number is available to his or her client according to the Visa Bulletin€). I read that the processing time matters in the case of I-140 only.
My friend€™s PD is 7/22/02, but RD is 8/14. He is due for review, but current processing dates will not allow to open a SR, but the process described in this posting will benefit a filer like him.
Here is the link to read discussion about service centers not being able to produce pending cases stats: http://immigration-information.com/forums/showt...- read attorney comments.
|
Hi murphydc:
Are you in the metro dc area? I am, too. I am so fed up with this system. I just changed lawyers. What a great time to switch lawyers. My new lawyer was going to open SR. Let's see.
I am happy for modefrau. She did not send out an email that's why I did not notice.
|
Very true!
Select * from I485
where PD is current
order by application_date
It's that simple.
|
yeah I am. You are right, the system sucks big time.
Thanks masik for you insights. I have a hunch though that the posted processing times are only designed to keep us at bay. stop us from contacting them, opening service requests or in the particular case of the new streamlined process, to prevent a flood of emails from our lawyers.
The posted goals of processing times is a joke as well. It says" we want to reduce I-485 proceesing by 20% to 4 months". So currently it takes only 5 months? what a crock...!
|
Even if a single politician subpoenas DHS or USCIS asking for reason behind the sluggish processing times, wouldn't they be forced to answer
|
So looks like service center's processing times matter only for I-140 but for I-485 only the PD needs to be current.
Going by this, many of the July/Aug 07 filers like me, whose cases are in TX center can be benefitted from this new system although the I-485 Processing date for TX service center is still June 27, 2007.
|
i just emailed my lawyer about this (it would only be helpful for my i-485 anyways, i140 date is not within processing times), lets see what they say
|
Agree about processing dates designed to keep people from filing SR's. The process to be implemented by TSC for I-485 eliminates RD being outside the official processing dates as a pre-requisite, so should be a step in a right direction.
|
Question:
Read first:
"The processing dates shown below represent the receipt dates of petitions and applications currently being processed by the USCIS Service Center. If the receipt date shown on your receipt notice is prior to the processing date shown below, you may call USCIS Customer Service at 1-800-375-5283."
That means "Receipt Notice from the center" is the official USCIS notice. In my case it is the 9/2007. Tha would be the actual receipt when they got it via FedEx was in July/07 however the official notice was in September. The current processing time frame is July 27/ 07 hence I do not qualify for the email streamline?
|
Totally unfair crap! Why do they give preference to cases that were filed through attorneys? To give them more ways to charge their clients? I filed all my paperwork myself and will have to suffer because I had decided not to feed a bloodsucking lawyer.
So, I am voting for a cheaper and more efficient solution -- an SQL query in their database. It would take any IT person about 15 seconds to implement it.
|
It seems that TSC is getting serious in trying to streamline processing of EB cases. Lets hope that NSC gets on board quickly on this.
|
Totally unfair crap! Why do they give preference to cases that were filed through attorneys? To give them more ways to charge their clients? I filed all my paperwork myself and will have to suffer because I had decided not to feed a bloodsucking lawyer.
So, I am voting for a cheaper and more efficient solution -- an SQL query in their database. It would take any IT person about 15 seconds to implement it.
Alspu: Don't be silly. Go get an attorney. You have been saving until now. All s/he needs to do is put your A# down and you will get an update. Do not save because of that. Be wise. Just my 2 cents no accusations. |
Hey Murphydc:
Meant to mention it earlier. Thank you for such a nice thread. Sehr gut :).
You must have a good lawfirm from now on I will check for immigration news on that website.
|
Alspu: Don't be silly. Go get an attorney. You have been saving until now. All s/he needs to do is put your A# down and you will get an update. Do not save because of that. Be wise. Just my 2 cents no accusations.
It is still a long road for me, I am only 5-months I-140. It just seems unfair not to give all people the same rights. |
gcrabbit - I have had some issues with my lawyer, but all in all his fee schedule was fair and eventually he always got everythig approved, 3 h1bs ead ap etc. the site I found this thread on is not my lawyer though.
Where in germany are you from? Freiburg here!
|
Berlin. Yes I had an issue with my lawfirm as well. They were very unprofessional as you mentioned, mine were good at getting H1 approvals and etc. But the most important thing was always missing the GC. I spent too much time and it is because of them. They were more afraid to call the USCIS than I was? How funny. With this firm I will run out of H1 and EAD who knows what else. My new attorney is very good. I should have replaced them long time ago.
|
Very scary and weird. Scary because it proves that USCIS does not know how many cases are pending. However, this was the suspicion expressed by Ron Gotcher earlier.
Secondly, what is it to stop non-AILA members or regular petitioners from sending the e-mail ? With just a specific format of the e-mail such as subject and content mentioned, how will the automated program know who sent the e-mail ? Unless it accepts only xyz@aila.com e-mails.
And if USCIS needs to know the status of all filed petitions, all they need to do is make the online status registration compulsory. Give a month's notice and everyone who has not registered online or not updated their portfolio with all their pending petitions will do so immediately. Not rocket science, right ?
|
funny you would say that. My lawyer was very very meticulous and precise but always was very scared of USCIS. I think he would have a heart attack if he read the many posts here of people calling in day after day. he always said you can't mess with them. But since i can't complain about his approval record and the LC fiasco wasn't his fault, it was the fault of the DC labor department (everything is a little slower here than elsewhere in the country it seems), I never made a fuss out of it.
Sorry to hear about your mess, so you say he got your H1B's but screwed the GC process up?
|
funny you would say that. My lawyer was very very meticulous and precise but always was very scared of USCIS. I think he would have a heart attack if he read the many posts here of people calling in day after day. he always said you can't mess with them. But since i can't complain about his approval record and the LC fiasco wasn't his fault, it was the fault of the DC labor department (everything is a little slower here than elsewhere in the country it seems), I never made a fuss out of it.
Sorry to hear about your mess, so you say he got your H1B's but screwed the GC process up?
Yes, they screwed up my GC big time. I am in my 7th year of H1B which will expire in June 09. My LC was approved in Nov. 06. I missed the premium processing date because they were very slow. The VB fiasco was not good for us. We are current most of the time, right? If I would not file in july 07 I could have filed in Mar 08. That is when we became current. Remember? I could not go home anyway. I can't believe even big law firms made that mistake to file during july 07 for 2001, 2002 and 2003 filers. And now look we are still in line. The VB fiasco was good for 2006 and 2007 filers. I think the lawyers rather harmed us. I am in grad school and I cannot apply to student loans because of this GC mess. |
well i missed the july fiasco because I was on a lengthy biz trip in latin America. then had to wait until March 08 when I became current and filed April 28th. I also went back to school and got another masters, graduated a few years back. Hope it goes well from here on for all of us.
|
well i missed the july fiasco because I was on a lengthy biz trip in latin America. then had to wait until March 08 when I became current and filed April 28th. I also went back to school and got another masters, graduated a few years back. Hope it goes well from here on for all of us.
Lucky you to miss the VB Fiasco. At least you got your I 140 approved. I am still waiting for that to be approved. It is bizarre. I hope we will get greened soon. |
streamline procedure!!!!! hallucinations another deceptive way from USCIS to calm people down
|
Next thing you know the inbox is full and emails will start piling up. Then there will be a priority date published on which emails the USCIS is processing. Another queue will be formed to provide much needed jobs.
|
Next thing you know the inbox is full and emails will start piling up. Then there will be a priority date published on which emails the USCIS is processing. Another queue will be formed to provide much needed jobs.
True! seems cis has inadvertently created perfect storm of backlogs... it never ends. |
If they receive too many emails from lawyers, who is going to prioritize them? Another streamlining system?
|
so, will I benefit from this new procedure?
my PD is 4/03 ,but RD 8/07.........
|
|
Users watching this thread:
indianabacklog, cygent, gettinggc, nxmjcl, sopgreen, bestia, casanova02, Murphydc, Knight, godhavemercy, pyrosleepy, FUSCIS, gcardrabbit, masik, Blofeld, kosnyc, alspu, she81, metr5550, akrk
|
