Discuss behdad's I-485 USCIS Case

Congrats. Did you get response from Senator after inquiry? If yes, what was it?

Thanks alireza:
first senator inquiry : Feb 8, 2016 --> Background check pending
second senator inquiry : March 11, 2016 --> Background check completed, waiting to be assigned to officer
first congressman inquiry : April 20, 2016 --> Background check pending!!
third senator inquiry : Requested on June 17 but did not hear back until I saw my approval today

Thanks for your reply. Did you get 30 days or 45 days follow up on the response from senator/congressman? below is my status:

1st Senator inquiry: Mar 30, pending background check and followup again in 30 days
2nd Senator inquiry: May 6, , pending background check and followup again in 30 days
3rd Senator inquiry: Jun 27 , refereed for additional background check and followup again in 45 days

Did you also get the same response? Also is congressman better or senator?

No problem!
For the 3rd senator inquiry, their office did not want to send another inquiry less than 3 months after the 2nd inquiry's response(The reason being, USCIS came back with "Background check done" response), that's why I went with congressman. Otherwise they are identical. Even the first response to senator and first response to congressman read exactly the same"

"The element of background check is pending"

I did not get any response similar to your 3rd inquiry but my first senator response and first congressman response read similar to yours.

Did you also try Ombudsman?

I did not. Since it was pending background check and nobody could do anything so I decided to follow up with senator on a regular basis.

Have you ever considered Writ Of Mandamus (WOM)? I am. Even my company lawyer is now changing his position after seeing my congresswoman's email. Ombudsman won't help expedite the background check but you have to do it as preparation for WOM to prove to the federal judge you've exhausted all options at your end. If USCIS gets slapped with a bunch of WOMs, they will eventually learn their lesson and will process cases faster. Just like did in 2007-08. Obama ordered them to expedite all cases that had been waiting 180+ days for background check.

I wanted to consider WOM only after close to 2 years. My case had been pending for almost 15 months.
I guess there are 2 problems :

1- Lengthy background check (mostly FBI issue and backlog)
2- USCIS transparency and accuracy of information they give us and senators and congress people

I do not think bunch of WOMs solve these issues. I believe there should be some targeted efforts towards making USCIS more transparent so flaws can be easily discovered/addressed and to improve this overall process.

I hope you realize that the lengthy FBI background check is just for you because you are an Iranian. That FBI check wouldn't be that long if you were born in Europe and/or were not a Muslim in case you are. Heck, I'm not even a Muslim but I'm being grouped with them just because I am born in Iran. I haven't even been to Iran since childhood. Perhaps you should read the following to open your eyes to what actually is going on:
https://www.aclusocal.org/CARRP/

Another consideration: preparing for WOM takes a long time. So if you don't gr started now, you'll be looking into being able to file it until your 4th year of 485. You have to do ombudsman and then a FOIA before you can even file a WOM. By the time you're finished with all these steps, you'll be well into your 3rd year. Ombudsman takes 2-4 months. FOIA these days takes 4-6 months. I know I am getting a head started. I'm not going back to Canada without a fight.

And as for USCIS being transparent, that's what FOIA is for. They have to disclose all you files. When you do the FOIA, you will find out exactly what they're suspicious about you.

Thank you dude for your info.
No question that this background check is not fair to us as Iranians or other countries like Pakistan. I think everyone agrees to that.
Meanwhile, some cases from these aforementioned countries get adjudicated surprisingly fast.
So to me, the only problem would be USCIS/FBI not being transparent and let us float in our frustration. FOIA is a good idea but FOIA itself is a side process. I need to see freedom of information and transparency as the main focus.
Once that transparency is there, independent attorneys or even non-profit organizations and NGOs can investigate why this process is so inefficient and then fight for changes(That's one of the things I'm trying to make effort for and follow up). I want to add that whomever I contacted throughout this process (lawyers, senator, congressperson, ...) had no idea what is going on in USCIS!
All I'm saying is, the issue is much bigger, therefore relying on ombudsman complaints and WOM won't help long term even if a lot of people file complaints.

I really appreciate your efforts on this matter that you want to fight and solve this issue. I'm also really interested in fighting for the sake of all these bright people that come to US legally and try to establish a life while being kept in a virtual cell by immigration service department for a long time (After all, It happened to me as well)

Now If you are interested, we can exchange emails and take this discussion further.