Jonathan,

Thank you for your post, I think the attention have been directed to the backlog and naturalizing new citizen, but have forgotten work visa people like me.

My church have filed an R-1 visa extension for me 1 year ago, right now it is still in the "process" I can't drive in the country because the work visa expired, my Canadian have a hard time coming in because the border keeps grilling her about my pending visa status, even though I follow all the rules and regulations that the law requires me, my file is already the system , but USCIS failed me. I am a pastor, I don't earn enough, I can't drive to work, I am separated from my wife, I have a mortgage and own property here. What else can I do? I have waited for ONE YEAR and still nothing. Please don't forget about people like me, who follow your rules, who file everything you require, who are legal educated immigrants that spent the last 10 years receiving American Education, serving the Community.

If you feel like responding to me directly, my email is stsang@tccm.org

May 15, 2008 9:16 AM

I do not think an increase in fees, for a chance to a citizen of the best country on earth, is too much.

The increase is small. The cost of everything has gone up. Realistically is a bargain! I do not think we should sell “U.S. citizenship” cheaply……it has cost us lives to maintain our quality of life here. Anyone who wants to come here should be willing to do what it takes……..and willing to do it absouletly legally or they can just stay where they are.

No “ifs”; “ands” or “buts”.

Thanks

May 15, 2008 1:07 PM

Well, if you spend 8 years waiting for be resident and your family is waiting for you? then you will understand what your feel waiting for all this time. Anyway I have notice a great progress in the USCIS service, hope this continue, thank you!

May 15, 2008 3:23 PM

The change of fees is fine, but when you think of changing the fee you are also taking in consideration better services. How come now it is taking 10 months for an I-130 to be approved, where before it only took 4-6 months to receive approval? I am frustrated with our immigration changes. Please do something. You increase the fees but don't keep families apart, make sure all cases are processed within the time frame. CIS should have planned this...where are all the top level people. No one thought that more people will apply because of the increase of fees. I am okay to pay more but I expect better services!

May 15, 2008 3:50 PM

Um, I hear you talking Jock, but the fee increases took effect nearly a year ago, and there hasn't been much improvement in the way of processing or customer service, so I fear this is much ado about nothing, and that the service will continue to use the increased fees as what Bill Yates called a Ponzi scheme. Also, can you assure the public that hiring people on a GS-5, 7, and 9 scale will improve customer service, especially where individuals who by your own definition would not qualify for and H-1B "specialty occupation" (you'll take anyone with a bachelors degree in any field) will be in a position to decide who qualifies for such positions?

May 15, 2008 4:09 PM

You have a problem that increased fees will not solve. In the 1990s, your predecessor agency was given substantially increased resources. The result - massively increased backlogs.

The problem with the CIS is that the internal culture is toxic. You have created a system where employees are punished for trying to excell, while mediocraty and even malfeasence is tolerated.

There are so many things that your agency could do (and could have done) to increase productivity. You have wilfully ignored these opportunities. In my opinion, the only way to provide acceptable immigration services to America is to eliminate your agency and replace it with another. Prohibit anyone who has ever worked for the INS/CIS from working for the new agency. Make the employees and supervisors accountable for their work. Anything short of that will just perpetuate the sorry business as usual that we have now.

May 15, 2008 4:29 PM

If green card process takes so long that H1b visas expire ( 6 years) subsequent H1b filings extensions of I-129 and related I-539 should be free of charge. I don't understand why we have to continuosly pay for USCIS delays.

May 15, 2008 4:38 PM

I will love to know why does it take so long to process political asylum cases, say about five years for cases (especially people form west african countries, who were fighting war at the time of applications)?
If there are no reasons for approval, I think they should be told, which allows them to find alternatives. The longer it takes to process, the more hope these applicants and their families have. Some of these applicants have been separated form their families for five or more years, but are still waiting for your decision on cases.
Is there a specific reason for delays?

May 15, 2008 4:48 PM

You admit USCIS lacks transparency. Why don't you change that? There are a lot of easy quick fixes that would help the public understand better the progress USCIS is making towards processing applications.

1) Publish accurate processing times, and publish them ON TIME. Right now they are often a month late, yet they state posted on the 15th of the previous month.

2) Publish ACCURATE processing times. NSC processes some I-140 petitions 6 month ahead of their published times. Others are still pending a year after the published times.

3) Give proper case status information over the phone. I want to know where my file is and what happens to it. NSC recently stopped giving case status updates for employment-based I-485s altogether. Its unacceptable that you stockpile files for years without touching them and applicants can't even inquire about the status of the case.

4) Allow the public access to your case status database. For example, post the case number of every approval as soon its processed. That would allow to see in real time what cases with what receipt dates are being processed by what center. The information is already public and is completely unpersonal and does not reveal any private information. This would help understanding what the actual processing times are.

May 15, 2008 4:54 PM

I would like the director to address the issue of the rampant ICE raids and worksite raids and the ICE relationship with local law enforcement. These actions scare the hell out of most every immigrant or nonimmigrant.

Are fees paying for the detention facilities, for the local police? Educate me on these issues please.

May 15, 2008 4:58 PM

I believe the online status system should serve as a reference of "what is going on" inside USCIS. It would provide much needed information & relief to the anxieties of many applicants who have patiently waited for their turn on line to get some feedback. After all, they too pay taxes.

May 15, 2008 5:06 PM

The first comment on this board said the fee increase was not much. While the increase may pose some hardship for some, that is not the impression I got for most if not all of the persons who posted a comment to the lst blog. As a matter of fact, I as well as many others, have no problem with the cost in dollars or time to attend interviews and fingerprints. I will gladly double my payment if it will have any effect.
The problem is, and continues to be that the service (measured in processing times) does not correlate with fee increases. In other words show us what you are doing with the money.
If the backlog for for applicantion INCLUDING THOSE STUCK IN THE FBI NAME CHECK are eliminated, I gurantee there will be no one having anything to complain about.

May 15, 2008 5:16 PM

I will like to use this opportunity to welcome the Acting Director. We hope you will bring fresh ideas and follow through with promises made to the public and to congress.
In regards to the comment Mr. Gonzalez made to the New York Times article, I will like to inform Mr. Gonzalez and employees of the USCIS that the article criticized him and other decision makers of the agency not the employees who are working really hard under archaic immigration laws and in an agency with redundant and efficient procedures

May 15, 2008 5:21 PM

I appreciate the effort and the enormous responsibility of your task. The raise in the fees is totally justified. However, none of the improvements you describe affects the issue of the background checks. I couldn't agree with you more that those checks are needed and that, without them fully completed, nobody should be granted citizenship. However, people wait years for those checks. In my case, how come that I am waiting almost three years for a background check? Even if it is a manual process, it is too much time. I hear that it is the FBI's fault and not yours, so how can your agency help and collaborate with the FBI so that they can have more resources to do the checks faster? I believe that the number of "mandamus" law suits would diminish a lot if that was the case.

May 15, 2008 5:21 PM

I appreciate your service to the country. At the same time it would be great if you can make sure EB1 applications are adjudicated according to their merit. Speaking to different lawyers and reading from different forums, it gives me an impression that EB1-EAA adjudication is really dependent on someone's luck.

May 15, 2008 5:23 PM

Dear Anonymous,

You might want to get a better education before you leave comments of this sort. If the government would let good people here to support their American Citizen wives and children rather than separating perfectly good families, there would not be any complaints!

May 15, 2008 5:51 PM

What steps are being taken by USCIS to reduce the backlog of EB3 I-140 especially at NSC. There is tremendous amount of disparity between service centers. Many of them are stuck at this stage because of the snail pace not able to invoke AC21 to switch job. Many of them have returned to their native countries abandoning incredible long journey.

May 15, 2008 6:04 PM

The first poster is obviously clueless. The rise in fees was not a small increase. It was nearly a 400% increase. Also this view that citizenship shouldn't come cheap is very narrow and short sighted. The problems with USCIS go well beyond just citizenship.

US citizens like me who want to be with their wives or there children are also caught up in this mess and the government is keeping us a part.

I'm not against the fee increase but when a process that was supposed to take 3-4 months takes 7 months and counting is practically a crime.

May 15, 2008 6:06 PM

Welcome aboard Mr. Scharfen..I filed my N400 back in November 2006 and it's still pending as of now. They tell me it's due to FBI Name Check, and I tell them BS! Simply because it does not make any sense from a national security point of view to put someone's file on a shelf and let that person wonder around freely in the country. If the USCIS really cares about this country, they'd be making this Name Check backlog No 1 priority and not push it under the rug. I have been living in this great country for over 12 years and never had any problem with the Law or anything else for that matter, yet they just realized that they needed to check my name against the FBI database. You should have done that when I came in to the US or even when I became a permanent resident years back. The sad part about the whole thing is that I don’t see a light at the end of tunnel. Every time I call the USCIS to inquire about my case, they tell me we don’t know when your case will be processed and that it could take years. However, one great thing about this country is the judicial system, so Mr. Scharfen please get ready for yet another law suit.

May 15, 2008 6:07 PM

Despite the fee getting higher every year, what has been achieved?

1. On the one hand, people who are here legally, pay all tax, contribute to economy, wait as long as 8 years to get their quota for green card (read: not even citizen). On the other hand, 240000 visa have been wasted becaused of USCIS's low efficiency. You may think 245000 is just a number, but it's the lives of 245000 people, who are working, paying tax, raising kids, just like you. Whose lives are often ruined by the low efficiency of USCIS. Try to put a suffering face on each and every one of those 245000, I hope you can still sleep at night.

2. I-140 processing is getting slower and slower, and despite the fee increase, the premium processing is canceled. When one who's desparately waiting for the approval of the I-140 gets laid off from work, all the years of waiting and payment (often more than $10k for employment based case) are down the drain.

3. Extremely slow I-485 processing. People wait 3,4,5 years to wait for their dates to be current, only to be told the USCIS won't process your case, and have watch the date retrogress again

4. Incompetent immigration officers play with people's life, career, and family by not following the law. Too many cases to say.

The USCIS is a horrible agency, and it handles people who can't vote. If US is heaven, the USCIS is the hell corner of this heaven.

May 15, 2008 6:11 PM

That's great! I believe now all you need is to grant green cards to immigrants who have filed and are now waiting to receive theirs. It takes them to receive them. Those who pay taxes should receive them faster too, in my opinion.

May 15, 2008 6:45 PM

Sorry,but you do not have any idea what is going on.citizenship fee is just the lest one from many others fees.Before you become citizen,you paying for green card,work permit and all kind of fees fingerprints ,doctors etc.All together is a lot of money.Or do you think is better if is citizenship for sale like automobil or house????????? thinks about that.

May 15, 2008 6:59 PM

I agree with the director that investments should be made. Regarding the very smart “anonymous” comments above – too bad you Americans do not know your history. Shame! Who sold you the citizenship back in the 17th and 18th century? Immigrants built this great country and the US citizenship is not easy to EARN, and is impossible to buy. The price I had to pay for the US citizenship is far greater than just the $600 I paid. So, dear American patriots, please, keep your mouth shot if you did not go to school and do not know the history of your country.

May 15, 2008 7:21 PM

I am certainly ok with the increase of fees, but its sad that what you pay for is not what you get. I have filed for my kids and its been actually 9 months and all have gotten is a receipt.

May 15, 2008 7:32 PM

I hope USCIS will reinstate premium processing for I-140 with multi-tiered fees and guarantees of service structure, so that people in dire circumstances can get the i-140 adjudicated promptly.

May 15, 2008 8:00 PM

I hope USCIS will reinstate premium processing for I-140 with multi-tiered fees and guarantees of service structure, so that people in dire circumstances can get the i-140 adjudicated promptly.

May 15, 2008 8:02 PM

hi
yo did increase the fees for all immigration applications
I did petition for my wife and my daughter( application I130 )but my case still pending
Iam legal in this country I did not Understand why it's take so long to bring the familly and to leave together ; my daughter turn her third year so what can I do ?where she go to school?
I was thinking that when you increase the fees for immigration application you will clean all the applications ;but still late nothing change
application I130 (petion) the date did note change since 2006
I mean the processing time still (january 2005) the date is not changing almost 2 years now ;and I do not know if the immigration at Vermont Service Center is different than the California Service Center
I hope you will take in consideration and take care of the application ((( I130 ))

thank you

May 15, 2008 8:29 PM

Dear Sir,
The promise to eliminate a name check backlog soon is encouraging!
I hope that USCIS will be able to hold to this promise. As for myself, I am already waiting for more than a year for my name check to be completed. Naturalization case.
Sincerely.
Patient

May 15, 2008 9:00 PM

Lots of last July's applicants are still waiting for processing of their I140s anxiously. It would be greatly appreciated if some methods could be taken to speen it up.

May 15, 2008 9:33 PM

Dear Jonathan,

What is your take on the 3 year degree AAO appeal cases. Waiting to hear and the frustation is only left for us. Please be advised we are only stuck with the blessings of employers and USCIS. We need your courtesy very much. We have been staying here legally for 7 years, paying taxes and now we are no where. neither in our home country or country of opportunity.

May 15, 2008 11:08 PM

Thank you Jonathan:

We really appreciate your kind words and your understanding of how important immigration is for us and our families.

I am sure USICS knows how hard it is to wait for 6, 7, 8... years waiting for immigration (green card) to complete , while life is at complete halt with no progress in terms of career growth. And then another 5 years of wait for citizenship.

If any USCIS officer will look back 5-10 years of their life they will see that they have come a long way, but the immigration applicants are still there waiting for the magic to happen.

While waiting some families grow with new born kids who are US citizens and few members that are non-citizen dependent applicants. At that time its even more important for whole family to stay together.

There have been some cases, where during the long wait times primary applicants have died (either naturally or accidentally) and his/her non-citizen dependent applicants had to leave the country.

We really need a director like you, Jonathan, who understand our feelings, and is ready to speed things up. Thank you again.

God Bless America.

May 15, 2008 11:11 PM

Please, can you speed up EB3 140 at NSC. They are 14-15 months behind.

Thanks.

May 15, 2008 11:15 PM

As a US citizen born in this country I am appalled at the waiting involved to bring my wife and stepdaughter to the US. What is the problem in processing a simple case? When we got married we believed from what others told us that had married in the past that the process would take 3 to 5 months at most. We have been waiting almost six months and nothing has happened. It is a tragedy to fall in love with someone from another country. The USCIS doesn't care about the fundamental needs of the lives of others, it just plods on with the politics of Washington without remembering who it is supposed to be working for.

May 15, 2008 11:28 PM

I have been a married resident of the United states for six years and I have been married for five .My husband is a citizen of another country and I am saddened that the system doesn't allow my spouse to come to the United States.I love this country but if there is to be some change it should start with dealing with the problem of family separation.We can pay all the increasing fees there is...it is the laws that must change.

May 16, 2008 12:14 AM

I live in the United states as a resident for 6 years and have been married for five.It is sad that even though the fees go up the laws do not change. As a resident we work and pay taxes just as other United states citizens and we obey the laws...my question is why aren't we offered the same privileges .I have been apart from my husband for so long and the petition I filed has been pending.( it seems forever)..We can pay fees and still see no results until these laws change. Our children are growing up in separating homes because of immigration.At least allow a visiting visa for spouses of residents we don't ask for much.

May 16, 2008 12:24 AM

i am wondering if ya won't do anything about Hrifa's age out.we have a dream. please do something cuz we wanna go to school.ya forget about us

May 16, 2008 1:12 AM

Is it working

May 16, 2008 1:41 AM

This interim Assistant Director is a joke, USCIS is joke, Homeland Security is a joke. When are you guys going to get real? You get a double FF in a grading scale A-F.
Just a lot of the same old rhetoric, what a joke!

May 16, 2008 1:46 AM

i have been suffering for almost 2 years now, i cant even file an application because of something called retrogression, i thought there is shortage of nursing in the united states , then how come an RN(registered nurse) can't his employer file I-140 or I-485 for him or even start work.

May 16, 2008 2:28 AM

Yes, your business processes are so complex that even your own employees do not seem capable of understanding, communicating or following them. There are many cases in the New York district office of naturalization applicants who applied in the winter of 2008 being interviewed and naturalized long before people who applied in July and August of 2007. I'm sure those that are still stuck waiting for an interview will be comforted to know that the system is working perfectly, the process is just too "complex" for them to understand.

All of these new staff and overtime! All the state of the art upgrades at your district offices, flat screen TV monitors in Santa Ana, even! All this, and yet you still cannot process a ten page naturalization application in less than one year. From the almost one year that I have been waiting, I can tell that your agency is not only incompetent, but incredibly arrogant. You publish numbers and timelines that make no sense, even to your own staff, and your entire customer service strategy seems to be predicated on a "don't bother calling us, because we don't know what's going on, either" mentality. Whenever, heaven forbid, a politician or editorial writer points out your utter incompetence, your standard response is to hide behind the "National Security" response, just as you have done today, despite the fact that the vast majority of naturalization applicants are already residing in the United States. Your logic makes no sense, your arguments for "doing everything we can" is not credible and, in short, your organization is one big, unaccountable mess.

Keep it up Jock-O, you're doing a heck of a job!

May 16, 2008 3:02 AM

Hi, We put in a I-130 form 2 years ago. Our case is at the California centre and the date (April 2001) has not changed in 2 years! Why is there not a premium processing service for this I-130 form? I would definately pay a higher fee. We would still like to be young when we immigrate and at this rate it looks bleak. Please do something about this ASAP as it is a great concern.
Thank you

May 16, 2008 3:34 AM

Dear Sir,
Thank you very much for your letter. It shows you are open to any comments from USCIS customers, which can only be applauded.
I would like to draw your attention to a possible problem with K-3 visa applications at VSC. It appears that, ever since January 2008, very few I-129F approvals for K-3 visas are coming out of VSC, while CSC is still approving them (often along with the I-130).
This would mean that applying for a K-3 visa is no longer possible for every US citizen living in the East of the country (since these applications go to Vermont), while it is still possible for people living in the West of the country.
Could you please explain this different treatment of identical applications?
Also it seems that VSC has been approving I-129F petitions for K-1 visas in the past months. Some people have seen extremely fast approvals (within one month even). I do not understand why the fiancé visa applications are going so fast in Vermont, while spouse visa applications( K-3) do not seem to be moving at all.

I truly hope these observations are wrong (since we are currently in K-3 visa process in Vermont), but it does not appear to be so.

I thank you kindly to look into this issue and wish you all the best in the coming years.

Kind regards.

May 16, 2008 3:51 AM

I have applied for the Citizenship 4 years ago. I am still waiting for the name/background check (that's what I was told by the local USCIS office). However, I sent a request to the FBI and I received a response from them that my name/background check has been finalized 3 years ago and the results have been sent to the USCIS office in Washington.
It is not clear to me what is really going on.
I am a tax payer and I follow the rules and I don't understand why I am being treat this way...
This is an appalling way for the government to treat its citizens. These are people who followed the rules and believed what they were told by those in authority.
I hope my case gets resolved soon.

May 16, 2008 5:28 AM

I've been living in the US for 12 years. Still not a citizen. I finished high school, college and am working overseas in support of my country and military, risking my life, paying my dues...

Personally I don't think Gonzalez is the right person for the job. I believe he can't believe he's gotten to this level and thus doing more to appease his bosses than to focus on problems at hand.

I foresee another few years before I am a citizen. YET my friend and his entire family who came as refugees and have been living on welfare 3 years after I came are all citizens.

I know USC..bla bla may not consider me a citizen, but I feel I'm a better citizen and asset to this country than Mr. Gonzalez and his incompetent coworkers could ever be.

May 16, 2008 5:50 AM

Congratulations on your new job, Mr. Scharfen. And I am sorry I am suing you just as you are starting your new job. But, what else I can do really!!

I applied N400 June 2005. I waited two and half years to get my FBI name check done. It has now been seven months since then, and my application is still awaiting final approval by a supervisor.

I visited your website to check my case. But, everytime I input my case number, it returned that I input a wrong case number.

I called your 1-800 number. But, the representative there said all she can do is to put inquiry about my case, which will lead to a letter saying my case is pending due to further investigation. And, I am only allowed to call the 1-800 numnber every 60-90 days.

I visited the local office through your Infopass every month. I got a different story every time. The last time, the immigration officer there said they will take however much time they want.

I even asked for help from my Congressman's office. But, the case worker said all she can do is to put an inquiry for me. Each inquiry took more than two weeks to be answered, and always came back with the answer that my case is under investiation. (Why couldn't this investigation have been done while my name check was pending?)

So, I really have nothing else left to do, except to file a lawsuit.

And now, at 3am, I still cannot sleep because of worrying about my case.

If you really understand our feelings, and want to solve the issues, please, act on it!!

May 16, 2008 6:14 AM

In Aug 2000 my wife and I got married in the uk where i come from it took one month to get my wife entry visa.I do not understand why now that it is going to take 10 months for my e130 to get approved.My wife is a US citizen ans she moved back to the US in 2006.I was not able to go at that time becasue i had to look after my mother.In july 2007 i lost my mother so then i was able to then thinking about moving to the US to be with my wife.I have only seen her twice in the last two years becasue of working and and not able to get the time off to go to the US.When we sent my e130 we thought it would not be to long before i got approved.The thinking behined that was how long it took to get my wife to the UK.How wrong we are. 10 months is like a life time for me and my wife waitng for the USCIS to look at my case.I hope they some how they do get quiker at sorting the e130 out and take a look at how the Uk got it so right in our case of doing it in one month.

May 16, 2008 7:01 AM

How can you explaing the pain somebody experienced by being separated with a wife living outside US? a marriage already consumed. I filed I-130 for my wife since then I have heard anything. I have been separated with my wife for about 2 years now. This is very troubling in someone life. Imagine two years no contact between couple married. YOu need help everybody as new director to get done. This is most powerful country on the face of earth but people suffer for sample family union.

May 16, 2008 7:15 AM

USCIS 1800 Customer service is going worse day by day.
They are teating the customers as slaves. Very rude talking over phone. I'm afraid to call USCIS customer service. Don't know whom to contact / complaint.
It could be due to large amount of calls but that is how they are getting their job. I'm not blaming all of the customer service representatives. some of them are really very Courtesies and giving enough details.

May 16, 2008 8:14 AM

When the fees are increased we expect fast processing. You should also consider opening the premium processing of I-140 & I-485. We would also like that there should be no discrimination based on the country of origin for EB1, EB2, EB3 etc. Currently these catogories are based on India, China, Mexico etc. Why is there such a discrimination.

May 16, 2008 8:24 AM

The fee increase doesn't seem to have improved processing times in comparable terms. Also, processing time estimates are not accurate. Phone inquiries about case status should be improved. As things stand now, customer service representatives just repeat what is available online when asked about case status, which applicants can check on their own. Customer service representatives should be able to give more specific information.

May 16, 2008 8:38 AM

its a big joke, i have been waiting for n400 for 1year to be processed and nothing. i130 for spouse nothing. i just want to get a driver's license.

May 16, 2008 8:48 AM

My experience as Employment based Greencard applicant:

1. Labor petition took more than five years to process because of backlogs.

2. I-140 took six months. No complaints here.

3. I-485 took one year. I had to knock on many doors to let USCIS pick up my petition which was current all through this time and yet gathering dust in some warehouse.

4. I spent loads of money renewing VISAs, work permits, reentry permits. To top these all, I spent money on drivers licenses every year. Add the spouse to the list and you see the financial impact.

You guys (DOL/USCIS/DOS) should go back to school and learn the meaning of firt-in-first-out and then implement.

Please stop trying to explain away the problems on increased applications. We want some action, not words.

May 16, 2008 9:41 AM

I do agree for the increase in prices, however, as being born in the USA and paying taxes since I was 18 years of age should have the privelege to bring my wife here should be faster not to wait 10 months to a year. I understand the people working in USCIS are working hard but understand when you have a loved one waiting for you such as my wife, it hurts tremendously. Put yourself on my shoes and imagine not having your loved one with you especially you wife. It hurts I been waiting now for 6 months and I have not received anything yet. It hurts please understand me. Thank You for listening.

May 16, 2008 9:41 AM

The increase in fees was ridiculous. Please explain how it costs CIS $355 to produce a work permit card, which is not much more complex than a driver's license that runs about $20. It is certainly not more complex than a passport, which costs $60 (and a refugee travel document – essentially a passport with fewer pages – costs CIS $385 to produce?!?). Some waivers, which are literally a 1-page form, cost $545 and take months to adjudicate. Why are FBI checks costing $80 through CIS, when an individual can apply directly to the FBI for $18 and get the results within a month?

And, as other posters have indicated, most of the problems are service related. Why for example is the San Antonio office still not issuing residency cards for applicants who have been waiting for years on the "FBI name check" even though your own CIS memo instructs issuance of the card for anyone waiting over 6 months? Why is it now taking a year to get a relative petition for an asylee or to get a travel document?

The explanations for both the increase in fees and the lack of service do not ring true.

May 16, 2008 9:44 AM

The fee increase is something that I don’t mind because it does hold some type of hope for better service. However, the service centers are not held accountable for the lack of production, Vermont specifically. California can be seen moving at an incredible rate of speed with I-130 and I-129F while Vermont is no where near the processing times that California has. USCIS website states that the processing times for Vermont and California are similar but if you take a look at Immigration tracking websites you will see a huge difference. While it has been acknowledged by the former ombudsman that service centers processing "backlog" tend to go for the easier cases to give the appearance of eliminating the backlog their is no real reduction. 10 months for I-130 petition for relative, fiancé , or orphan of a united states citizen and the related I-129f K3 visa petition seems a bit long when compared to the 3-4 months before the fee increase took place. So even though the fees were increased to provide better service and more resources for USCIS and its customers all that can be seen is added stress and frustration for those hoping to be with the family member(s) tat they petitioned for.

May 16, 2008 9:58 AM

I have applied for status adjustment three years ago and it is still far from finish line. I sometimes get confused because USCIS office seems unorganized and not sure of even what to ask from applicants.Please do sometihing to fix things and get rolling.

Thanks

May 16, 2008 10:04 AM

As the new Director, I think the first major step you need to do is to make the processing times updated. That will make a lot of people happy.

May 16, 2008 10:16 AM

as far as i am concerned, keeping families apart is inhuman and can even be qualified as criminal.
how come a normal visitor gets a visa issued the same day and no background check is required for them, they enter the US without verification???when a spouse and children of a LPR and US Citizen have to wait? how would you answer that if you were invited to show how human your agency is?
Please wake up and do something about this.

May 16, 2008 10:33 AM

USCIS is an extremely flawed organization. It has no standard rules, regulations, priorities. I applied for I-130 petition with Vermont service center which based on their current processing time frame is going to take an addition 6-8 months on top of the 3 months it has already been. It is ridiculous that you can process H1 application but not application for spouse of US citizen. I am fine with the increased fees if it leads to a better organization but it hasn't. How can you ever justify allowing workers to get into US before spouses of your citizens but this is exactly what USCIS is doing.

May 16, 2008 10:36 AM

May be its time to Out-source this just like all our IT & Call Centers to some Third world country for faster response. Maybe let say India or the Philippines ;o)

May 16, 2008 10:47 AM

The thing I hate most is all the finger pointing, my case has been stuck with the FBI name check for over a year and no one is doing anything. UCSIC always just say it's in FBI's court so they won't do anything. FBI won't answer to any of my question since it's requested by USCIS.

I just filed a lawsuit since that's the only way to deal with this. As I understand, over 5000 lawsuits have been filed so far for similar issues this year. So, how dare any one say that USCIS is doing all it can? They are not, otherwise, there won't be so many angry "customers".

May 16, 2008 10:47 AM

Hello,
Mr. Paul on this column posted a comment about the UK immigration system. I am very familiar with the UK system and I have to tell you that they are far faster and more efficient than the US system.
So it might be good to take a ook at how they do it. Quality improvement demands that you do it.

May 16, 2008 10:48 AM

Thanks to Jock for accepting the USCIS policies are admittedly complex to understand even to its own officers. Number of times addressing the immigration issues and trying to fix them do not solve the issues in apprciable manner. I think the rulers and beurocrats should come to un understaning on one line. rulers bark on immigration and beurocrats cannot support barking becos the policies are admittedly complex. Either USA should stop hiring employees outside country or have a rule to leave the country after working for 3 years. If a person works for more than 3 years then define the eligibility for immigration and more years so on. A person applying for green card is like a lighting candle in open air. Hope USCIS gains trust from the applicants.

May 16, 2008 11:07 AM

I am wondering on what exactly the fees and increased fees are being spent?
The local USCIS office where I go frequently to inquire about my N-400 (Naturalization)case--has a nice flat screen TV and the sound on the TV is so loud that I can not hear what the immigraion office is saying to me. I asked her politely to speak up and repeat what she has said and she replied to me that she does not repeat things twice. The same immigration officer apparantly took her good time to enter the number of my case into the computer--she was entering one number at a time with just one finger. And finally I got the same old answer I was getting for the last 5 years-my case is pending the name check. So, it means that I reside in the US and I might be a threat to the country and my name is being checked for the last 5 years? Something wrong is here....

So, I am wondering again--what are the fees are being spend on? Training of immigration officers? USCIS Being efficient? USCIS Immigration officers Being polite?

May 16, 2008 11:09 AM

I think most people arent really concerned about increased fees, but alot are concerned not knowning anything about their case once its in hands of service centers. I work with goverment as well, I work in Medicare program, but I've never encountered problems like I have with immigration system. Lets take I-130 for a example a wife visa, why is excisting family member treated like a 2nd rate citizen? Why do fiance visa get accepted 8 months faster? Or how come People filing at same time are never approved in similar timeline. I've seen I-130 filers get aproved withing 15 days without expedite, and filers waiting for 2 years just to have I-130 approved. Too add on top of that if you cant see your loved one while I-130 is being aproved you cant bring her here on visitors visa because it automatically gets rejected. It makes very clear that American "VALUES" are not the same in immigration. "FAMILY" does not come first. Ever since the start of my case everything has been a horrible experience. USCIS customer care is absolutely useless, the time frame is unjustified and with system that only frustrates everyone. Out of millions of filers, only handful are happy. USCIS forces people to use illeagal ways to bring their family over, because of how broken the system is. It punishes law abiding citizens and lets others get away with breaking the law. It has been a disgrace going through immigration, I hope you understand that this is in need of fixing families shouldnt suffer like this. Something has to be DONE!

May 16, 2008 11:16 AM

Mr Director,

Please find out what the adjudications officer are doing in Vermont. They have been processing I130 application for Jul for three months now. I am beginning to think that family separtation issue is low on your priorities. This really should be above all other applications including naturalization. It is ridiculous that you will take 9-10 months to approve a I130 for a spouse of a United State Citizen. Try staying away from your spouse for 1+ year.

May 16, 2008 11:17 AM

Few people benefit from Fee increases and delays apart from UCSIS, lawyers and employers. I have been in US for 10 yrs this year and have a masters degree from US. I don't have green card yet and I don't see it in the vicinity of 3 yrs. Can anyone stay in the same job/position for 7 yrs? If you aren't interested in our applications why don't you say so.

May 16, 2008 11:21 AM

It took me 8 years to become a US residence or Green Card Holder “like they says”, I field for I-131 travel documents, after one year of waiting and searching about what happened to my application, then the surprise came with denial letter… why because they didn’t received my pictures ha ha very funny, anyway I did send the pictures but to whom you are able to explain, no one, their word against yours.
The fee was $170.00 when I applied but now it’s $385.00, the time was about 3-6 month to get you travels document and now 10-16 month. And he called that improvement in his department.
The more outrageous part in the story is: you can Appeal for the denial but you’ve to pay a fee of $585.00, let me understand your way in thinking, if I want to apply for a brand new application it will cost me $385.00 “New fee” why I’ve to pay $585.00 for appeal application??????
You know sir, it’s take one day to cross from Canada to USA, and 5 hours from Mexico to USA and it’s cost $1.25 to dry your cloth in public laundry due to crossing the river…you get wet right?
If you decide to go into the legal way it’ll cost you a lot of times and money but if you decide the illegal way… you tell me.

May 16, 2008 11:31 AM

It's so shocking to learn how U and T victims are subjected to long waiting prior to have their paper work done. VAWA seem not to care about the long awaits the victims have to endure, some without help form federal. I would like to see the director issue a kind of statement regarding the operation of VAWA. People are so much Tired of VAWA.

May 16, 2008 11:31 AM

What is it with VSC, all they process in K1 petitions, CSC is processing K3 and CR-1 for filers in April already.
What happened to family first??
We pay increase just like K1 but the families are haveing to wait and wait. USCIS needs to look at their processing techniques, and VSC needs to follow CSC leads in processing family petitions!!!

May 16, 2008 11:53 AM

I have nothing against the fee increase. The excuse that we could not forsee the surge of application is not acceptable. Similar increases happened with previous fee increases. The extra increase happened really because of July 2007 visa bulletin. I am not sure how that happened - both the fee increase and Visa Bulletin 2007 at the same time. The retraction and reinstating again of the bulletin created a confussion that made people apply. Everybody was confussed and could not be sure what will happen in the future. I am sure that if you did factor in both the increase in fee and making all dates current (visa bulletin Jully 2007) the increase could have been accurately predicted.

May 16, 2008 11:54 AM

As was already stated in the previous comments, it's quite obvious that, as seekers of immigration benefits, we ARE NOT concerned with the fee increase. What we ARE concerned with are ludicrous processing times, lack of quality customer service, and the fact that getting clear answers from USCIS is equivalent to pulling teeth. I'm a summer 2007 naturalization applicant from New York, whose background check has been cleared (according to InfoPass appointments) and who has been placed in queue for interview several months ago. To my understanding, gained from USCIS Immigration Officers, the interview scheduling is based on FIFO (first in, first out) basis. How exactly does the USCIS explain the fact that New York City applicants who applied as late as March 2008 are receiving interview letters, while applicants from last summer are still languishing in the "queue"? Another question that begs for an answer are the recent retrogressions in the district office-based processing timeframes. As of February 15, 2008, New York City was processing N-400 applications with priority dates of July 20, 2007. On March 15, the timeframes retrogressed to June 30. On April 15, the timeframes retrogressed yet again to May 28. I guess it's safe to expect that by the end of the year the USCIS will be processing N-400s from 2006? Let's not forget the recently released "Projected Processing Timeframes". The USCIS is predicting that it will process New York City N-400s from summer 2007 in 10.1 months. My case is already 9 months old, and no interview has been scheduled as of yet.

When will the USCIS stop lying and present applicants with clear and real facts? Again, it's not about the fee hikes. Most of us would gladly pay twice what we've paid, as long as we actually received the service that we've paid for.

May 16, 2008 11:56 AM

I have never worked so hard for anyone (other than my dad) as for INS and USCIS. We run to get things done, never have enough people and our management is the worst I have ever seen in my 62 years (of age). Please ask the Indians what is going on and not the chiefs!

May 16, 2008 12:13 PM

Mr. Director,
I would like to bring your attention to the disconnect in how K-3 visas are being processed in CSC and VSC.
As it stands right now the CSC has been approving I-130/I-129F forms in as little as 2 months, while VSC has not seen many approvals since January 2008.
I would also like to ask how your agency can justify super-fast approvals for K-1 visas but super-slow approvals for K-3 visas. They are the same non-immigration visas, the recipient still has to do Adjustment of Status. Why are those who chose to hold a wedding outside the US being punished for their decision?

Best regards and good luck in your new job.

May 16, 2008 12:16 PM

Well, some wonderful news for west coast people...one of visajourney visitors got their K-3 approval in 16 days. Yes, it was at CSC.

USCIS, please normalize your processing times. It appears at this time that VSC has put all K-3 paperwork on hold and is working fast to process K-1 only while CSC is..well, doing what they are supposed to do.

How hard is it to take some files and send them to CSC for processing? You do use computers, right?

May 16, 2008 12:26 PM

Fee increase is okie, but there should be out of the box ideas to increase the efficiency of the system.

Why don't you guys come up with the ideas that can shorten/eliminate the backlogs for Indians in Employment based categories (EB) instead of just waiting for a Bill to pass or a law to be change. You guys should come up with some good ideas so that the Senate/House/Congress should work on those lines, instead of just waiting for things to change and let the people suffer 7-8 years for the GREEN CARD.

Senate/House/Congress don’t really understand what LEGAL Immigration is, when you talk abut Immigration, its illegal immigration for them. When you talk abut Legal Immigration they talk abut H1B, don’t u guys at USCIS feel the pain of wait of 7-8 yrs for green card.

May 16, 2008 12:35 PM

Triple the fees, but hire more people and work more efficiently.
We are waiting for YEARS for AOS!

May 16, 2008 12:36 PM

Congratulations on your new job. I am an employment based applicant and have been here in US LEGALLY following all the rules, sincerely paying my taxes and also worked hard to secure two master's degrees. After all this, my applications have been pending with USCIS for last 5 years and still do not know when all of this will come to an end. If people who play by the rules are treated in such a manner, why would anyone (read ILLEGALS) be motivated to become LEGAL?
USCIS is notorious for not processing applications in FIFO manner. On top of this they transfer applications from one service center to other in the name of "speed up the process" which only causes more delay.
I request you to please look into the following requests and see if you could ACT and fix the problems facing us people.
1. Process I-140 petitions pending at TSC for more than a year now. Reinstate premium processing for I-140 petitions with immediate effect.

2. Offer better information regarding the status of our applications pending at service center. The current online status messages are useless at the best.

3. Instruct your IIO's or CSR's on the phones to be curteous and give out CORRECT information when we customers call them. We are anxious and interested to know the status of our applications as they seem to be pending for EVER and there are no updates whatsoever on the online system.
If you could do these things to get started it would be of great help to us. We wish you take this comments constructivly.

May 16, 2008 12:38 PM

I don't think the USCIS service has improved whatsoever since the fee increased about a year ago. In some cases it got worsen. We filed for I-485 in last July and still did not even get the notice for the biometric (fingerprint) appointment. I called the national service center and opened two Service Requests (SR), but no use. The customer service was horrible. If this is what you call the improvement of service, I don't have anything else to say. In a recenet study, the US Immigration Service came in worst among the heavily immigrant countries including Canada, Australia, and UK.

May 16, 2008 12:38 PM

Dear Mr. Gonazalez if you increase your fees we hope that the time frame for each applicacion would be faster. i apply for the I130 for my wife and the estimate time is 9-10 months and for worker application is faster. why is that, if we are US citizens that we only want to be together and not apart. i believe that families should be together that's why its call family, so please have some enphaty for us that we only asking to decrease the time frame and not make us wait longer. i just want to be together with my wife.

May 16, 2008 12:54 PM

please update the proceding time for vermont services how long more we have to wait for the I130, its not fear for the temporary workers to obtain a visa faster than a wife of a US citizen, please explain what is the difference.

May 16, 2008 1:01 PM

I would enforce first these 3 things -accountability, accountability and accountability!
To me as customer of USCIS, I feel like I am in a black hole. Even Nostradamus would cry predicting how things work at USCIS.

If fee needs to be increased so be it, I see no problem. But where's the accountability? Why do I have to pay for something which is USCIS's delaying? Example,
I have applied for employment GC. It comes with some intermediate benefits like EAD or AP. Now, I will have to renew them with fees every year. Every case is different, but why do I see people who applied, with same qualifications/requirements, after me get approval first ...and I will have no way to know why my case is skipped!!! ....and I will keep paying for EAD renewals!
Only God knows if there will be a "system" within USCIS!

May 16, 2008 1:02 PM

While we appreciate the efforts taken by the acting Director, looking at the web based portals where peoplemsher their experiences my comments are here which may hekp to improve:
1. Lot of mistakes from USCIS which cost a lot to the pettitioner to process and global waste of time.
2. USCIS particularly NSC is opening already approved 140s and scrutenize again, send RFEs, NIODs etc. (some cases after a year of approval. The immigrant has already planned so many things based on this approval and now He/she receives intent to deny.
3. No proper communication of status : Eg: "the case is under process where it was transferred".
4. Notices take lot of time to get discpatched. Why not use fax/email scanned copies. We have seen that it takes average a month to receive the denial notice. (pettitioner has to respond in 30 days!). Answers not provided over phone when asked for denial reason.
5. Already approved case should be denied only of it is fraud or threat to security (not based on evidence - that should have been asked in the first place). This creates lot of famliy tension and important decisions like buying home, educating kids in US are all waiting for this.

May 16, 2008 1:05 PM

Hi, I appreciate the efforts taken by the USCIS to process as many applications, however, it will helpful if there is consistency in the processing times published as well as accurate case status online even if any tentative date of decision cannot be stated...I have been waiting to get my EAD and my case status has not changed any bit since over 2 months.

May 16, 2008 1:13 PM

While I and many others like me patiently go through your website every single day of our lifde, the feeling only grows from frustrationto anger. There is nothing we can do about this. Our lives are in your hands. Its been a long long wait and I only hear them say to wait more. I pay taxes and I am a Law abiding immigrant still waiting for my GC. Wonder when will things change. I have lost all hope in the system. Its very very sad, and I hope you understand that many many families have and are suffering. I hope that something would be done about all this and people like I would be able to breathe a sigh of relief. We've waited a long time and we really need something to be done about all this. And we have no one else to go to or request.
I have lost hope and yet I have some hope left that things will change. The question is when..."when I die"............

May 16, 2008 1:25 PM

You need TO SPEED UP THE PROCESSING TIMES....BEFORE CIS RECEIVES LAW SUITS.....HURRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY LET FAMILIES GET TOGETHER AND NATURILIZE THOSE WHO DESERVE IT. WE WORK HARD IN THIS COUNTRY. I NEED TO BE WITH MY HUSBAND ASAP BEFORE I COMMIT SUICIDE. PLEASE HELP WITH THE PROCESSING TIMES. I CAN PAY ANOTHER $350 OR MORE FOR BETTER SERVICES.....EXPEDITE SUCH CASES FOR IMMEDIATE RELATIVES...PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

May 16, 2008 1:46 PM

Dear Director,

Last month the Vermont Center was processing August 2007, now the dates went backward and you are processing July 2007 for the I-130. What's going on? This is depressing. What do you suggest? Can you please oversee who is responsible for processing these kind of cases?

Thank you!

May 16, 2008 1:48 PM

I just can not believe that USCIS management did not foresee the case increases due to the filing fee increases. Come on, the fee increase is so significant. It does not need a rocket scientist to predict a dramatic increase in case filing. I always know that the quality of service at USCIS does not meet the standard of a industrialized country(not even that of a developing country). Now I start to see where that comes from. If you are talking about revolutionize USCIS, you ought to start with the management. How can you appoint a management who does not even have a common sense to manage such an important government agency?

May 16, 2008 1:49 PM

Well, if somebody to whom I paid, say, a thousand dollars to get a service, treats me in the same way as one of the NSC employees I talked on the phone today, then I would probably think I have gotten into a bizarre reality: the status of my I485 case (pending more than a year) is not available on the phone and the message suggested to contact the service center. And that what I did. Not even the lady on the phone did not introduced herself, but she did not even bother herself asking me for my name, case number, any details, and did not want to take a look into my case at all. She said literally the following: "there are just two possible things you can learn about your case: 1) it is pending 2) it is approved/denied and if you don't like the waiting then JUST WITHDRAW your case! And the only thing I can tell you, Sir, is YOU HAVE A PLEASANT DAY!"

Now, how would anybody like if somebody talks to him/her in such a manner? I am not even talking about the delays...

May 16, 2008 1:49 PM

After recently applying for an I-130 for one of my family, I notice that it was first come come first served basis. But I also noticed that many families filed for multiple family members at one time. As it seems 75% of Visas go to spouses and children under 21 of the family, this leaves only 25% or less for other members of families.This doesnt leave many if any Visa's for families trying to bring in only one or two of their families. It occured to me that it would be a fairer system if Countries were allocated so many Visa,s per year. Giving countries with less applicants and their families an equal chance of Visa sharing. Any Visa's not used by those countries could then be shared amongest countries with larger families. This would make it clearer just how many family members would be getting Visa's for that year. It seems fairer than some getting all of their family and others having to wait in long lines. After all we all love those we are trying to be reunited with.

May 16, 2008 1:51 PM

A suggestion: Is it possible to have a system similar to the Backlog Elimination Center that Department of Labor had about an year ago to eliminate the labor certification backlogs (old non-PERM system).

May 16, 2008 1:58 PM

This is PROPAGANGA of USCIS. They are not doing their job in a timely or efficent manner. And in many cases this hardship is on US BORN CITIZENS who have spouses of foriegn origin. No cases are presently being processed. In one of the major service centers no applications have been touched in nearly a year. So much for rights of the US citizen to marry who they wish. No questions are allowed to be asked or answered, no one is in charge, and no one is accountable. Welcome to living in a nation like commuinist USSR from 30 years ago. The American dream is over.

May 16, 2008 2:05 PM

USCIS have did very little improvement, but H1B holders need to wait more than 9 years to get greencard is really rediculus.

May 16, 2008 2:07 PM

Appreate the efforts you are putting in.Here is my concern.EB3 visa turn around time for non row countries is almost 7 years!!and USCIS issues EAD/AP for only one years...that too most of the time there is no guarentee it will reach before the current EAD expirey.Why dont you issue multi year EAD/AP is such a situation?

May 16, 2008 2:14 PM

I am ok with paying more fee but at the same time i am also looking for better services. I am leaving in states since 9 years.I am still waiting on my citizenship little over 3 years bec my FBI name check is still pending. I got married and my husband is not able to come here since i am not citizen yet.Please make this profess faster I am very upset with the system.

May 16, 2008 2:15 PM

One more request from me.Why dont USCIS publish the backlog numbers /category wise/Country wise?
Atleast people can plan their life accordingly..also can decide if it worth waiting that long period.

May 16, 2008 2:20 PM

i thank you for the opportunity to make these comments. i am a lawful permanent resident and soon will become a citizen. i think to help solve part of the immigration issues in this country all the social help like food stamp, free medical assistance and many others should be suspendend for those whom are here taking advantage of the system and maybe part of the money used for that matter to be used for expedite cases of those whom work hard and invision a better future in this country and help this country to become an even better place to live. pay tax should be an obligation to everyone legal or ilegal. i realy do not see a need for freebis for us we all come from a hard to survive place an when we all get here the opportunities are so many and that if we work hard we see results therefore there is realy no need for much assistance but yet we do not a better a quicker immigration response on all cases because they all involve life and keeping families together. if you think how short life is 12 months count a lot.
thank you

May 16, 2008 2:23 PM

First of all, I applaud Mr. Scharfen's courage to accept open comments.

I just want to tell people working in USCIS that, *please*,
double check the mailing address whenever you send a letter.

The I-485 application for both me and my wife is delayed because of address
issue. Our cases has been pending since 2005. When finally someone is
working on our cases, the important Request For Evidence letters were sent to
wrong address. Even later, the denial letter was sent to wrong address.

Thank goodness, both cases have been reopened/reconsidered after we requested
and after we paid the reopen fee.
But, our cases are now pending again. We don't know
when someone will work on them. (another 3 to 6 month?)

The problem is even after
We updated our address and got the confirmation letter from USCIS.
Letters from USCIS still be sent to old address.

Could you just print a copy of the "change of address" confirmation letter and
put together with the case files?

Or another way is that whenever you send some important letter, please send a
email notice.

Or at least, whenever you got returned mail, please send a email notice.

Just my a little suggestion. I sincerely hope someone in charge can pay
attention to this issue to avoid unnecessary extra delay.

May 16, 2008 2:49 PM

Dear Mr. Director,
It is god effort of yours to open this blog for the customers of the USCIS to present you with our frustration. This country has lot to offer (Patience, Team work, Number 1 in all respect).. : ) But the only thing that is lagging the ways is immigrants. As per the various sources there are over 10 million legal immigrant to this country of lot oppurtunites. And over xx million waiting and living lot frustation for getting the GC. People over here are very generous, but I am not sure why the CSR and IO at texas,vermont... are so shrude. Peolpe like me waiting for 8 years for my GC to get approved whereas my spouse got approved in 1 year after filling, Shouldn't the spouse get appoved along with the primary. People applied in 2007 are geting approved (I am happy atleast soem one is getting it) and not me... Please Mr. Director make the system more automated and more visible to the customer so that they don't live in frustration and know when there number in the line will come. I know this country is all about transparency and visiblity that is the reason US is the only country who have presidental debates whis are telecast all over the world... Please giveus the pleasure to learn the more positive attitude of US.

Thanks.

May 16, 2008 2:58 PM

I don't mind so much about the fee increase, some increase do seem outrageous. But all employment based, especially EB3 in all SC, need to be process a lot faster. Add more quotas for Greencard every year to eliminate all backlog. It's ridiculous to have priority date of year 2003 in the visa bulletin. I am tired of paying lots and lots of money to renew visas, EAD card, travel documents, etc. When some people can get their EB greencard within 6 months (filed after fee increased) and people filed before fee increase are still waiting. That just does not make any sense. We need a way to see actual processing dates and actual greencard quotas for each country. At least a list of which countries belongs to which category. Such as places liked Macau and Hong Kong, rumors have it that it's been moved to China - mainland category from all other countries, which is around 4 years difference between them. We need to know more on how the quotas, processing date are set up!!! EB applicants are who need to be process fast now!!

May 16, 2008 2:58 PM

FIFO

May 16, 2008 3:02 PM

Their are alot of hard working immigrants in NY that are get a green card, why is it so hard for the law makers to make a law to help? They rather contribute to the wars rather than help keep working families together.

May 16, 2008 3:03 PM

Dear Mr. Director
Thanks for opening the forum for the customers of USCIS to express there thought to you... : )

If increasing the fees helps in determining the timeline please don't hesitate to increase it along with increase in Visa numbers for fast processing...

May 16, 2008 3:07 PM

I would like to thank you for this chance for me to post my comments.

I came to the US in 1992, and have been lawfully stayed in the USA from F-1 visa (6 years and got 2 Masters degrees), and H-1B visa (10 years). I've been waiting for the green card process for the past 6 years, but still do not get it yet.

I submitted my I-140/I-485 last July with my labor certification priority date on June 2002. But I am still waiting the decisions from USCIS for my petitions.

The comments that I would like to raise to the USCIS is the fairness of your system. A friend of mine who submitted his case after mine has already got his green card, but I got nothing. If USCIS has a standard procedure to process the case, it will help the public to publish it so that the waiting people will know what we are waiting for, and have our "HOPES" back.

Thank you.

May 16, 2008 3:13 PM

Please increase ICE raids.

We do not need to import more cheap foreign labor. Thanks.

May 16, 2008 3:18 PM

I truly applaud Mr. Director's openess to facing the issues. I deem this as a precious opportunity for us legal immigrants to make our concerns and voice heard. Hence I urge everyone please do not abuse it and let's make it a platform for better communications.

I did notice, however, Mr. Director's concern about fee increase does not align with most people who posted. Take myself as an exmaple -- been on H1B and worked in this country for 6 years, this is what I have contributed:

Fed Tax: $120k
State Tax: $50k
SS Tax: $30k
Others: don't know.

I already paid more than $10k in immigration related fees, attorney fees, processing fees, visa fees, renew fees, you name it. This doesn't even include the lost salary because unable to work caused by visa delay. After all the contributions to the country, and all the fees, and abiding all the laws (not even a speeding ticket in sixe years) what have I got? Nothing, the green card is still so far away. Citizenship is just a dream.

Do I really care a $500 increase in the fee from USCIS? I don't. If you slam a green card in my hand now, you can increase the fee by $10000 and I'll pay in a heartbeat. If the USCIS can get their service straight, I think most people will be happy to pay a higher fee if that's what is needed.

May 16, 2008 3:28 PM

I have my I-485 petition filed in Lincoln, Nebraska last July 2007.
USCIS decided to transfer the case for processing to Texas Service Center.
My I-797C notice receipt got mailed in late October, with incorrect filing date printed, dishonoring the rules that says USCIS will honor and print in the I-797 the date of filing at the lockbox regardless if later the case is transferred to a different location for final processing.The case has Priority date current for months, is already pre-adjudicated with name check cleared and FBI clearance just waiting an officer to do the last step. It is a EB3 ROW, with still visa # available.

The mistake in the date on the I-797 is August 13 goes close to a month later than the date that should be honored which is July 18. This delay can cause that cases are stuck to be assignated for final decision at a later time because they are stored with others filed in a different later time and in my case will trigger and force me to renew my H-1, spend extra fees and money in lawyers, plus also be less likely to have the case adjudicated because of the close to reach the visa cap for this quarter.

I did speak more than ten times with officers at Texas Service Center to adress this mistake. They opened a Service Request, I did get an infopass, and I was requested to send faxes to prove the mistaken date. 3 weeks after sending the fax with the proofs, they say the still have not received them. I have sent them twice, they do not return my calls confirming anything. I keep spending money and seeing time running out. I spoke with another texas officer today, and I expressed my concerns, and also requested just to confirm that something is being done; I did mention my congressman. She plain said ' we are not intimidated by any congressman'. This is the type of service Im getting after just filing everything by the law. If I commit a mistake in my filing forms, we are promptly dismissed and rejected, but why it is not the same the other way around?. I hope USCIS listen and do something. Thank you.

May 16, 2008 3:52 PM

I'm extremely discouraged by USCIS agency. now its over 3 years since I applied for petition for my spouse. they cant allow my spouse to get any kind of visa even to visit me. I work hard pay taxes, take care of american citizen in the hospitals and what the reward? my young marriage is breaking apart. do I denouce the LPR and go and save my marriage. God forbid. the aagency should be the first to promote family union and dont forget this can have a very big positive impact on US the economy

May 16, 2008 3:59 PM

Thanks for the opportunity to post comments. It would be great to have more transparency in communication about pending cases when someone calls 1-800-line. When the customer service representative just reads the info, which is accessible online by creating an online account with USCIS, it is not a good use of resources. The definition of customer service is taking the customer’s request to the next level and doing best finding a resolution. I understand that there might be no recent updates on a specific case, but up-to-date information about processing dates is the must when the cases are not processed within the normal timeframe. For example weekly receipting updates past summer/fall were great. The same level of response on the processing dates will be very helpful. On a separate note, the customer service representatives need to be considerate when explain the delays in the processing. During my last call, the justification given for delay was that USCIS needs to really make sure what kind of people they let into the United States, therefore it takes that long.
Best of luck to you refining the process!
A law abiding immigrant

May 16, 2008 4:02 PM

What is FIFO? How come I do see cases processed after my priority date? Please explain! Why do I have to wait 5+ years and (am still waiting) for the immigration office to pick up my case? Can you give me an ETA on when my case will be processed? So frustrated!

May 16, 2008 4:12 PM

I have served my community all my life. I work in missions, I volunteer, and I am a teacher by trade. I fell in love with a wonderful man that is not a U.S. citizen. I researched the LEGAL immigration process, saw that the I-130 took some time, but decided it was a logical due process. I married him. We filed our petition. 200 days later I am still stuck at the local office without so much as correspondence beyond the initial receipt.
Everyday I wake up without my husband, my best friend. I spend tons of money in a country that is not my own, because a husband of a USC is not allowed a visitor's visa to come see me.
I am disgusted that a process that was created to serve us is mistreating us. When many of us call the wonderful service center, we are met with uneducated staff that is of no help, and often rude.
I am hurt that while I am a USC born and raised, I am seen as a nuisance. Is not this entire nation built on serving the people? Am I not in fact, "one of the people?" Why is it okay that processing times have not moved forward in three months? Why is it okay that all of us stuck in this process are not given any straight forward answers?
Why is it that we are honest people doing a legal act, and we are the ones caught in the holdup?
Be honest with us. If our petitions are lost, say so. If the chicago lock box transport caused us all to be delayed, be honest - but dont lie and say that petitions are approved in the order they are received.

May 16, 2008 4:14 PM

Why are work visas being processed much faster than family visas?
That sure shows us the priorities of this country, my country, no? I am very disappointed.

May 16, 2008 4:18 PM

Dear Director,

Your CSR is hopeless. When ever we call they don't provide any useful info.

I will request you provide more details in online case info so we don't have call your CSR and go through painful process.

Thanks

May 16, 2008 4:28 PM

Dear Director,

Thanks for taking the time to listen to our complaints and issues.
I recognize the need for fee increase and the few improvements that are happening (FBI name check 6-month cutoff, additional hires, working on weekends) - here are some perennial problems, which have become more pronounced of late.

* Inconsistency and Randomness - in receiving, processing, adjudicating applications. (Or at the very least I dont get the logic behind the operating procedure). The reporting is something that is 'corrected' later on - as per someone's fancy. Why process Sep07 apps when Apr07 is still pending, while the report shows Mar07?

* Unresponsiveness - in answering questions, explaining reasons for delays (EAD >90days is one very common example). Waiting 60 days to followup on service requests, after that one is asked call back after another 60 days

IF these are fixed, that could be a starting point for building trust. Hope you can and will create some order !!

May 16, 2008 4:45 PM

Thank you for the opportunity to post comments.

I have been waiting 9 months for adjudicating of my husband's I-130 petition and no one at USCIS is willing to post or give an accurate estimate of what the processing time will be. The processing dates at Vermont for I-130s have not changed since February (except to go backwards). This is not an acceptable way to treat law-abiding, tax-paying U.S. Citizens.

May 16, 2008 4:51 PM

Mr. Director,

Fee increase is the least of the problems. And to be fair a lot of the issues should not be dumped on you. They are for the law makers. Yes there are more and more applicants but that's not going to get better. More and more people are coming as students and later on employees. Look at how H-1B quotas run out in days and OPT had to be extended. If you can't handle it now how on earth will you be able to handle it in the future??? No doubt your system will improve. But I seriously doubt if it will EVER catch up with demands.

I am one of many people who are currently stuck in DOL PERM audit. Half a year has passed and DOL has barely touched ANY audit case. A year and thousands of dollars later I haven't moved a single step forward. And I know thousands of people have much worse stories to tell.

Many in this society take on a very convenient attitude toward our issues. "If you don't like it you can leave." True but it's not about that. It's about our rights as lawful residences and tax payers. These rights have been and still are violated.

Many years of this mess ahead plus this tanking economy and the rise of those of others, many of us will need to be reminded of the reason why staying rather than the option on leaving.

May 16, 2008 4:55 PM

This is a very good platform for us, as it is easier to be heard. As i see from above comments everybody is in similar phase like me. i started the process 5 years ago and the attorney told me, the process may take 3-4 years. Even today the attorney is of the opnion that my case may yet take 2-3 years. It sound absurd. 5 year ago 3-4 years time was needed and even though 5 years went by i may still need to wait 2-3 years, to get my Greencard. I can speculate that even after 3 more years they will come back and say more 1-2 years. i do agree the inflow of application determines the time it will take, but i know people who came after me in this country and in similar status with similar education background received their greencard a year ago. This type of scenario is more frustating. I hope transparency of the process and through implimentation of FIFO will help people like me to know where we stand in the line.

May 16, 2008 5:05 PM

Hi,Jonathan.I wish you can give us some hope and show us the way to the light at the end of this long tunnel. I also would like to comment about the significant delay USCIS has shown during the last 10 months, since the fees were increase.
My I-140 and I-485 were submitted concurrently at TSC back in july/2007, but, for some reason, I had a receive number from CSC. Then in October, another receive stating that case was transfer from CSC to TSC. I think this kind of issues are one the causes of many delays in the applications. Moreover my case status online hasn't been updated since last October. "this case is now pending at the office in which was transfered" The same info everyday I go online.And the customer service 1800 number is useless, everytime I call them enquiring about the delay of my application, I just get the same answer I see on my computer screen everyday. Can you please teach this people in how to be more specific about the case status?
Please Jonathan,do something for us ASAP. This long wait is making me feel sick already. Best wishes to you!

May 16, 2008 5:47 PM

Mr. Scharfen, I respect your saying ‘we are not compromising the quality or national security in processing these increased applications’, however, you got to do it in the right and efficient way. I want to question if the current FBI name check makes US safe. It takes years to pass the name check, it not only ruins the life of many innocent law abiding people, but also endanger the national security - You find some one suspicious on FBI database, why don’t you complete the investigation on him on a higher priority basis but let him stay for years in the US so that he has enough time to do bad thing? If you cannot answer this, that means your name check protocol is being implemented at the cost of a lot of unnecessary FBI resource and endless wait, pain and suffering of hundreds of thousands innocent people, but with no result. Can you provide us data on how many ‘bad guy’ were screened out by the name check program in the past years?
I don’t want to go to too much detail because you had probably read USCIS ombudsman’s report in 2007.
While the USCIS announced the joint plan with FBI to eliminate the backlog, I really want to question if it can be accomplished for sure in the proposed timeframe, or it is just goal which may not pass the reality check. Can you further address it to us?
I am one of the many name check victims who have been waiting for citizenship for 18 months, during which I spent a lot my valuable time calling USCIS, making Infopass and writing letters, but my case remains standstill due to pending name check, according to the most recent letter from USCIS in this month. The name check delay has prevented me from applying green card for my wife. This limbo state has produced me a lot of family issue and mental suffering. I already lose faith on waiting, which you keep asking us to do. The words by USCIS like ‘regret’, ‘understand’ would not relieve our pain and suffering. You got to fix the problem and bring the life of name checker sufferer back to normal. Sadly many of us name check victims believe federal law suit is the only way to be treated with justice and fairness. I know two friends who have waited for 18 months and 24 months separately, and we all plan to file a lawsuit against USCIS for the delay in the coming months. Again, I am not making a story here, I just want to let you know how desperate and hopeless we feel on USCIS and we have to fight when our frustration level is beyond control, thinking the fact that no one really wants to spend time and money on lawsuit. If USCIS continues to delay the people by years, it will certainly expect more and more lawsuits.
I certainly appreciate it that you are open to discussion on this blog. I wish that we can continue to see you here. Hopefully your taking over the USCIS can make a big difference.

May 16, 2008 5:51 PM

How to explain to you the situation of legal immigrants. I am here since 2001 and still not able to get GC. The process itself is so corrupt that it is really very hard to get one GC.
There are stages and if you are at final stage and then you are out of the job then start the whole process again. Better have every stage one time. And then that FBI clearance as if, if someone has to do anything wrong he cannot do it without a GC? Why not make it private the way Canada does, let the candidate go to local FBI and get a clearance certificate from them. Oh if the process becomes simple then who will care for U.

May 16, 2008 6:03 PM

It must be apparent to you by now the emotional distress that the processing delays at Vermont are causing many US Citizens and their spouses. It is unethical to allow these petitions to flounder in a sea of inefficiencies, jeopardising marriages and families. I speak on behalf of many others who are similarly frustrated and disillusioned with the system. The discrepancies in approvals for I-130 and K3 in Vermont versus California, with the apparent standstill of K3 approvals at Vermont, is particularly noteworthy. How two arms of the same system can handle petitions so differently is difficult to comprehend. Additionally, the processing time for fiance visas is significantly less than that of persons who are already legally married. The apparent discrimination on the basis of geography and marital status is of great concern to me.

May 16, 2008 6:39 PM

DEAR JONATHAN,WE VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU AS THE USCIS ,S NEW DIRECTOR.MY HUSBAND IS A US CITIZEN.WE ARE MARRIED SINCE 2005 AND UNTIL NOW I CANNOT GET MY GREEN CARD.IT,S VERY HARD.SOMETIMES, I CANNOT SLEEP.I WANT YOU TO INVESTIGATE WHAT THEY DOING AT MIAMI OFFICE.SOME IMMIGRATIONS OFFICERS ARE ABUSING PEOPLE.

May 16, 2008 8:04 PM

Hey, wake up! You do not have power over me. When your grandmother finally retires from the Vermont Service Center and everything slows to a stop you can enlist rats in the vacant building to process cases at a faster rate than grandma ever could. The rats might even realize that peoples lives are at stake and I-130's and I-129's, K-3 & k-4 are not to be left on the shelfs to see how high they can stack up. I say give the management over to the vermin because every lousy person below the director in management is less than the vermin that crawls the floors when the lights go out every night.
The new director needs to clean house and fumigate every Bush appointee now before the whole thing lands in the trash.

May 16, 2008 8:40 PM

Sir,

The process is wayyyyyyy...to slow, with the fee increase, and new staffing coming on, let's hope this will speed up the process

May 16, 2008 9:01 PM

The change of fees is fine, but when you think of changing the fee you are also taking in consideration better services. How come now it is taking very long for an I-130 to be approved, where before it only took 4-6 months to receive approval? I am very frustrated with our immigration changes. Please do something. You increase the fees but don't keep families apart,try to bring them together and live together; make sure all cases are processed within the time frame. CIS should have planned this.... I am okay to pay more but I expect better services
please try to do something for I130 it's take long time ;very long
thank you

May 16, 2008 10:54 PM

I do not think paying a litte more bucks is a problem. But NSC is very crazy dening the petitions, either related to the 3 year degree even in EB3 (though equivalent is mentioned in labor) or Ability to Pay. NSC does not even obey the federal court ruling. I am here since last 8 years with no luck of getting GC. First NSC should change it's stragey and think we legal immigrants are human beings. The whole H1b program is a big body shopping business for consulting companies (middle men).With the US immigration policy there are atleast 2 middle men for every H1b employee. Most cases, middle men earn more money than the h1b employee. US companies are gaing through our services but never bothered to fight for us to get GC quickly. H1b is a big scam. I urge Mr. Jonathan to address and look into this issue and solve the real problem before increasing any fees.

May 16, 2008 11:37 PM

I live in the United states as a resident for 8 years and have been married for five.It is sad that even though the fees go up the laws do not change. As a resident we work and pay taxes just as other United states citizens and we obey the laws...my question is why aren't we offered the same privileges .I have been apart from my wife for so long and the petition I filed has been pending.( it seems forever I think ;I did check tje processing time on the USCIS internet the date still ""January 2005"" almost 3 years now no change for the date of processing )..We can pay fees and still see no results until these laws change. Our children are growing up in separating homes because of immigration.At least allow a visiting visa for spouses of residents we don't ask for much
thank you.
we hope something better for all people

May 17, 2008 12:29 AM

My heart is yearning and yearning and now living like a dead man. I am here on work visa for 9 years, getting abuse from company to company, eating the pain in the exchange of freedom (green card). When my mother died, I had to do funeral over the phone. My dad put the phone on her dead body ear to listen to me for saying good buy. My beloved sister died in an accident a month before, I did the same thing like, and I did to my dead mother. My girl friend gave up on me, because it too long for her to wait me. She told me over the phone that she had to live her life; she did want to wait me for all her life.

Now, my father is 86 years old and he is going to lose his memory.
At least, my last hope is to see my dad while he can recognize me.



I am still waiting my green card to be approved.

May 17, 2008 12:35 AM

dear mr directeur,since novembre 2006 ,i apply for citizenchip and my case is istill pending due tout fbi name check,ma question is very simple ,after you have the green card i belive you ndont need to wait more than18 months for name check please do something for all people waiting for monts et years to get interviews because calling the 1800 number every day is not easy and if your case pending for years is not easy to deal whith,again help us.thank you

May 17, 2008 2:28 AM

As a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR), I have to live separately from my husband. The process to bring him to the US takes 4 to 5 years due to a massive backlog in the system. And, during this process, he is not allowed to even visit me. Why such things happen to Legal Permanent Resident who obey the laws and pay all taxes? Please help us to fix this painful process.

May 17, 2008 2:44 AM

Thanks a lot Mr. Scharfen for attempt to listen to us. Hope you are at least skimming through the hardships we are facing due to inefficiency of USCIS. I know it is very easy for people who are already citizens or born citizens to suggest us to go back to our respective country if we are not happy with how things goes on here... but that is ignorance. America is built by immigrants. We immigrants from every part of the world play a major role in making our country America strong. Most of us have lived most of our adult life so far in this great nation... we are in American in heart and goal... why are we treated so unfairly? We are not criminals and we will fight the criminals so that America is safe haven. This namecheck and background check has been dragging more than we have been in our mothers womb... it is pity... we had our background checked when we entered here and then another check while we got H1 visas and check again while we applied for GC and now this un-ending battle with namecheck. Hope you keep up the promise you have made in your joint statement with FBI. Sir we do understand that security cannot be compromised, but there has to be a better way to deal with this back logs.... We need your help sir.

May 17, 2008 2:47 AM

Mr. Scharfen, congratulations on your new ob. Appreciate and admire your courage and willingness to listen to us, who have been so frustrated dealing with USCIS. I have been legally staying in US for the past 12 years and still waiting for my approval notice.
Let me take my case. During last July visa-gate, I concurrently submitted my I-140/I-485 applications to NSC. The cases were transferred to VSC for receipting and I received the receipts from VSC during Oct 07. Later that month my applications were transferred to TSC but I was NEVER informed about this transfer. Since then, there has been no update on my cases. All the online status shows is that "cases received and pending". It took my senator to check on my cases and find out that my cases are pending now in TSC. It been close to 10 months since I submitted my I-140/I-485 and my priority date has been current(& within processing times) for last two months and I have not heard a word from USCIS. What am I supposed to make out of this. Let me say, the least said about your IIO's so much better. Most of them do not even speak politely and most of time give out INCORRECT information.
I request you to please instruct TSC to process all current applications which were transferred from VSC and PLEASE update the online case status system appropriately. Thank you for your time and good luck. Hope you will do the need and oblige.
-LEGAL immigrant

May 17, 2008 3:30 AM

OK! So this is a way to let your customers let out some steam. But the truth is that this is the most dysfunctional Department in the United States. I was told that my wife's petition was being transferred to VSC from the TSC to expediate the process. Well you know that is a misrepresentation of the facts. VSC has done nothing in removing conditional green cards since NOVEMBER of 2007. You stated that the waiting time for I485 is now 14-16 months but I just received a notice of action that states 760 days, that's about 24 months. As for Senator Bill Nelson, Senator Mel Martinez, and Congressman Mario Diaz-Ballart, they are as useless as USCIS. As for myself I will never contribute or vote for any Senator or congressman in office because they are permitting this mess to occur! Signed your CITIZEN!

May 17, 2008 6:13 AM

I noticed this is not freedom of speech when you blocked my earlier comments? Get with it USCIS SUCKS BIG TIME, just because I was critical of some Senator's and Congressman. You guy's are just a bunch of communist that have one view? Your view or the highway! Keep up the big Mess, it' job security.

May 17, 2008 6:20 AM

Although increasing fees will be a good thing for the department, I will also love to see many cases being solved in time, decency and orderly fashion. Otherwise the Dept. will just be taking money unfairly, and that might also worsen the maladministration of the Dept.

May 17, 2008 6:41 AM

Attn: Mr. Scharfer.

Sir,

Due respect to you..., one of the main area ,that I would love to see some improvement in is the I 130 brother/sister petition, my I 130 case was filed around eight (8)yrs ago and up to this date, the only thing that I have had received from the USCIS; office in Vermont is a receipt notice stating that my type of case would taked between 90-999 days to processed, those days has come and long gone? And still there's nothing more from your office in Vermont! My case was filed in May, 2001. Thanks for listening, your concern, and may God help us!

May 17, 2008 9:39 AM

Mr Scharfen,

We filed a K-3 application at VCS a few months ago. Now we hear rumors that such an application is no longer treated at VSC, because the very few people that even get an approval, only get an I-130 approval. The I-129F for K-3 visa seems to be discarded altogether.
At the same time I-129F petitions for K-1 visas (fiance) get approved in record time.
Had we known about this, we would have waited to get married in the US and we might already be together.
We feel cheated and sad, in particular because your service centres aren't even treating the applications in the same way (CSC does seem to be approving I-129F for K-3 visas and they are actually making progress!).
No matter what your policies are, transparancy and equal treatment should be among your top priorities.

May 17, 2008 10:04 AM

I must commend the USCIS for doing a yeoman's job in the face of mounting backlog. I was very impress with the courteous and professionalism that was exhibited by the Atlanta support center when I went for my naturalization interview and subsequent swearing ceremony. I certainly hope that is the general picture across all support centers all over the country. Kudos to the agency.

May 17, 2008 10:38 AM

Could you please undertstand tears of the families who is separated for long time waitig for green card approval.Why can't you provid e dependant visa for greencard holder's spouses who is in the foreign countries until they get the greencard?My Husband doesnot even want a greencard.We want to be united with any kind of visa.please take some action and bring happiness in our families

May 17, 2008 12:09 PM

mr director and all the employees of uscis

please do something to ease the burden of your costumers.have time to read all those comments,and try to put yourself on their place i just hope you will feel what they feel.

May 17, 2008 12:17 PM

hi mr Jonathan, i really hope you understand the customers who cryind a lot because they are waiting for years their family to come in the united state, they did whatever the USCIS ask them to do..plesae mr director find a better way to make the processing faster than ever.they don't really mine about the new fees or something else .all they care about is the processing time.... i hope u understand them and help them to get e better life ...thank you and god bless you mr Jonathan.

May 17, 2008 12:19 PM

I am married to a man that comes to this country to study via the middle east. Not only do we not allow our F1 students to work; we charge them insane amounts for their tuition. Then, once they marry with the happy intent to become apart of American society, USCIS pends their status, without attempts at explanation despite inquiries, for years. Is this the goverment and entity that I, as well as my migrant husband, pay dearly to support? If we cannot allow our pending residents (who might I point out came here legally and paid dearly) to truly be free, who pay the same taxes, who suffer persecution every day they leave their homes because of actions of a few bad people.... then why do we continue to take their money?

May 17, 2008 1:35 PM

I am waiting for 4 years, ince I married in 2004, for my green card. I had my interview in 2005. I dont have the right to ask about my case because they are ugly in person. The people working the Houston center are the rudest I have ever come across. Have they forgotten that people like me pay fo them to sit on their perch and get fatter? I lost 6 members of my family in the 8 years total I have been in this country. I dare not travel to war torn Beirut where the remaining living relatives are for fear that I can't get back to the US and take care of my wife. My family lost their home in Beirut, it was completely leveled to the ground. Even if the US wanted to retun me back to my country of origin, where exactly would I go? People like me have no problem paying increased fees, but we are paying for services that we arent receiving. WHERE IS MY GREEN CARD AFTER FOUR YEARS? If I was going to terrorize this country, I have been here plenty long enough to do so. You allow me to work, pay taxes, travel on planes .... how about giving me my so-called freedeom?!

May 17, 2008 1:47 PM

I am glad to hear that USCIS has a new director, and hope we can see much more improvement from now on.

Even though I knew that many abuse cases on Religious Visa and Immigrant applications were found, I believe that there are still many people who think their job as their calling sincerly, and have tried to get a religious visa or green card by following all the regulations.

I have been working as a full time music director for a Presbyterian Church for 4 years with OPT program and now with R-1 visa. I am now waiting for I-360 approval. I filed for I-360 in March, 2007 and sent the answer for additional evidence and questions in October, 2007. If I could hear from you how long I need to wait at least, I would be happy to wait and plan for the future.

I appreciate and understand that you are doing your best to improve your way to handle your job. Good luck to you all.

nataemin25@hotmail.com

May 17, 2008 2:27 PM

YOU AND YOUR DEPARTMENT IS MOST SHAMELESS ENTITY IN WHOLE WORLD. AND REMEMBER YOU CAN CHEAT INNOCENT HUMAN BEINGS, BUT GOD WONT LEAVE YOU, HE WILL MAKE YOU EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU PAY FOR YOUR DEEDS SUCH AS ARTIFICAL LABOUR BACKLOGS AND NOW 140 BACKLOGS. BE AFRAID OF GOD, HE IS WATCHING YOU!

May 17, 2008 6:22 PM

At last someone is listening!

Thank you Sir, many of us have a hope now !

Good luck on your new job !
Believer

May 17, 2008 6:33 PM

Dear Director,
I am suffering as many others are.i first believed that the US values human and family values and punishes any attempt to cause hardship to individuals and families, just to realise that legal immigrants who obey the laws of this great nation and pay their dues (taxes) don't have the right to enjoy such protection.My wife is overseas had a terrible time delivering our baby all alone to handle that situation.Please tell me what i am supposed to do?i went and gave her support took her to the hospital but had to stay overseas less than six months because of the continous residency requirement.
This doesn't make sense to me, i believe as LPR who filled for citizenship and has a family overseas should be exempt from this requirement after the application has been filled at least.
And i am with the idea of a temporary visa for spouses of LPR and Citizens.
Please do something, and let us look at you and your organization as a leader in change.
thank you

May 17, 2008 7:13 PM

Is the processing of spouse petitions of such low priority? Is it ethical to keep husbands and wives apart indefinitely without explanation or accountability? Surely the right of a US Citizen to live legally in the USA with their chosen spouse is as important as a newly naturalized immigrant's right to vote in the coming election. The government needs to stop penalizing married couples. The blanket excuse of immigration backlogs is no longer appropriate. It is a matter of changing the questionable priorities that exist in the current system.

May 17, 2008 7:48 PM

Is the processing of spouse petitions of such low priority? Is it ethical to keep husbands and wives apart indefinitely without explanation or accountability? Surely the right of a US Citizen to live legally in the USA with their chosen spouse is as important as a newly naturalized immigrant's right to vote in the coming election. The government needs to stop penalizing married couples. The blanket excuse of immigration backlogs is no longer appropriate. It is a matter of changing the questionable priorities that exist in the current system.

May 17, 2008 7:49 PM

Dear Director,

Congratulations on your new assignment. Your comments are positive and we welcome them. There are a lot of people who have expressed their situations so well and they deserve to be heard. The US is a country of freedom and justice. But because of the backlogs in USCIS centers, middlemen and unscrupulous attorneys, the whole immigration process has become such a big nightmare. There is no freedom and no justice.

The USCIS should publish forms and instructions in such a manner that anyone can understand them and file petitions on their own. Just like the IRS 1040 forms come with clear instructions and examples, the USCIS forms should also be self-explanatory. We would not need the selfish lawyers if you can make this happen. While the whole process of getting a green card whether it be for employment or for family is itself painfully slow, the money-hungry lawyers compound the problem. We will be glad to pay another $1000 in USCIS fees if we don't have to pay thousands in legal fees.

Also please consider multiple-year EAD cards and have a status in the green card processing that is one step short of approval. We can wait any number of years for an employment based green card if we know for sure it is going to come. But for spouses, please give them immediately. We should not separate families. Though I am also in the wait for an employment based green card, I will give up my slot anyday and stand back in the line for a spouse yearning to join her beloved.

May 17, 2008 7:58 PM

Family reunification? got to be kidding! When it takes YEARS to bring a relative, when it takes YEARS to get a number through employment and children AGE OUT and have to start thier own long process, you are not reunificating anything. It is discouraging to say the least. Name check? background check? come on people. We have been here long enough to prove our character, our moral, and work ethics. We are here legally. We pay taxes, have driver licenses, have a social security number. You know where we live, who we work for, and what we do. Maybe a private company should take over, have an office in every state, without sacrificing national security I am sure it could be done. You do not have enough people to process the huge amount of cases that are in your centers. I have paid over $10.000 in fees and I not even near the end. You have a huge problem, and a great challege within your agency. I hope that you will come up with real solutions and wish you all the luck and may God light you the way in this difficult journey you have accepted.

May 17, 2008 8:01 PM

Hello Jonathon,

Thank you for listening to our comments. My subject of concern is..Returned petitions, which have no priority when received at USCIS. These cases are only worked on when and if there is time.

It is sometimes years before a case is reviewed, without updates or processing times..The call center has no idea what it means to have a petition returned, therefore having to explain this over and over, that the case has been approved, however it has been sent back for review.

Can we please ask USCIS to implement a guidance on how these cases are handled?

There are specific guidelines followed by DOS, however once these cases are returned to USCIS..they are left untouched, with no word as to when or if a case will be reviewed.

Please assist us ..We would be happy to pay another fee, if neccessary to cover the costs of a review. Anything is better than sitting in a pending status for years.

Thank you for listening and being pro-active! We welcome your positive new role as director or USCIS, and look forward to positive changes.

I would also like to say I am sure USCIS employees work very hard, long hours..I would like to thank them for their hard work and efforts. This cannot be an easy job, and for those who go the extra mile, it is appreciated!


Sincerely,
Aisha

May 17, 2008 11:01 PM

Frankly, it is no wonder that this country has a problem with increasing illegal immigration - you have made it so very difficult for many people to do otherwise.

The process is simply too complex, too slow and too costly for many to be able to adhere to.

The customer service, which personally I have never found to be anything other than steeped in politeness is nevertheless appalling - but through no fault of the individuals concerned, they simply have no greater access to "the system" than most of us do online.

Time and time again in these posts we are reading of the damage being done to relationships, yet nothing changes. For myself, I can understand this - I am not allowed to work yet, and so my U.S. born wife supports me, I do not even have any savings left with which to contribute; everything I had has long since gone, and in no small part in the direction of USCIS (not to mention the various other costs involved; medical examination fees, etc.).

Of course National Security must be a priority, and we all understand that some of the checks that must be carried out take time, but seriously, for those of us who are already in the country, have been for some time, and who are ready and willing to contribute to this great society, things really need to be speeded up.

Nobody is gaining here, and the main losers are U.S. citizens.

And while they wait tens of thousands of people live in fear, wondering if a simple spelling mistake of a form, or a box inadvertantly left blank will send them back to the end of the line, or worse. Further evidence of this; most of these posts are "anonymous", as this one will be - for fear that one will be singled out for special treatment of a kind that is not sought after, when all we really want is to be able to get on with our lives, pay taxes, help keep this nation great, and live the dream.

May 17, 2008 11:44 PM

"USCIS has received a significant increase in the number of applications filed. In July and August" - this is old news, and almost a year later, can no longer be used to hide the incompetence of the system

May 17, 2008 11:51 PM

I think the fees are outrageous ... especially for the treatment we get... but I love my husband endlessly so we will pay what we have too. However, I think you should keep a tighter reign on those interviewers in our embassies abroad who use their personal opinions to unnecessarily deny I130s .. or those in USCIS itself who think these delays are "justifiable" also due to personal opinions.

I am a US Citizen, married to a foreign national and we've been waiting to get approval on our I130 for 2 years.. (ya.. I'm stupid.. I thought it was a simple 6 month process ) Honestly, we'd have no problem waiting on his citizenship.. if we were just allowed to BE TOGETHER while we waited. I was naive... I boasted how my great country values the family and wouldn't keep us apart for long ... and I convinced him to file for a visa so we could live HERE because I truly do love my country - flaws and all ... But for all our big talk of "Family Values" I am realizing that only applies on families where both partners were BORN here. I'm very disappointed.

My husband's background check would take all of 20 minutes... he's lived in the same house since the day he was born. He's never had any legal trouble in his life and he's completely traceable.

I was told by an IMMIGRATION OFFICER that they did these delays to "protect those of us foolish enough to marry foreigners" and it was with the intent to see how many marriages will fail due to the delay. Ya.. I have a lot of faith in the system now. -- not!

I have so much love for my husband, but neither of us have the money for repeated international travel. So we suffer separation at the whim of others.

If you are really going to make changes.. then make them real. Stop keeping families separated and hire people who are intelligent but not bigots. I look forward to seeing what happens next .. and I pray to see my husband again soon.

May 18, 2008 12:28 AM

regarding the N400 for orlando office , march 15 they were working in the aplication dated feb 31 2007 but in April 15 they went back to Jan 31 2007. how no one know

May 18, 2008 4:23 AM

Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this messy agency in US government,Tagency need to be completely restructured. Because legal immigrant suffer in US compare to other developed nations, Why? In any modern society familly reunion shouldn't be problems. Why there are so many differences between naturalized citizens and permanent residency. I have been separed with my wife for about 2 years. How could you explain this kind separation in human being life.

May 18, 2008 6:28 AM

I recently had to get my I-751 extended for the 2nd time at the Miami Office, because the chaos and so called back-log that exist in the USCIS. Then you had to pay $10 to park because they moved there Info-Pass to another building where the immigration officer even told me that they have a big mess and concurred with how bad the system is. But she informed me she had only three more years before she retires. Even your own employees understand how bad system is. I told her that the application to remove my condition only has three different questions from the I-485 in which they can ask by scheduling an interview. Why should it take 1 1/2 years? All they need is an updated software. Why do I have to get 3 different biometrics during my process??? They repeat the same question over and over and want to charge outrages prices for the same questions, and justify it by elaborate background checks? We would be in jail if we did something wrong? What you really need to do is investigate your own department, when you have employee's taking moncy and demanding favors from immigrants. Your department is the one that needs investigation from the Director to your securtiy guard outside your building who take money for favors? How come the FBI is not investigating you? If they took 5 years to make a background check maybe 9/11 would never have happened. You really should name your Department's name not from INS,BSCIS, USCIS, to WITUSA, meaning. " Worthless in the USA"

May 18, 2008 7:01 AM

Do you really feel what your citizens and law abiding migrants feel? I doubt it, we have been stuck in the black-hole of returned petitions for over a yr now and we are still counting. Not only are the staff somewhat rude but they are so patronising. Well I hope you can look into returned petitions especially those at VSC, it is just so unfair that immigration think they can play god with peoples' lives and marriages.
I hope this is not just to make people think you are 'doing' ur job, but that you are actually looking into issues to help alleviate this suffering and heartache your agency is causing to families.

Thanks

May 18, 2008 7:28 AM

Dear Sir,
I understnad the need for the fee increase. However I do not understand what is going on with USCIS. My I-130 for my husband was returned in January of 2007 for furthur review. At that time we were told that it was taking 3-4 months then 4-6 months then 6-10 months then 10-12 now we are told up to 18 months. We have now been waiting 16 minths and no word. I have been back numerous times to see him. I am now expecting our child and we still have not hear anything. I dont understand why it is taking so long to review cases. They continue to say that cases are reviewed in the order that they are recieved. However that doesnt seem to be the case also. I am just very frustrated and need to get some answers to what is going on with our case. Please we need your help to find out what is going on with the pending cases.

May 18, 2008 8:05 AM

Hello to all of you, God help us all to be patient during this immigration saga that we all are going through.

First of all, I have to say that FAMILY should be the the number 1 concern for the USCIS, please do not break your current and future immigrant families with unnecessary long waiting period of times. I know that all american citizens believe that children should grow up with a stable and united family. I hope USCIS will give priority to Spouse and children under 21 of LPR and citizens. F-1 and work visas get to bring their families with them to US, why does not USCIS do something to help spouses of LPR's who have to play the waiting game of about 4-5 years and not be allowed to join/visit their families. I know some people who have given up on their happiness because being appart so long is too hard.

Myself, I have been here in F-1 visa for about 9 years. Before I got married I had a I-130 (still pending) through my brother who is US citizen pending, the waiting period was less of a concern then since I could do something else go to another country and work/live there. Even though, all my family (parents and siblings) is here as either a resident or citizen.

The toughest part has been this immigration waiting game since I feel in love and got married with an LPR holder. I say it is harder now because I can't get up and leave my husband (LPR) and my 2 US born children. I can't imagine being apart and return/wait in my home country. Instead, my husband works 2 jobs to pay for my out of state-tuition while we wait patiently for the immigration process. It has been a burden in my family: I have to pay high tuition fees and my children (who are US citizens) live close to poverty because their educated mother is not able to work and help their father provide a good life for them. Sometime, I regret the decision of having put myself and family into this MESS.

I envy other european countries and Canada who actually give a big priority to immediate families, their whole process takes about 3-12 months to unite nuclear families. Instead USCIS and US Department of State have greatly managed to waist over the past 6-7 year about 95,000 visas for spouses and children of LPR's, which would had made quite a difference in the waiting time of at least one year or so.

May 18, 2008 10:29 AM

USCIS ,,
Is it true that helps people, i dont think so,because my case in progress about 8 years my all family are in usa,im alone no one care about especially Uscis,I hope the director hear me .

May 18, 2008 10:40 AM

I am tired of the broken record that I'm getting from the USCIS. I'm like others.. if it takes an increase of fees to decrease the processing time, I'm all for it. But since the increase, the time for any and everything has increased. This is to me unacceptable in any person's eye! I have been waiting for my spouse for several months to come to the states. I have been going online to check the status of our case and as usual its not updated.. This is the most frustrating and ancillary progress I have ever been thru. I am tired of the antics, loops and hoops I have to go through to help my spouse obtain his visa here... ONLY IN THE UNITED STATES!!!

May 18, 2008 11:47 AM

Is it true Mr. Director, that VSC is transferring K3 and CR-1 petitions to CSC for processing? Why is it VSC cant stop processing all the K1 petitions for a while and concentrate on the family petitions for a change. K1 are approved as fast as they arrive in the mailroom. What happened to USCIS motto 'Bringing families together"? In this transfer, fears of lost petitions, parts of lost petitions, which will equal only more wating for the K3 and CR-1 filers. Its a nightmare of how these are handled, family being seprated for long periods of time, while K1 files In Jan. and visa in hand in May???? A serious over haul in need at VSC.

May 18, 2008 1:14 PM

hi
Please tell me how long it's take the approval of my petition ( I130 )I think it;s takes forever
please try to make families together not to put them apart(I mean separate)bring them togethet
thanks

May 18, 2008 4:35 PM

Mr. Director:

Good day and congratulation to you in your new position! I must say that I agreed (100%)with the anoymous writer's words of concerned "that the first major steps is to fixed the backlogs and processing times that is not upto date or out-dated"...say for instant a I-130 case was petitioned for me, around April,2001,I was inform by a receipt notice that my case would taked around 999-days to processed that was around (8)yrs ago,to-date I haven't heard from the Vermont office in months to years.Even the date on the processing website is out-date, let say a 1-130 brother/sister petition,it have been stuck on Febuary 05, 2001 for almost two years now and every time you happen to check, it is the same story! Mr.Director if you can make some changes in your dept in the next few months, lets say, by year ending,you would make a lots of people and families happy, especially those who would like to reunited with thier love one's.

PS. Please do what you can, for the people and God wiil bless you and your family!

Sincerely Yours,

May 18, 2008 5:28 PM

As the previous blogger demonstrates, people are distrustful of and totally frustrated with USCIS service. USCIS staff have provided false information both in the US and in foreign countries and gotten people stuck in the system, then they have the audacity and inhumaness to deny they did. That's what happens when Customs staff serve as Immigration staff! And the real Immigration staff sit back in frustration at being supervised by incompetent superiors.
Then there is the response to the Ombudsman who deferred to a senior USCIS official to look into my issue. What did he do? Send me a standard form letter which did not even address my question! Why is he paid over $100,000 per year? 3 "criminal" lawyers ate my money and failed to obtain my LPR status (derivative entitlement) simultaneously with my husband when he adjusted status! All I want id someone in USCIS/BCIS to tell me what form to use now that everyone else has screwed up royally. And I am still waiting. NOW you can demonstrate genuine concern.
ED

May 18, 2008 6:12 PM

I read ALL of the letters to you that where posted and notice you did not care to post my letter . But you dont have any problum to keep on asking for materals that where all ready sent . Agan i will complain that i lost {5} months with a action from a employee that just DID NOT care about me or my ladys feelings the olny wish i have is that i hope the same happens to that wonderful careing person . see how they like having there life put on hold and to try to wait for a answer that may never come . you mite want to sugar coat the facts. as far as my case with the uscis as one of the letter stated you are not doing all you can do . And as another letter stated maybe a court action is the olny way to make your people do there jobs

May 18, 2008 8:38 PM

Respected Director,

Thank you for taking the time to address some of the immigrant community concerns. It is not your actions that has created the backlogs or the situations that many of us, the immigrants find ourselves in. It is the system and the process that is creating the backlog. By streamlining the process and creating standards, the backlog could be eliminated.
I have applied for adjucating my I-485. I have been waiting since 2001 and the only response I have received from USICS as of date is that my application is under process.

The immigrant visas are available for people who filed in April of 2001. However, my file has never made it to anybody's desk. I was even told that since my application is from 2001, it may be hard to retreive the file from the record storage area. Hence, the folks who filed their 485 recently are being approved since their files are easily accessible. The process seems to be LIFO (Last in first out) versus FIFO (First in First out).

Sir, please help ensure the FIFO standards are followed and we the immigrants at least get a better status of our case from the customer service center.

Sir, my family goes thorough a lot of difficulties due to the delays. I realize that you hear the same stories over and over again. I will not bother you with my misery. All that I ask is for the process to be fair and effective.
Sir, I fully realize that immigration to this great country is a privilege and not an obligation. I respect your efforts to streamline the process and I hope you succeed.

Thank you once again for addressing some of the immigrant concerns.

May 18, 2008 8:55 PM

HOW ABOUT YOU JUST LET PEOPLE PAY FOR THEIR GREENCARDS? THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED AND ARE WAITING IN LINE FOR YEARS TO GET THEIRS, WHY DONT YOU LET THEM "BUY" ONE IN A WAY? THE MONEY WOULD BE GREAT FOR YOUR COMPANY AND PEOPLE COULD THEN HAVE A LIFE AND BE ABLE TO VISIT THEIR FAMILY AND BE ON THE ROAD TO BECOME A U.S. CITIZEN.
I THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE SPECIAL GREENCARD APPLICATIONS FOR YOUNG ADULTS SINCE THEY DIDNT HAVE A CHOICE IN COMING HERE ILLEGALLY. LET THEM GO TO SCHOOL AND COMPLETE COLLEGE AND NOT FEEL LIKE THERE TRAPPED, OUTCASTS, AND CANNOT DO ANYTHING NORMAL LIKE A CITIZEN CAN.
IF YOUR COMPANY DOES REALLY LISTEN IT MIGHT TAKE SOME OF THESE COMMENTS THAT PEOPLE HAVE POSTED INTO CONSIDERATION.

May 18, 2008 9:09 PM

YOUR POST MR. ACTING WHACAMMACALLIT IS A LOAD OF CROCK. USCIS IS A DAYLIGHT SCAMMING UNIT THAT MILKS YOU FOR RENEWAL FEES OF ALL KINDS WHILE YOU WAIT FOR YOUR GREEN CARD APPLICATION. THE MORE THEY DELAY YOU, THE MORE YEARLY RENEWAL FEES ON YOUR CURRENT STATUS THEY COLLECT.

THEY ALSO SLEEP WITH ATTORNEYS' ALL OVER THE COUNTRY BECAUSE ATTORNEYS WILL CHARGE TO RENEW.

AT THE RECEIVING END, YOU HAVE A LAW ABIDING INDIVIDUAL PAYING MORE MONEY TO TAXES, SOC, STATE TAXES, ETC.

ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS AND SO FAR I HAVEN'T HEARD A SQUEAK (NO ACTION) FROM USCIS. LOAD OF BULL CRAP. SORRY BUT IT'S TRUE. IT'S HARSH BUT IT'S TRUE. YOU NEED TO HEAR IT.

May 19, 2008 12:04 AM

The fee increase was planned the take effect in the wrong time; and what happens? backlog and delays. I applied for my green card in august 2007; my case was approved in January, but I have not received the card as of 05/18/08. when I call, I am told that the card was mailed to me but lost in the mail; a way for USCIS not to take responsibility of its mistakes and make apply for an I-90 to request a replacement and of course pay the fee. This is outrages; USCIS was flooded with applications but does not have the staff or the adequate training to deal with the big amount of applications they received. I think nothing will change; all you can do is waiting and praying there will be no fee increase in the next couple years. If it happens again you will be waiting longer. I wish there is another agency that deals with immigration cases rather that USCIS.

May 19, 2008 12:46 AM

Good day!

Director Scharfen,

I am sure you have a family and I am sure you know that it is very important to growing children to have their parents around. I hope you will have a plan to change the immigration laws with regards to petitioning spouse/child of LPR. I know that US value family unity a lot but it seems that this value is being neglected when it comes to immigration. My children are longing for their father who was left behind and we can't even get a visitor visa for him so he can visit the kids from time to time. Please take a look at this specific immigration law. Fiance can easily come to US but not the father/mother of growing kids.

Thank you and will wait for the improvement.

Desperate Mom

May 19, 2008 12:58 AM

i hope we can have premium processing for I130 as well. I will not mind paying more if this will make my kids happy and complete!

May 19, 2008 1:00 AM

i just got a paper says "your wife filed for divorce" i havent seen her for almost 5 years now. my life is ruined just because of the backlog. would you be happy if you put urself in my shoes. thanks

May 19, 2008 2:20 AM

I have a question regarding ageing out of a child of the beneficiary of an Employment Based Petition.
Date of Birth of Child in question: June 1985
Date of Filing Application of Labor Certification by employer: June 2003
Date of Certification of Labor Application: February 2007.
Date of Filing I-140 (Premium Processing): April 2007.
Date of Approval of I-140:May 2007.

However for Employment based petitions, except in the case of self petitioning, the process does not begin with I-140 but with the ETA 750 (this is recognized and affirmed by the fact that the Priority Date for availability of Visa Numbers is determined by this date).

I am told that the said child is not eligible despite the 4+ years time taken by backlog processing centers to process a labor certification - there was no choice but to file I-140 when the child was almost 22years old. Should not the age eligibility be determined by filing date of Labor Certification as is the 'prioriity date'?

Memorandums regarding Adjustment of Status Under Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act dated June 10, 1999 as well as March 9, 2005 quite clearly address 'employment based immigrant based immigrant petitions (I-140s) and applications for labor certifications applications.

I believe these memorandums were meant to address processing delays before August 2001 why would this interpretation not apply to processing delays that sent Labor Certification Applications to backlog processing Centers thus indefinitely delaying processing (almost 4 years in this case)- the child who was 18 years old then is now 22!

Is there any relief or redressal available for such a case? Is it possible to request an interpretation of the specific case from the Office of Program and Regulations Development, USCIS ?

PLEASE ADVISE- this case involves a child who has been in the US legally for the past 10 years and has already had the benefit of education at prestigious high schools and professional colleges on full scholarships. It is ironic that having completed a professional degree he may be unable to give back to this system because of his immigration status despite being well qualified to do so!?
I would greatly appreciate advise and directions. You may respond to me at jkm9x@yahoo.com

May 19, 2008 7:59 AM

Ok. Slept on it last night and here's more to my harsh CAPS words above.

If you USCIS thinks about it, all we ask for is a quick resolution and answer to any of our applications.

Jack fees up, no problem. We pay and get in line. No visa number, no problem. We wait.

But is it so much to ask for a resolution on a 10 page, 20 page application once every condition has been met??? No reason to put our life on hold when all you need is to process it and give us an answer. Yes or No. Yes, great, we move on. No, great too, we move on possibly to another country. Too many last in first out applications.

We are not asking for special preference or any more rights other than give us a speedy resolution. We appreciate the opportunity but come on already.

GIT 'ER DONE!

May 19, 2008 9:39 AM

Here is hoping that with the increase in price comes better service and faster processing time.
I have applied for my husband to join me and my son here in the US. We lived together for three years before I migrated in 2005, I returned a year after to marry him, this June we'll be celebrating our 2nd anniversary. Before this I was separated from my parents for 22 years and my siblings for 10 years because I was awaiting the I-130 papers to process.

In the meantime I am here working, going to school and being a good resident, trying to make a better life for my family. I try to visit my husband at least twice a year because he will not get a visitors visa to visit us. Our son sees him once a year because we can't afford airfare for him to visit twice. We would have saved about $5800 in airfares if he was here.

My family is suffering once again because of this separation, when my 7 yr old son ask when is daddy going to join us I tell him when the US immigration grants him a visa. When I applied the customer service rep at USCIS told me it would take about four years for his papers to process but I'm thinking at this point that it may take another six or so, I'm hoping I'm wrong. When I'm finished with school I'll be willing to move back or maybe migrate to Canada were it would take only one year for all three of us to become residents.
It's sad that USCIS do not believe in family unity.

May 19, 2008 10:36 AM

I am very disappointed with the fact that some approved citizenship applicants get their ceremony the same day of the interview and others have to wait months to get the ceremony date.
It is very unfair and very time and cost consuming. I wish that the new director realizes that. I have been waiting for the ceremony letter for over two months now. A friend of mine got his ceremony at the same day of the interview. We both paid $700 (the higher fee) and I feel unhappy about this treatment.
I thank the new director for initiating this discussion and I wish him all luck with his new position.
God Bless America.

May 19, 2008 10:37 AM

Dear Jonathan Scharfen,
Do you actually read these postings? Do you actually believe in treating Human beings Humanely? If you do, you will stop all the inhuman ways eligible and qualified applicants are being treated by your agency. Please, expedite processing times and issue visas where applicable - stop sepaprating families!!!!! I have been separated from my husband for 4 years now due to no Visa number. This is so difficult to comprehend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree with one of the responders that you do not always have to positively favor an application.
The bottom line is that most people that decided to come here legally, and stay here legally have good intentions for America!!!!! There are others who have chosen to come in ILLEGALLY. For those that are here legally and have behaved responsibly, please, reward with timely processing of papers.

May 19, 2008 10:51 AM

NAME CHECK backlog will be cleared in 2009?

Means July 2007 I-140 files have to wait for 1 more year?

How come you are sending NAME CHECK request to FBI of I-140 case?
It should be for I-485 time.

Under the name of 'Name check', you are hiding your work impotency.

This is unfair. You don't know, how much stress we are facing. I-140 should be cleared in a month or 2.

Thanks,

May 19, 2008 11:04 AM

Here are 2 comments that I have read in this long list of 177.
1. I would like the director to address the issue of the rampant ICE raids and worksite raids and the ICE relationship with local law enforcement. These actions scare the hell out of most every immigrant or nonimmigrant.

2. I have applied for the Citizenship 4 years ago. I am still waiting for the name/background check...

Answer FOR #1 Seems to me ICE is doing a good job... especially when I read locally 400 (illegal?) people were picked up in Iowa in the past month... they are doing a great job.

Answer For #2 4 years is not too long to get to be a citizen of the greatest country in this world... You are lucky to be considered.

Writer: A worried Army veteran who fought to keep the U.S.A. free from being invaded.

May 19, 2008 11:18 AM

The DC office still processing N-400 cases from Jan 2007 and there time frame is 14 month. are any one in USCIS aware about What is going to happen when this office reach July 2007 N-400 applications, the month of 460000 N-400applications, I think USCIS has to think about this from now not wait till july 2007 processing and then act like you would not expect this.

May 19, 2008 11:46 AM

Let's see what the public thinks....

Yes or No.

Do you believe that USCIS will improve and clear up backlogs of many years including namechecks and customer service?

May 19, 2008 12:26 PM

how come uscis is not informing petioner or thier relative for category change because of age. for example when an application is approved it has a category of F2A, when the priority date becomes current for that appliction that person's age is now 21+ so now he/she falls under F2B, how come uscis or their branch in other countries not informing petioner about this change by letter or email about this change.recently one of our friend is gone through all the procedures like medical, visa fees, getting all the other documents that they ask for when going to visa interview. as soon as he entered the visa office one of the officer told him/her that he has aged so now his category has changed. they could have told him/her about this change by mail. i think he should have gone through all this for no reason. he/she wasted his time and money for what? and not to count his/her emotions since they had so much hope because of the lengthy process that they just went through.

May 19, 2008 1:05 PM

why there is a tremendous amount of disparity between service centers for processing cases, why not ditribute the load appropriately. EB3 I-140 is way back in time and moving at snails pace at NSC, where as TSC it is reverse. These are some of the areas that need urgent attention and many individuals are stuck unable to use the AC21 options becuase of this. Why reinstate premium processing for these kinds of applications that can generate revenew for USCIS

May 19, 2008 1:09 PM

The change of fees is fine, but when you think of changing the fee you are also taking in consideration better services. How come now it is taking 10 months for an I-130 or 129f K-3visa to be approved, where before it only took 4-6 months to receive approval? yeah I hope coz cant leave mom coz she is older and sick so cant leave her and going to stay with my husband in egypt .I am okay to pay more but I expect better services!

May 19, 2008 1:39 PM

Please hire people who are nice & well trained, at least some people with empathy, who are naturalized immegrants themselves and can understand & feel what the rest of immigrants go through while dealing with inefficiencies of USCIS. Family Unity cannot be emphasized on enough. Please help families be together as soon as possible. At least make a change in the law that people can travel & visit their families here in U.S. every once in a while until their case is approved & visa granted. For a family of 5 or 6 people it is much more cost effective if one person travels to visit all instead of all travelling to visit one. People are separated from their wivies, husbands, children,... and it is truely inhumane of USCIS. And US in all it's greatness is not doing immigrants any favor by giving them visa, bright and hardworking immegrants are building this country and making it what it is today, so please don't make them feel like they are at USCIS's mercy! America needs these immegrants.

May 19, 2008 1:43 PM

Dear Sir,
Congratulations and thank you for offering to listen to us. Having read all the above comments, I really do not see any reason to repeat the same information. All I am looking forward now is your reaction( or action) in your next blog posting as what you intend to do speeden up the backlogs being created at TSC & NSC? I would like to be optimistic and am hoping for some positive response. Please, please have TSC start clearing the I-140 & I485 backlogs.

May 19, 2008 3:18 PM

Hello
My FBI Back ground check is pending for a year now for my N400
i been living in U S for the Last 15 years Legally ,paying Taxes married for 3 years and my wife and baby cant come here because of you delay. when i call my wife and ask me how much longer she can wait to be with me i dont know what to tell her because your system does not tell us how long we should wait and when our case should be processed , why dont you just allow our families a Visa to come over and we deal with that here?
waiting 3 years and still waiting and waiting and waiting and ......

May 19, 2008 3:50 PM

Dear USCIS,

First of all, thank you for making it easy for us to make you listen to our pain. Please respond at least to our applications we filed several years back. Just a reply positive or negative would give us direction to move on. I am even ready to spend economic stimulus towards this long waiting killer if USCIS would charge approval fee. Please understand that if we are losing the direction, we won't be able to help our children to see the future that has been uncertain for us. Just like IRS processed the stimulus checks for all the taxpayers, you have significantly less amount of work compare to the IRS. Please get us out of this long waiting sink-hole by saying yes or no.

Thank you so much for your time to listen to our voice.

May 19, 2008 4:16 PM

Thanks alot for doing such a great service to community especially immigrant and pending immigrants. As USCIS doing great work right now to expedite background checks without compromising national security, I just want to suggest that plz, if there is a mistake done by USCIS processing and "customer waiting for pending case", is doing everything he/she was told to do by USCIS, correction of mistake should be done as a priority on USCIS part. I have been already waiting for my citizenship application long outside my processing time and was just following along the way I was suppose to do, In the process I changed my address and informed USCIS within 10days of moving and recieved confirmation form USCIS that they changed my address in the file. Finally after 5 months of change of address I got my interview scheduled and it was sent scheduled at previous address's jurisdiction office which is in different city, so I contated USCIS and asked should I go to interview there or should i request to get my file in this local office wheher i live now. Officer at service center told me to send them a letter requesting regarding my file sent to local office and rescheduling of interview and officer also sent an email request for the file. Officer said even if I will go there they will not interview me as I live in different jurisdiction. So again after long wait finally I got interview but b/c of mistake I have to wait again and I don't know when they are going to respond to that request and correct everything. Plz in cases like this customer should have a clear answer as I am following all the instructions and already waiting for long time.
Thanks for listening.

May 19, 2008 4:24 PM

Are you reading all these comments? Have not heard your say about any of these comments yet.
We hope you are not like one of the immigration officer who once rolled the eyes when told I was waiting for interview for more than 18 months, where 9 months was the usual time frame for that particular DO. Neither do we expect you to be like the one who had to say "SO?" when I told my application was pending more than 60 days than it reflected on the processing time. I certainly do not hope that you are like the one, who uses more sign languages and do not hesitate to flip palm four- five times depending on the months you are trying to say. And please do not pop your chewing-gum if you are chewing while reading these comments just like that officer who found my case less important than the fun she could get popping the gum.
We hope you are not gonna act blind and deaf after going through all the comments where people want them to be heard. Good Luck!!!!

May 19, 2008 4:44 PM

To,
The Director

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome you. I am hoping you will be making changes in this mixed up and unorganized immigration processing departments.I would like to address a major problem that has happened with me regarding Immigration.I filed I-485, I-130 and I-765 again in July 2007. I got a notice that they have received the documents. But later on I received a notice saying “Request for Evidence” once again. USCIS wanted me to send the tax papers again, so I did within the 87 days. After that I used to check the status online and it said we have received your evidence and we are processing it. So then I was constantly in touch with the Local Office and the USCIS hotline and they would tell me that everything is fine with your case and USCIS is waiting for a slot for an interview. Then I got a letter sent home saying your case had been denied on December 2007, because you haven’t submitted the evidence which we did. I also have proof of the signature of the person who received the evidence. So it said if you don’t file a motion within 30 days you will be subjected to deportation. Then I called my lawyer and he said we will file a “Motion to reopen”. It has been about 60 days almost 90 days and I still haven’t got any reply from USCIS. I want to know what I should do. Till today I don’t know what is going on with my husband’s case, because I am a U.S. born citizen and also I have a 1 year old daughter ) who a U.S. is born citizen also. I am amazed that I have to go through all this just to get my husbands green card. My husband is very well educated. He is a Masters in Computer Science and Information Technology, and he has no job because of EAD (Work Permit). If could please help us out I would really appreciate it.It is really upsetting to be giving USCIS all this money and getting nothing out of it. It's like money going down that drain.Seriously.... I wish you really would be making changes.

May 19, 2008 4:44 PM

I'am a permanent resident ;I file I130 petition for my wife and kid 2years now ;my case still pending
I do not know if it's will take forever or ...
And I do not know if the immigration in the USA are same or different
the processing time of the I130 at vermont service center are:
january 8th 2006
But (I130) at california service center are :
january 1st 2005
please try to make the families together don't separate them
all the countries all over the world the petition to bring your wife and kids under 21 years old take the maximum 9 month
but in the USA I do not know
WHY ????
Thanks

May 19, 2008 4:52 PM

Maybe we can do a Point System ?

Also do away with the DV-Lottery and give those 55000 Visa to Qualified people OR raise the requirement from High School Requirement to a College Degree !

To be responsible and Value Residents Money Process some Forms at Local/Regional Offices so people can get updates and Cases can be processed Fairly.

IN this time and day we need to automate everything online and save on Paperwork. Like you can validate W2 from IRS. Validate Immigration status from DHS. Background from FBI. This way Officers/Applicants can have real time status. Online you can have a count down to the day when a USCIS Officer will evaluate your case.

Food for thought...anyhow I doubt they will implement it becasue "Nacy P (D)" says the "Illegal Immigrant Bill" will Veto any other Immigration bill bought to Congress.

May 19, 2008 6:17 PM

By just reading all this stories, anybody can see that system is simply not working, whatever the fees are. I am pretty sure, that people will pay even more if asked, but all we need are Results.
Waiting for years and years, just to get respond is crazy, it got better in some cases, but in some... It took 7 years for me to get letter of approval from DOL, it is frustrating. By making new laws, hopefully you will not damp old cases in some kind of backlog centers...

May 19, 2008 6:56 PM

I would like to know what if any improvements have been made in the system. I submitted a I129 form in January 2008 and the only way I got any information is to call and get a neutral clerk. If a business was ran this way it would go chapter 11 and so it should. I believe we should scrap the system and contract it to a private firm.
anonymous

May 19, 2008 6:59 PM

it a mess and a corrupt system you robbing people.Increase of fees for no reason wait for mourir minimun3years maxi 10years.It a system corrupt born in washington.It easy to fix get ride of some nonsense concept et process with fair dont worry the new boss he is only tempory and un others imcompetent

May 19, 2008 7:22 PM

Dear Sir,
Congragulations!!!
I think you should take an opportunity to fire everyone and new hire at NSC. They do not go by regulations. They create three way problem or multiple problems. Severe backlogs have occurred mainly due to NSC. NSC is also the biggest contributer to backlogs at AAO, especially adjucating I-140's.

May 19, 2008 8:12 PM