Leadership Journal Archive: Citizenship Day: An Opportunity to Reflect

September 17, 2008

Citizenship Day: An Opportunity to Reflect

New citizens at their naturalization ceremony (PHOTO/USCIS)

My earlier entries for the Leadership Journal discussed the day-to-day operations of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and our efforts to improve service. Today, I would like to recognize the importance of Citizenship Day for our agency and our nation.

The law creating Citizenship Day was written in 2004 to celebrate the signing of the Constitution and recognize those who have become citizens. This holiday reminds us of the importance of citizenship.

Throughout our rich history, immigrants have come to the United States seeking liberty and a better life. Many decided to become citizens and have played key roles in the success of our Nation.

Citizenship Day reminds us that many of our greatest citizens were born in other countries. Alexander Hamilton, born on the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis, served with George Washington in the Revolutionary War and as our first Secretary of the Treasury. Felix Frankfurter, a civil rights supporter and Supreme Court Justice, came to the United States with his parents from Austria in the 1890s. Knute Rockne, who first moved to Chicago from Norway as a young boy, was one of America’s greatest college football coaches.

These and other great Americans remind us today and every day that citizenship is far more than a piece of paper – it is part of what makes our nation great. USCIS has no mission of greater importance than that of naturalizing citizens. This week alone, we will welcome nearly 40,000 new citizens during 177 ceremonies across the country.

The photograph next to this entry shows the pride of new Americans. Attending naturalization ceremonies and watching new citizens raise their right hand and wave the flag is the best part of my job.

Jonathan “Jock” Scharfen

Acting Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Labels: citizenship, USCIS

146 Comments:

Dear Sir:

Nice to read the article and so nice to know your happiness in welcoming new citizens to the community. I was wondering about an initiative that is very relevant to what you express above and in the same spirit.

I have been in the country legally for over 7+ years and I am very near to getting my greencard, infact I got my I140 approved 2 weeks ago and it could be a couple of weeks now for me to obtain permanent residency. However, the obtainment of citizenship is what I really am looking forward to, however because of the long wait in the obtainment of my permanent residency, it will take me another 6+ years before I can be naturalized, I was wondering if there can be any initiative on USCIS end or any other goverment body to take cognizance of the time spent in obtaining permanent residency and count that towards the citizenship. Maybe not all of it, but even a few years credit for the 7 years spent would be a great relief.

Thanks and I see a lot of improvements in CIS upon your leadership.

By Anonymous, At September 17, 2008 1:43 PM
Director,
Thanks for letting immigrants write on the journal. I am aspiring immigrant stuck in the immigration queue for last 6 years and no light at the end of the tunnel.. a. Got stuck at Labor Backlog elimination Center for 3.5 years b. 2.5 year at NSC waiting for I-140 to get cleared under EB3.. The processing time that came out in spetember literally broke my heart and expectations.. EB3 I-140 has been stuck at March 2007 for 6/7 months where as EB2 jumped to March 2008. There is tremendous amount of disparty and partially on certain cases over other with any legtimate reasons...

On the occassion of this day I would like to plead to you to look into the root cause and resolve it. As you may know AC21 portability to swithc job is useless if I-140 is not approved. you can very well imagine the nightmare everyone is going through each day.. If you search on the internet will be able to assess the situation better than getting it from certain individuals in your organization, which is the prime problem.

By Anonymous, At September 17, 2008 2:21 PM
Dr Jonathan, I just want to take this opportunity to thank you regard what you have done so far to speed the process of naturalization, please keep improving the process. I will really appreciate if you could help or reform the way USCIS especially VSC handling I-130 and K3 for spouses. It’s being long long journey sir. Please help.

By Anonymous, At September 17, 2008 2:34 PM
This is all good. But why is VSC SOOO behind CSC in approving K-3 and IR1/CR1 applications? That is the question that is not being answered despite the frustration of hundreds of citizens who are waiting for their spouses.

By Anonymous, At September 17, 2008 3:16 PM
Dear Sir,

Could you please address the issue with N-600 petitions and the long processing time. I filed N-600 for my son on Jan. 07' and we are yet to receive it.

By Sara, At September 17, 2008 4:26 PM
i was born in the united states but my parents and grandparents weren't and i can only imagine the excitement that raced through their veins when they became united states' citizens. they are proud to live in this country with so much opportunity and progress. it's nice to read an article like this that does continue to remind our citizens that we are from abroad, some much more recent than others, and that among many great other things, is what makes the people of our nation so beautiful. we still have a lot of progress to make, but it is happening at this very moment, and at an exponential rate. God bless America!

By whimsicalrandomness, At September 17, 2008 4:54 PM
This is just an eye wash. The reality is that USCIS does not even care about the problems that the immigrants are facing. There are more than 400000 cases pending something called 'name check' where one is being punished because his/her 'name' matches some bad guy. What justice... wow.. I am amazed. I personally am unemployed and jobless for the last 6 months because my EAD is not being approved, just because my name matches someone... Mr Jonathan, please stop painting this hunky dory picture when the reality is actually very dirty

By Anonymous, At September 17, 2008 5:47 PM
good day sir!

i have some questions about citizenship.my sister is a filipino and she is now on u.s.,she`s married to a american citizen and now,she`s waiting for the green card.
she`s now pregnant but she wants to born her child here in the phillippines..she wants to know how long will it take to wait in applying for the american citizenship of the child if she will born the baby here?

By Anonymous, At September 17, 2008 9:38 PM
god bless america.we are proud to be in the usa

By Anonymous, At September 17, 2008 11:48 PM
first congratulation for the news citizens et thank you for the great job you doing because everithing you say is true i was waiting my interview for 2 years to be a citizen and since you became director everithing going faster than before again thank you mr director

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 12:41 AM
Dear Sir,

Thank u very much for writing to Leadership Journal.

But my one question is unanswered for a long long time.Why VSC is not moving concurrently with CSC in processing IR1/CR1 applications? Please take into account the frustration of thousands of citizens who are waiting for their spouses.

A dependent on H-1 & all can unite within 20 days & why CR1 cases has to wait for so much long time?

Hope this time I can able to get the answer? Thank u in advance for that.

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 1:16 AM
this is a great post! it hits close to home for me as i was stationed in the military and actually married a beautiful young lady from guam, we're happily married with kids and the whole foreigner concept was tough to deal with when she first came to the states.

Guam is us territory but its not a state so the "guam people" aka chamoro's still have different rules to follow when they come to the states.

While i was stationed in guam i do remember that they did have a "liberation day" which i would assume is similar to citizenship day. They had big parades, sold local foods and even World war 2 antique furniture (parts of ww2 was fought on guam) so i understand how important these types of Holidays/events are... thanks for the post it made my wife happy to see that america is actually into things like that. Thanks. Robbie

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 2:02 AM
dear jonathon,
why does the Boston field office take so long on processing citizenships for those who have filed passed the test and brought paper that was required? my husband did all this and it is WAY OVER the processng time. we intend to rwrite to our senator's office for help, the people working at Boston office were not HELPFUL at answering questions at all
let alone some could not speak english very well

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 8:02 AM
Mr. Director, I appreciate your time and service. Further more, thank you very much for speeding and improving the naturalization process. I am sure you may know by now that I-130 and K3 at VSC is really behind compare to CSC. Please shake up VSC. Last year everybody liked the way VSC processed these two applications, some how something happed that let VSC the worst service center ever. Please give Service Center your attentions. Thank you again for your service and god bless.

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 9:12 AM
Dr. Jonathan -
I would like to thank you for all your efforts in order to improve the USCIS service. You've been doing a great job and CREDIT must be given to you and your staff. I am happy to see that some people give positive feedback on this forum.
My I-140 application was sent at the end of February 2008 and exactly at the beginning of August 2008, I had my green card in hand. This is about 5 months. AMAZING service!!!!
I would like that this continues so that people will say very good things about your service.
One very disturbing thing is about the removal of the condition GC. A friend of mine got his GC in a record of 6 months, and I do not know how in the world, it took more than 8 months for him to see the removal of the condition.

Overall, good job Jon!

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 9:19 AM
Dear Director:

My I-751 case has been pending at your Varmont center for more than 9 months now. I am reaching to a point my driver's license will expire soon and will jeopardize my job, which bring food to my family and pay the bills.

I appreciate your willingness to hear from us and hope your agency will look into this.

Thank you.

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 9:25 AM
As I read the compliment of well deserved citizens getting their naturalization cerification, I am saddened by my own situation.

My petition was received in April 2001. It came up for review in August /September 2006. The petitioner was my mother, a Permanent Resident at the time, in April 2001. My Mother became a citizen in August 2006.

She called and sought information from USCIS,the customer service representativeS, whether she had to upgrade the application or petition to represent her attaining citizenship.

Would you believe that she on numerous occasions was told that the USCIS would upgrade her petition,NATURALLY so there was no need to reapply or seek to have the petition upgraded. This happened about ten times. I even called on behalf of my mother as well . The female customer service in Laguna, Califonia even gave me details as to where the office reached , and when to expect a confirmation letter.

I could not wait so I visited the USCIS local office in my area and was told sheepishly that my mother's petition was denied, in February of 2007, I visited the local office in March 2007.

At this I am catching a fit of delerium because the officers wil not or could identify why the petition was denied. So we , called Califonia again to enquire about the reasons for the denial. They refused to provide an explanation saying it would be in the mail.
No such mail was ever sent until July 2008, By that time the period for review had passed. The reason given for denial ...was the petitioner had to be a citizen for the application to be positively reviewed.

Why would'nt the customer service have that simple information to provide customers, paying customers at that.

Why would they wait 5 months to send a notice after repeated request.Every mail from the USCIS was received in the period from April 2001 to November 2006 , when the department sought clarification and detail information, but the one from the USCIS denying the petiton could not be mailed so that my mother could ask for a review witin the time frame.

What other publc or private company in this USA can get away with dissing and mistreating their customers with such disdain. This is just the tip of the disdainful experience , my mother has had to under go.

I was sent back to the end of the line awaiting my day to be counted. If this kind of service was meted out to an American in another part of the world, America would be offended and would have demamded that the offending country treat humans with respect.

By Amlicar, At September 18, 2008 10:20 AM
Look at the post -->
September 18, 2008 9:19 AM

This is precisely what all of us are trying to drive home. "disparity".. Many of us are waiting in line for over 6-9 years and no light at the end of the tunnel.. some lucking ones depending on a random pull from the stack of application can enjoy this kind of freedom... FIFO processing needs to be redefined for USCIS dictionary.. Any we I-140 EB3 filer at NSC should have to wait for another couple of years for adjudication.. sad state...

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 11:51 AM
HI Mr JONATHAN!

I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS HARDEST JOB YOU BEEN DOING , I UNDERSTAND YOU CAN'T SATISFY EVERY BODY AT THE TIME , IT'S BEEN LIKE 9 MONTH SINCE I FILED MY N-400 FORM I NEVER RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM VSC. I DON'T KNOW WHY VSC TAKE SO LONG IN THE POCESSING TIME. PLEASE MY FAMILY WAITING FOR ME AND I MISS MY WIFE. PLEASE DO SOMETHING FASTER AT THE VERMONT SERVICE CENTER ABOUT THE N- 400 FORM

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 3:11 PM
Mr. Director, I agree with people here that progress has been made regard N-400 processing time. I have a hard time to understand how USCIS treat I-130. I have been (and others) waiting for VSC to approve my application for over 7 months now and no update as of yet. My friend applied I-130 though CSC on July 28 2008 and his case have been approved on August 20 2008. Could you believe or agree with this…. less than 25 days for CSC and for ever for VSC, please let VSC be fair we all have family and kids.

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 3:54 PM
My I-140 was sent on July 2007 for EB2, and still is pending. When would the backlog end? Would you please show us some light at the end of the tunnel?

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 6:03 PM
Dear Jonathan,

This may be a good time to review the citizenship process. I have been waiting since July 2006. Every enquiry results in "Background check pending, specifically name check". I have a foreign wife who I cannot bring here because of this. I have been living here for 18 years and have been denied a chance to vote in the election even though I applied 27 months ago.

How is the progress on removing the backlogs for Citizenship processing and especially FBI name checks?

I have yet to see any action. I thought 2 year old name checks were supposed to be done now.

Yours truly,
A concerned should-be-but-isn't citizen

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 6:33 PM
Dear Director Scharfen,

Congratulations on your good job on these new citizens.
But sir how about us the majority who are still waiting for the approval of our papers?I am waiting for the approval of my I140. I have read that one of the indivudual here has filed his I140 on February 2008 and has already have his green card by August 2008.Wow lucky him!!!! I filed my I140 same month and year as he did yet i haven't received the approval of the I140.So my question is,is this like lucky you or poor you if yours don't get approved? I don't understand how could that happened? This is really a big problem because we all pay the same fee,we all hope the same, that we get approved.Sir this is not just a matter of game,this is our lives! My husband cannot work yet because we have to wait til my I140 is approved and that is a big problem to us.So please if that happened to that person let it be possible to everybody!
Thank you!

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 8:18 PM
Great Job Director!

By Anonymous, At September 18, 2008 10:03 PM
When it comes to US Immigration, I cannot help but think of the Biblical saying that refers to the camel entering through a needle hole. Surely, how sluggish can any system be to take numerous years to provide residency to someone. To make matters worse, there is no logic to the madness because you have people entering the country years later and already, there are getting their residency cards. I have been in the US since 2000, yes I have an EAD so am employeed and paying taxes. I now have a six year old and my husband who by the way is an American has learnt a great deal about the pains of immigration, such as making useless appointments and getting to the window to be told "Your case is still processing so you have to jsut wait," like I do not already know that. Such incompetence is unacceptable in most corporations, why it goes on these centers beats my understanding. A bit of progress is not enough! The whole process needs to be reviewed and perhaps getting feedback would be a start.

By Anonymous, At September 19, 2008 12:27 AM
sir,
everyone has problem with vsc so pls do something...coz lots of people who are waiting their husband/wife.u dnt know its really toughest part of our life.my case is also in vermont service centre and already 7 months going on but my case is pending no answer from us ambassay.i m so much upset and my family also i m alone my country sir please do something now cant wait to more ...

By Anonymous, At September 19, 2008 7:56 AM
As principal applicant I filed i-485 on 1/13/2006 for myself and my family with priority date 3/30/2001. I-140 was approved on 5/10/2007. Currently my file is in TSC. I am originally from Iran and my namecheck is not cleared yet. FYI, I don't have even driving ticket, we have not been near any airport for 10 years. I don't know what is wrong with our namecheck. My daughter has to apply for college this fall and she has perfect SAT and SAT2s scores and national scholarship finalist, BUT she cannot apply because she does not meet the criteria (having GC). As a mother I brought my kids to this country for its freedom and its great opportunities. My question is, is there any discrimination applied in your system for those who are from countries such as Iran? if the answer is NO , then why those who applied later than me have their GC in hand. Please let me know the answer so that I can explain to my daughter who has studied in this country since her first grade elementary school. Thanks for your time and all your hardwork.

By Anonymous, At September 19, 2008 9:58 AM
I don't know how my wife will survive as she does not work and my visa is expiring in 6 months. We are waiting since last two years for her to get citizen. She just have to take Oath but the name check is not getting cleared.

I don't know what to do. Can any one help me.

By bhupesh, At September 19, 2008 12:44 PM
Greetings Mr. Director, As a new employee of the USCIS in Texas since April of 2008, I finally understand a little more about what took so long for my wife to complete her N-400 process. My hat is off to the many officers working extra hours at the Dallas District Office to complete the process for so many that have been waiting. As one who can attest to some extended waiting, it is unnerving at times. But after watching 508 candidates naturalize in the morning with another 500 scheduled for the afternoon on September 17th, Constitution Day, I know that USCIS is not just sitting on the applications. Thank you for making our experience worthwhile and helping my complete the long journey from Russia to America. God Bless America!!

By Anonymous, At September 19, 2008 1:57 PM
Good day Director Jonothan,

First I want to say thanks to yourself and all the hardworking employees at USCIS who are trying their best to reunite families.
I have a few questions regarding my case. My sister who is a US citizen filed I-130 for me in January 2001 at the Vermont Service Centre. The processing dates on the website indicate that VSC is now processing applications for I-130 for brother/sister filed up to February 25, 2001. This means that my case is within this time frame. How much longer before I hear something from VSC.
Also, since I am NOT the petitioner but the person who is being filed for ... how can I notify USCIS of a change in my address. I have been to the US embassy in my country (Jamaica) to advise of my change of address but was not allowed to do so. Please help as I would not want for my notification to be mailed to my old address nor for me to miss my appointment date.
Thank you and God bless.

By Anonymous, At September 19, 2008 2:25 PM
DEAR SIR.
MY I485 WAS DENIED BY MISTAKE ,WHAT HAPPEN AFTER MY SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW MY FILES WENT TO NAMES CHECK AND DURING THAT TIME ANOTHER OFFICES NOT HERE IN ATLANTA SENT US A NOTICE ASKING FOR MY MEDICAL EXAM WE ALREADY HAVE AT THE INTERVIEW ,WE RESPOND BACK SAYING THAT WE ALREADY WENT TO INTERVIEW AND ALL THE DOCUMENT ARE COMPLETED IN THE FILES ,AND THE RWESPOND SAYING ;WE GOT YOUR RESPONSE BUT YOU FAIL TO FURNIS THE DOCUMENT IN THAT CASE WE DENIED YOUR CASE WITH NO APPEAL.THE DENIED IT WITHOUT CNSULTING THE OFFICE OF ATLANTA WHERE MY FILE IS,AND THEY AT MISSOURI ,I CAN RENEW MY WORKING PERMIT SINCE 2006 ,IWAS MARRIED AT 2003..WE WROTE THE DIRECTOR HER TO MANY TIMES TO REVIEW THAT DECISION MADE BY MISSOURI BUT THE ONLY RESPONSE WE GOT IS THAT THEY WORKING ON THE OF 2005.IS THAT ANY WAY YOU KNOW THAT I CAN RENEW MY WORKING,OR GET MY GREEN CARD,MY VISA AND MY I130 HAS BEEN APPROVED LONG TIME? HOUSE MARKET IS GOING DOWN AND I REALLY WONT TO MOVE MY FAMILLY IN A GGOD HOME LIKE ALL THE GOOD CITIZEN LIKE YOU.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

By touba, At September 20, 2008 2:39 AM
I have noticed faster processing of naturalization applications in recent months. This is a good sign. However, there are still people who have been waiting for almost two years or even longer on their applications. I wonder whether USCIS and the FBI are moving on schedule to clear the name check backlog. I certainly hope so.

By Anonymous, At September 20, 2008 3:25 PM
Dear Director,

Congratulations on the good job you and your office have done on all these new citizens!
My husband and I have been away for 3 years and eventually early this year we decided that he will come over for us to be together.He gave up his job and came here for we are planning to start our family. I am on the field of healthcare and my I140 was filed February of this year and until now there is no progress on it. And since the policy has changed; unlike last year where you can file the I140 and the adjustment of status at the same time and have your EAD, my husband is now jobless and the plan to start a family has been set aside.We want to be good parents and we want to be good providers for our children.We both don't consider for him working illegally because we are law abiding people! If only we can get an EAD now while waiting for our I140 and after that the green card it will be a big relief to us because at the same time he can help me save the money for the filing of our green card (which were increased last year; which I thought equals faster processing ) and for the lawyer's fee. I hope atleast you and your office could look at this issue about the EAD and a much faster processing of the whole process towards the green card! I know America is profamily so please sir help us in any way in all these issues.
I would appreciate if you could atleast have time to read this!
God bless!!!
Thank you!

By Anonymous, At September 21, 2008 5:16 PM
dear sir,i write this for your immediate attention ,my mom who is citizen of the united states filled a petion on my behalf at the VSC since july 6 2006.i have receive a receipt number but i cannot understand how come it is taking so long for the VSC to process my case i think you need to look into this because one of my friends already got through an d i was in the system before,i think the VSC needs more management attention to much complains about this 1 centre.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 10:02 AM
Dear Sir,

Just three words to remind the injustice of USCIS: I-140, EB3, NSC.

Please investigate if you care.

Thanks.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 12:22 PM
Why is VSC NOT processing K-3 and CR1/IR1 applications with the same speed as CSC? Why is the system so unfair against US Citizens? Why does our families need to stay apart for more than 8 months compared to other visa types who are united within 1 month?

For God's sake, limit the politics and selfishness that goes behind the decisions on which visas to process first. Politicians will not die if they get 30,000 less votes. There are millions of Americans that still need to be pleased by them. They should concentrating on getting THEIR votes instead of new citizens.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 1:12 PM
Congratulations on all that has been accomplished with USCIS. I hope that many more productive changes are in the works. I am a USC petitioning for my husband to come to the States. I have been waiting 7 months for the Vermont Service Center to process our I-130/I-129 while the California Service Center is processing their petitions an average of 3-4 months faster. While I understand the need for scrutiny of applications to ensure integrity of the process, I disagree with the fact that my petition takes months longer due to nothing more than my place of residence. I do hope that overall management will review the processes at both Service Centers (California and Vermont) and provide the lessons learned and training to increase efficiency without decreasing integrity. The purpose of the K3 visa was to shorten the time families were kept apart. This goal is not being realized at the Vermont Service Center.

By Michelle, At September 22, 2008 1:13 PM
Dear Jock,

Please look into poor performance by Vermont Service Center.

Shake up is required.

Thank you.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 1:16 PM
Sir - With all due respects for the political pressure that made VSC succumbed to approve more Citizenship applications, we now need to pay attention applications filed for the immediate relatives of our fellow US Citizens who have been waiting an unbelievably long time. This hurts more when California center seems to approve the same application in 2-3 months.

Please do something to improve the rate of approvals for immediate relatives of US Citizens. This is resulting into keeping real families apart for a really long time and it causes an unbelievable level of distress on all. Sometimes, it even breaks a family. Please pay attention to your K3 and I-130 applications at Vermont. K3 was supposed to expedite the visa process for the spouse. Apparently, there is no difference.

I hope someone reads this and pays the attention it deserves.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 1:22 PM
An issue that needs to be discussed is VSC. People come here illegally and get approved faster then people who are applying the right way and waiting up to 1, 2 years just for an approval???
Beyond frustrated when you see people who filed after you get approved for the same exact application I-130, that is.
Answer this, and lets see if we get a different answer then what the reps read off there screen to us everyday when calling to find out some good news, hence that is never good!

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 1:58 PM
My I-130 for my wife has been sitting in Vermont for over 6 months. Not a peep from VSC. Is this normal? Seems like a pretty straight forward case to me.I forsee the first year of our marriage will be spent without each other. Thank you USCIS.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 2:06 PM
Dear Mr. Jonathan,

I am a US citizen trying to be united with my wife. It is VERY sad for me to know that just because I live in Florida my application will take a lot longer than if I would have lived in a state where my I-130 would have gone to California. Why is Vermont taking SOOOO long to approve I-130 applications. I have seen that California has approved applications from June 2008, on the other hand Vermont has been transferring there application to California with dates of January 2008. Why such a difference between one Service center and another, being the same type of application approval? I really think that this is very UNFAIR for us US citizens. Why do we have to be separated from our spouses for such a long time? Why is it that Vermont is giving priority to N-600and other types of applications?

I just wish to be with my wife as soon as posible. I just want to have a normal life and be able to have a family with her.

I hope that this issue with Vermont is resolved very soon.

I want to thank you for taking the time in reading our concerns. We just ask for a fair process to be in place.

Thank you very much!!! GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!!

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 2:18 PM
hi,
i have been waiting for simple noa2 on our k1 visa case in csc for a year now.....neither of us are criminals hes a doctor im a student.....there is no one that can give us a honest answer from csc now every call is put thru customer service...they do not know anything other than what we already know do u all understand how hard it is to have no control over anything in ur life once the application goes in for k1 or any other visa? would be great if there was some kind of support system in place that could at least tell us why we are being kept so long on a simple k1 visa.........

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 2:26 PM
I haved worked for this country for just short of 30 years, I am a 6th generation american and filed to bring my fiance here so that I could marry and pursue a life together. However your embassy staff in Lagos turned the interview into a session of asking questions until he missed one and then denied him the visa. Since then I have been in the hospital, diagnosed as depressed and the stress has lead 2 of my childern to have major car accidents. Because I am a ciziten I have the right to sue and recover my losses and add to the public debt. But how can you be so proud of a process that is so broken and corrupt ? Your DC investigation service has at least 2 files from DHS fraud and civil liberties about this and I hear nothing. The Lagos embassy treats those that want to come here worse than our laws allow us to treat dogs or animals being slaughtered and you are proud ? Personally I know my parent, grandparents and their grandparents are all turning in their graves at the mockery that immigration has become. You allow embassy staff the ruin the lifes of citizens and there is nothing that can be done. The staff just laughs at requests to explain and correct thing and this is a good process ? To think that posting happy propaganda masks the truth that the victims of your process know is prrof of how out of touch you are with how broken the process is.

By Lost, At September 22, 2008 3:41 PM
Dear mr director. thanks for reading our comments. we all know that you did a great job with getting many peoples to became a citizens, But also there are some spouses that they wait years for just approval to joine their lifes.
I am a US citizen who is waiting to joine my wife for 2 years and my case at VSC , but it looks like i am into black hole , cus service don't give me any options. people lifes are in USCIS's hands.
Please do something to get our I130 move on at VSC.
thank you sir

By anaemad, At September 22, 2008 4:13 PM
Please eliminate the I-140 EB3 backlog.. People have come to an understanding that more they rant about their application type more slower USCIS processes things.. If I remember right there were aroung 60% positing on I-140 EB3 problems in a journal update ( processing time) because of which I-140 Eb3 hasn't move a bit for past 6 months... What a state of affairs..

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 5:14 PM
Hey Jock: Can you or anyone explain whats going on in VSC related to K3 CR-1/IR-1. Seems to me that VSC has stopped processing the applications altogehter last I checked, they were stuck at 02/08. At the same time CSC is kicking ass and they are processing July 08 cases.

Seems to me that they are going backwards - Any help to all the K3 filers at VSC will be appreciate.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 5:35 PM
I am a US Citizen, served in the military for 6 years. I am also a veteran because I served during war time. I am extremely disappointed with the USCIS, especially VSC. I am trying to bring my wife over but it is taking forever while people that filed around the same time frame are close to their interviews. This is very sad. While it is easy for US to recruit people in the military, the same cannot be said if we needed something in return.

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 6:24 PM
Why Is VSC taking so long?? I filed my petition in March and it's still pending! Why is it that people who filed with the CSC in April are being approved and I have not heard one word since March! I thought by now my petition would by at the NVC, but nope still at slow ass VCS! I just want my husband to be here with me and our son... why does USCIS like to torture us?

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 7:13 PM
Why is VSC so Slow? I thought that this torture would be over by now, but it is just begining! Does USCIS enjoy tearing families apart? Seriouly, how hard is it to look at a petition and approve or deny it? I filed at VSC in March and still nothing has happened! How much longer does my son have to wait to be with his father?

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 7:26 PM
Johnathan, thank you for your response..with my post i would like to direct your attention to the extreemly slow response times of the Vermont Service Center in processing the I-130 application for IR-1/CR-1 visa. it has been such a long wait for many of us who have been seperated from their spouses for so long. Its hard for me to explain to you the pain and suffering that many couples suffer due to this delay. Our relationship struggle while Vermont Service center takes its time to process I-130 application. if you compare VSC with CSC there is a huge difference in the processing time. with this post i would request you to please review this and look into this lag and get the ball rolling on I-130 so we can be united with our families very soon. thank you.

By Chetan, At September 22, 2008 11:10 PM
Dear Sir, I would like to know how long you will process I765(EAD). Because I renewed my EAD 4 months ago, untill now I can't get any answer. And my old one was expired. I can't quit the job. I need to make a living. What can I do? My driver licence expiration date is follow by EAD. It is another problem. These make me crazy. I can wait for I140 and I485, but at least I can work here. Please give me a hand! Thanks

By Anonymous, At September 22, 2008 11:53 PM
Dear Sir,

Thank you for giving the opportunity to write about our immigration issues. I immigrated to US in april 2005, in january 2007 I have applied for Removing the Conditions on my residence (I751). Since then I am still waiting and nobody seems to know why is it stuck. I have applied for citizenship in April 2008, but since California (I751) and Nebraska (N400) didn't send my papers to the field office, they let me take the test but didn't give and approval. The only thing I have now is the stamp that will expire by the end of this year. I am frustrated and nobody wants to give a clear answer.

Please help

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 10:03 AM
Dear Sir:
I am glad to see that with your help and many others the citizenship process has been revamped and is flowing at a much faster pace. But where there still continues to be a problem is at VSC and there processing of I130 and I129F petitions. Those of us who have already become citizens and being put to more hoops in trying to bring our beloved spouses over here. Why are we being subjected to this type of mental torture. Vermont service center has a history of this poor turn around time, vs CSC and other centers are keeping up with the programs and timeline. And also I've never come accross a timeline anywhere where it goes backwards except on the uscis website for the list of pending I130 and I129F files. I urge you to please look into these matters so present and future fliers will not have to endure this pain much longer. Thanks you for your consideration in this matter.

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 10:20 AM
A look like USCIS is not quite sure what it is doing!!! I applied for my advanced parole and got it approved but the document that I received is totally blank. No First Name, Last Name, DOB etc.. I am persuant of adjustment of status where as the approval was made stating the reason that I am a Haitian Refugee who has an approved Permanent residentship card.

I re-submitted all of the documents back to USCIS and everything was returned back stating that it didn’t have proper filing fee.. As a matter of fact filing fee is not required as it was error on the USCIS side in the first place and in addition I paid the as per the new filing fee.

Following things needs to be addressed

1. Lack of training for USCIS associates and mail room clerks
2. Channeling application according to priority not based on political influence
3. Status reporting that is genuine and should carry useful information.
4. Regain trust of the customers.

Good luck..

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 10:31 AM
Dear Sir, I am happy that things seem to be going so well with citizenship, as it were. But I think some serious attention needs to be given to not only our home grown service centers, but also to our Embassies and Consulates overseas. Why on God's green earth are they allowed to put people on back shelves to collect dust instead of process them? Why are they allowed to make some people jump through every hoop while others breeze through? Why are they allowed to treat not only the foreigners trying to visit or immigrate like criminals and worse, but also actual citizens? My experience comes from the Cairo Embassy were my husband and I were both treated poorly, they made up a story about him to force his case to USCIS and now, even after approval (which nearly took 2 years) and his interview, we still wait for his visa. Why is this process so antiquated? Why is it acceptable to keep clearly good, decent and worthy people out of the country and away from their spouse or loved one? We are now at 2 years and nearly 4 months of waiting since petitioning....LEGALLY. Yet people who come here illegally are welcomed and accepted and made legal. Maybe I should have snuck him over the border instead??? This process needs help! More than just the citizenship part. Thank you for allowing posts.

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 10:59 AM
HI MR JOHATHAN
YOU HEAR THE COMPLAINTS FROM THOSE PEOPLE AND IT'S ALL ABOUT (VSC) WHO TAKING TOO LONG WITH THE PROCESSING TIME, NOW I THINK YOU GONNA DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT ........THANK YOU

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 2:47 PM
Thank you Mr Director. Just a note for you US Citizens in this forum: Please call your congressman and senator and make sure the next president you choose will be someone who will be a leader and address this immigration processing issue. Some of the issues pointed out here are beyond the scope of the USCIS Director. Call your congressman, senator and the next time you see your presidential candidate ask him what he will do to address not only the immigration issue but also immigration processing. This great country can do much better.
Best of luck to all!

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 3:07 PM
Dear Director,
I'm a US Citizen and have applied I-130 and I-129F at Versmont Service Center (VSC) to get my spouse to USA. Currently the I-130 and 129-F petitions for spouse of a US citizen at VSC are drastically backlogged at Sept 2007 & Feb 2008 respectively and Nobody cares to fix this issue. This seperation is causing me & my wife and so many people like us at visa journey forum a lot of mental anxeity and depression as our lives at put on hold for no reason at all. VSC is not accountable to anyone for this slow processing and nobody cares to resolves this issue, make all of us suffering at visa journey forum to have no faith in VSC. If Versmont Service Center does not care about its US citizens and is not accountable to anyone. Whom should the US Citizens turn to?

Thanks for reading my post. I Sincerely hope something good will come out of this. Please Director take some action, make us believe again.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 5:10 PM
Dear Mr. Scharfen, why are I-130 filers in the California Service Center being approved faster than those who filed in the Vermont Service Center ? Have we just been forgotten and left hanging ? Something is seriously wrong with this system, when those who are being processed by the CSC with June 2008 filing dates have already been approved, while those of us in the Vermont center are STILL waiting, since last year ! Please, do something to make this right ! The Vermont Center is failing us, and tearing apart our lives.

By Depressed American Husband, At September 23, 2008 6:26 PM
Dear US citizens. You are talking about 7 - 8 month waiting. I'm 25 years old , this is my first time merrige , i was really really happy. Now, after waiting 12 month, I'm just getting crazy.My wife almoust 20 years old , she's far away from me . Please help us , we are citizens , who paying taxes , working , .... 12 month!!!??? I'm waiting for I-130 and K-3 , i did everything. I don't know what to do. Please Director help your citizens, please.

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 6:40 PM
You people are foolish if you think any USCIS employee will read and care about your case delays. I was a USCIS employee, and I can tell you they don't care.

By Anonymous, At September 23, 2008 10:43 PM
Mr. Director, thank you for taking the time and interacting with us. I am sure by now you know how frustrating people are with VSC. I do not want to go in detail about how I missed my wife and how she is doing. I have been waiting for 8 months now for my wife I-130 application. Please let VSC got to work, if CSC could process I-130/K3 in 3 weeks definitely VSC should be as well. Please put some pressure on VSC upper manager and employees. God bless and thank you for your service.

By Anonymous, At September 24, 2008 8:14 AM
In July 1998 and 1999, work permits was giving to me under EB2 and EB1 because I was working with then DoJ Janet Reno for two corrections and a naturalization certificate (expedited and/or dexecutive discretion. Since then I have no knowledge what corrective action was taken by the DoJ office. The only direct response, I did receive and then lost was from former commissioner Doris Meissner. She wanted to help but could not get access to the record since she has been woriking for a non profit
please help

By Anonymous, At September 24, 2008 12:56 PM
It's a well known fact that no body pay too much attention to the post here.. If someone had we would have long seen some progress on the I-140 EB3 processing time at NSC.. Which is stuck for ages. I am not sure how to make things clear and drive it into different "acting" directors head that without I-140 people are stuck.. Congress enacted AC21.. but alas useless because of the backlog mess USCIS has created.. There should be a congressinal hearing on usage of money customers have paid to process their application..

One of the entry here mentions about a blank approved I-131 document issued by USCIS.. who to blame for this mistake.. printing error.. crooks can misuse this in anyway what is USCIS doing to ensure that these kinds of things don't happen.. Tighten things where it needs to be tightened.. you guys are missing the boat.

By Anonymous, At September 25, 2008 12:05 AM
To follow up on the preceding comment about USCIS employees not caring about case delays, I hope it is not true across the board. I am still hopeful that the acting director will listen and act on valid concerns and suggestions, as he apparently has done after his previous journal. I also hope that he will ensure that the joint USCIS-FBI plan to clear the name check backlog will proceed according to the promised schedule; otherwise, there will be a surge of complaints, as most petitioners for immigration benefits are already aware of the schedule and are sort of holding USCIS and the FBI to it.

By Anonymous, At September 25, 2008 10:19 AM
It's true that we are experiencing backlogs in the I-140 program due to the surge of EB-based adjustment petitions received by USCIS due to the July 2007 Visa Bulletin. We're processing those I-140s at the same time as the I-485s filed with them. We'll continue to keep you updated regarding this issue.

Chris B.
USCIS Leadership Journal Team

By Chris B., At September 25, 2008 11:01 AM
Thanks to Chris B for responding to my post. Will the name check backlog for naturalization (not just I-140 and I-485) applications be cleared on schedule, too? My own N-400 application has been pending since May 2007, and according to the joint USCIS-FBI plan for clearing the backlog, my name check should be cleared by November, at the latest. As I said earlier, I am still hopeful. Based on what I have heard about the experiences of other immigrants, I believe that USCIS, as an organization, is working very hard to keep things moving, despite problems with individual service centers, district offices, and immigration officers.

By Anonymous, At September 25, 2008 11:52 AM
Dear Derector , maybe you can answer me on my question!? I send a I-130 in september 2007, after few months i filed K-3 . In february CSC send my I-130 to Los Angeles office,they said the dead line is in July. Nothing in July,nothing in august. In september Los Angeles send it my I-130 to CSC again , after 3 weeks CSC send it back to Los Angeles. Please somehow answer me , why??? 12 months I'm waiting and waiting for my wife. I don't know what to do.Please,please,please. Help us be together. Thank You.

By Anonymous, At September 25, 2008 6:33 PM
It is ridiculous to say that the surge in I-140 was due to July VISA bulletin it doesn't make sense in any way. I-140 can be filed at anytime after the labor gets approved and not dependant on the DOS bulletin.. NSC has been struggling with I-140 Backlog for years and never recovered from it, in 2006 they made a statment to clear it but didn't get anywhere. Suspension of premium processing was the last nail in the coffin from both USCIS and customer's standpoint.

There should be some kind of order in the way I-140 EB categories as processed, there is some kind of preferential treatment on some.. TSC has been pretty consistent with it somewhere in 1 month ballpark of each other...

Please do something to get us a relief on I-140 EB3 or fix the AC21 or at least put out a memorandum that clearly states how it needs to be used, which complies with the very purpose enactment.

By Anonymous, At September 26, 2008 12:18 AM
Dear Sir
I filed i-485 (under employment category- EB3) on 1/13/2006 for myself and my family with priority date 3/30/2001. My I-140 was approved on 5/10/2006. Currently my file is in TSC and availability of visa for my category is 01/01/2005 which is way beyond my priority date (3/30/2001). Based on your memorandum dated in February this year my namecheck should have been cleared by now no matter FBI sends back any response to USCIS or not. We all are victimized by broken process in USCIS and FBI. My daughter who has studied in this country since her first grade elementary school has to go to college this year and we don't know what to do. We don't know whether she has to apply as an international or as a resident. She has to have her GC by the end of this fall and there is no reason why she cannot. Please Please ... help us. My daughter has worked so hard and has 4.0 with perfect SAT and SAT2s scores and she is also national scholarship finalist. Due to this circumstances she is getting severely depressed and cries all the time. As a mother I beg you help my child. I really don't care if you give me my GC after I retire but I cannot stand my child suffers so much. Thanks in advance for all your help and consideration

By Nahid, At September 26, 2008 9:20 AM
Good day, Mr. Director, I just wanted somebody to educate me, how USC applying for fiancé/K1 visa being processed faster than USC applying for their spouses and kids. From what I have read, there were/are a lot of fraud for K1 compare to CR1/IR1 (spouses and kids). Why USCIS still giving this group of people first priority and located all their resource to help them. Most of K1 applicants have just met 1-6 months online somewhere in the web. It is unfair this group of people being treated better than families. Even VSC which is so behind in I-130 still processing K1 very fast and within weeks…… what is going on with you people. Please Mr. Director look at this issue and help real families to be untied.

By Anonymous, At September 26, 2008 11:38 AM
Sir,
We EB3 waiters are struggling at lot without I-140 approvals. NSC is totally behind and they don't look at those case where the priority date is not current. Do you thing it is fair to do so.. We are stuck with employers who extract juice out of us.. AC21 portability cannot be used as Neufeld put a ambigous memorandum in May 2008 causing utter confusion to the public..

We expect your leadership a strong one as you have good background on how to get things done cutting the redtape.. Appreciate if you can chip and resolve the I-140 EB3 situation at NSC.

By Anonymous, At September 26, 2008 4:54 PM
in sept 24 csc receipted my k1 visa application......its been one year nothing has happened and everytime i call they give me different story about it is in security it is in review so finally i asked for expedite and they told me it was refused because it just went into extra review on aug 25th of this year i told them how is that possible when it was in that over six months ago the lady told me i was not telling the truth because it just now went.....i have a letter they wrote to senator wyden stating our case was in extra review in may........why cant they just process my application and stop the lieing i believe ur office has lost my file and are covering it up by always saying it is in security or extra review we are simple people he is a doctor from india i am a student graduating from college this year there is nothing in our back ground to warrant being treated so badly
if u really want to make a difference plz look into this problem and resolve it

By sara skelton, At September 27, 2008 12:39 PM
Dear Sir,
I-140 EB3 18 month Backlog issue in NSC is not acceptable. I don't mind to be approve or denial. But at least I know the result and have other life plan.
Instead of waiting waiting and waiting.

The TSC do a much better job. I don't think it is because of the last July filing issue.
May be just let TSC to handle all the case is better

thanks

By Anonymous, At September 27, 2008 12:40 PM
MY WIFE & I BEEN WAITING FOR THAT NOA2 FOR NEARLY 8 MOS NOW. WHY IT TAKES TOO LONG FOR VSC TO APPROVE OUR CASE, I KEEP ASKIN WHAT HAPPEN TO OUR PAPERS, DID THEY LOST IT OR JUST STUCK IT THERE, UNTOUCHED. BUT WHY OTHERS GOT THEIR APPROVAL IN JUST 2,3 ,4 MOS, AND WHY OTHERS WHO FILED LATER THAN US WAS APPROVED ALREADY WITHOUT EXPEDITE. ARE THEY APPROVING IT AT RANDOM? WHERE IS FAIRNESS HERE. IT SO FRUSTRATING & TIRING THAT EVERY TIME WE CHECK OUR CASE ONLINE IT STILL REMAIN THE SAME... PENDING..PENDING..WAITING & WAITING LIKE ETERNITY. WHY IS SO HARD FOR MY WIFE TO LIVE WITH ME HERE?
FOR GOD'S SAKE PLEASE APPROVE US, SO WE CAN LIVE A NORMAL LIFE. ITS ABOUT TIME.PLSSSSSSSS

By Anonymous, At September 27, 2008 7:23 PM
Jock,
How can you ever explain convincingly to public about the I-140 EB3 processing time disparity between NSC and TSC.. Is there any loadsharing in the plan? TSC is way ahead of NSC.. We unfortunate lot are stuck in the queue for over 2 years.. When are you going to fix this broken system?

Since we are immigrants at this point there is no bailout or earmarks that government can set aside for USCIS all of the money have to extrated/juiced from public..

Last but not least, We are ready to pay the premium to get things done in a timely manner. Say you make it twice the fee what it is today most of us are ready to pay such is our current desperate situation...Imagine a situation where yesterday's subordinate is today's boss.. USCIS is putting us in that position due to backlog on I-140. Congress has big fish to fry so everything else is sidelined..

By Anonymous, At September 27, 2008 11:58 PM
Sir,
Can you please kindly look into the problem at NSC for I140 EB3s.. Currently they are adjudicating cases filed in August .. june and july filers are really sadened by it.. why things are done this way..we have been waiting for several months now.. unusual wait period..

By Anonymous, At September 28, 2008 1:52 PM
Mr. Director, i appreciate this window of communications. USCIS start processing and completing some of the N-400 in less that 5 months which is very nice. However, could you justify what VSC is doing with I-130 which is taking 7-14 months to complete. I could at least understand I-130 may take more time to process but I129f (K3)....come on! it is non-immigrant visa . USCIS could easily aapprove I-129f (k2) in weeks not months since all the visa processing will be handled overseas by US consulate abroad. Please Mr. director ease the burden of USC who stuck in VSC by expediting the I-129f(k3). I do not mine to wait for ever for I-130 if my wife and kids could come through I-129 (K3 and K4). please do your best to speed I-129F(k3) at VSC which could relief petitioners and USCIS from a lot of pressure and complains. thank you for your service.

By Anonymous, At September 28, 2008 2:19 PM
Dear Sir,
If you someone asks a question how can you ever get ruined in life? The answer would be file I-140 petition under EB3 category in the Nebraska Service Center.

I would never blame it on the employees as most of them quite helpless and obey orders directly placed on them by the management/leaders. Where is the USCIS leadership? unless and until there is a acute crisis people won't awake from the sleep just like the wallstreet situation this country is going through.. pure "oversight" act in time...

As I mentioned the disaster receipe is I-140 EB3s NSC a perfect combination

By Anonymous, At September 28, 2008 5:56 PM
There is something that is fundamentally wrong with USCIS, if not why we see a huge difference in processing between two Service Centers? I-140 EB3s at NSC is backlogged and stuck indefinitely and really doubt whether God or USCIS know whether there would be any progress on this. TSC is cruising along and lucky for people who had that as the jurisdiction...

I am starting to wonder.. to use USCIS I-140 application adjudication as my yardstick for that lucky day when I would buy a lottery ticket...

By Anonymous, At September 29, 2008 10:38 AM
Dear sir,
In TSC, Namecheck process is taking forever. I think USCIS should be able to check on files which are sent to FBI after predefined period of time. One of the major backlog is on BFI side. FBI must be accountable and responsible for what has to be done on timely basis. thanks for listening

By Anonymous, At September 29, 2008 12:29 PM
Processing time report has become more complicated now a days with several caveats none of them convincing.. USCIS lacks transparency and don't care about it's customers.. Sorry to write a negative comment but couldn't resist.. Example is Nebraska Service Center.. EB2 is being processing way ahead close a year ahead of EB3s.. and EB3 is stagnated at March 2008... How can we apply commonsense to decipher the processing time report.. there is not trend or a pattern..

By Anonymous, At September 30, 2008 12:48 AM
Mr. Director, this window is for USC not these non-immigrant workers. I have sent comment about how bad VSC is treating USC regard their I-130 and K3 but you guys do not want to post it. Please stick to the topic and post USC issue and suffering. Please do something about VSC and give I-130 and K3 your priority. Spouses and kids should always come first especially for USC.

By Anonymous, At September 30, 2008 1:35 PM
Sir,
We Nebraska I-140 EB3 filers are deeply sadned by the way this center has reacted to the application. On the other hand TSC is churning out approvals/Denials at breakneck speed. As you know, an individual's ability to switch to a similar job in a differnt company is restricted unable to use AC21 probility. I have been on the queue for over 1.4 years.. former INS was kind of better compared to USCIS. More sophisticated it get more problems.. With premium processing stopped we are totally dead in the water. The only hope I have is someone would read this post and make quick decision which will be a life changing one for me. The most unfortunate amoung the unfortunate are the concurrent July filers at NSC. Since VISA is retrogressed, if the adjudicated is done only based on available VISA our I-140 will get stuck for another 5 years... I am already on the bridge to immigration for past 6 years not sure when I can get off...

By Anonymous, At September 30, 2008 4:22 PM
No clear action/results, empty talk and platitudes only.

By Anonymous, At October 1, 2008 12:07 AM
I submited an I-130 Petition in May 2006, and I-129F in April 2007. My Petitions are still pending. How long does it take for the FBI to do namecheck. I takes days or maybe weeks to do background check, NOT 3 years. Someone needs to fix this broken system we have.

By Anonymous, At October 1, 2008 1:32 AM
The Nebraska Service Center is backlogged by over 18 months for EB-3 I-140 cases. That's 18 months of suffering without the ability to switch employers even if they harrassed us, even if the opportunity of a lifetime were to knock on my door. That's precisely the situation I am in. My family and I are stressed out to the point where I am seeing a counselor to cope with it. I've written to my Congressperson, to the USCIS Ombudsman's office as well.

Chris, your comment above suggests that I-140's may be processed only along with the I-485, when the I-485 application becomes ready for adjudication. But that prevents us from using AC21 in the meantime.

I hope this simple issue is understood by the USCIS and eithe premium processing is reinstated or regular processing expedited significantly.

MORE THAN 250 people have voted that they are BADLY affected by the I-140 processing delay at this site - http://www.endlesswait.com.

I hope our plea is answered. Is there any hope that I-140 processing for EB3 cases will be expedited at NSC?

By Anonymous, At October 1, 2008 3:30 AM
Indefinite wait on I-140 at Nebraska Service Center is really killing everyone who had filed under EB3 category. Please let us know atleast how long would it take from now to get to a specific month. We can then make decision based off of that and get on with our lives.. Here is an idea.. one of you guys should relinquish your citizenship and get on the line to immigration ( may sound absurd) but it give a first hand information and suffering each one is going through because of callous behavior of USCIS.

By Anonymous, At October 1, 2008 10:59 AM
Hello! Sir,
I have filed for my mother. VSC received I-130 application(petition for alien relative) on August,28,2007. I have been waiting to get an approval notice, but when I checked the status of my case online, it seems like nothing is happening with my moter's case. I also checked the processing dates for I-130, and the current processing dates have moved from September ,3,2007 to Nvember, 26, 2008. That means my mother's case is already out of processing times. When I called them, they said I should get something in the mail within 30 days. Two weeks are already gone, and I do not see any changes online.Please sir do someting with those cases that are so behind. This is the truth that people who have filed for their loved ones in 2008, their cases have been approved already, and we are still waiting for our case to process.
Thanks...Please....Hurry ...up.

By Anonymous, At October 1, 2008 11:25 AM
This like the third time i have written on this open forum i really wish that someone would pay attention to our problem........all i want is our noa2 so that we can progress to the next level it does not take over a year to do security checks if they have lost our case just say so and we will send what ever they want but please pull us out of this black hole called security checks that they keep hiding in.......please......it has effected my health from stress its a mess or at least give us a detailed believable reason for this delay
I do not wish to file a complaint in fed court but this is seeming like the last option available to us as nobody ever answers our question with a truthful answer and in reality it should not ever have to come to that conclusion...it only adds extra burden that is unnecessary on the petitioner
thank you

By sara skelton, At October 1, 2008 12:01 PM
Jock,
Today is the start of the new fiscal year for USCIS. To mark that why don't your office take a resolution like the new year resolution to fix the processing time issue the plagues this organization. Especially the I-140 EB3 at Nebraska Service Center.

By Anonymous, At October 2, 2008 12:07 AM
Dear Jock,
Congratulations on your nomination to the post of USCIS director. We have high hopes that processing time would improve in the coming days as it was quite dismal for the entire 2008 w.r.t I-140 EB3s especially at Nebraska Service Center.

Please put some extra resources to get this out of the black hole, we can get on with our lives. I am not in a hurry to get the PR card as it depends on serveral other factors..all I am pleading is to adjudicate I-140 this will be huge favor you would be doing for a fairly large number of people.

By Anonymous, At October 2, 2008 3:20 PM
Dear Sir,

You see a lot of complaints on EB3 I-140s at NSC. They process EB2s but not EB3s. If they are going to wait for I485 to become current to approve I140, most of us will have to wait 7-8 years to get I140 approved. This doesn't make sense at all, they are two seperate processes. Apparently, someone made a terrible decision, and evidently, someone has to correct it. On the other hand, the TSC is doing a great job. It's not fair that people live in some states who can file to TSC get way faster approvals, but we, who had to file to NSC due to our residence state, can't. What is wrong with living in Ohio?

I am getting paid far lower, almost fifty percent, than people who do the same job. And the reason is I am on H1B. The company knows I can't leave. The truth is, I don't want to leave the company, but I just want a fair stake.

Finally, I have a very feasible solution for this EB3 I140 issue. Let applicants, who have waited 12 months after filing I140, file for premium processing. This will be a huge relief, and wil be very fair. This way, it is not going to be a huge load on service centers. And this way, people who have suffered a mental depression due to having waited more than a year, will be so happy. Please consider this. This is a very fair and doable request.

By Captain, At October 3, 2008 12:49 PM
USCIS has now very similar to one of those labor backlog elimination centers where it processed labor certifications in the reverse order. The regulation came out in March of 2005. People who filed labor in Feb of 2005 got certified within few days where as those 2-3 years back had to wait for 3 years...

Reason why I write this is because of the situation with I-140 EB3 processing at Nebraska Service Center...

Problems with the center from public perspective

1. Lowest priority for I-140 EB3s even.
2. No foresight as to when some one would eventually look at those cases.
3. Workforce reallocated to process N-400 application until Nov 4 inorder to get voting eligibility.. pressure from political circles
4. Out of order processing.. EB3 August, Sep, Oct 2007 being processed leaving earlier ones.
5. Lack of direction - something today something else tomorrow.
6. Lack of coordination : no load sharing two service centers bearing the brunt.. of which one is effecient (TSC) other is hopeless (NSC).

Hope when "acting" director becomes "real" director things will change.. To mention the least we are very frustrated and pulling along each day with great difficulty.. since most of you have never experienced this situation I don't think you will be able to appreciate what everyone is going through.

By Anonymous, At October 3, 2008 3:14 PM
Is it OK to post the receipt number on this website for my I1-40? I can do that and see atleast how would it take for USCIS to process that from now, which will give general public and a idea of time.. Processing time reporting is awful and doesn't give any insight into anything...

USCIS knows how to confuse the public and with people confused USCIS benefits from the time gained..no questions asked..

By Anonymous, At October 3, 2008 4:09 PM
Thanks for your willingness to listen.

I am not sure how USCIS keeps track of the status of background checks. Is there an automated mechanism that would inform USCIS that a particular name check has been completed? If not, that is something USCIS should look into. As things stand now, there is a significant lag between the completion of background checks and the scheduling of interviews for naturalization. Also, are the FBI and USCIS going to clear the name check backlog for naturalization applications according to the publishes schedule?

By Anonymous, At October 4, 2008 3:04 PM
Jock,
We are very eager to know what your answer will be for I-140 backlog situation during your confirmation hearing, I think you can expect this and be prepared. Ho No!!! it all depends who asks the question and what.. I don't think the committee members would put you in a awkward spot.. I am quite overwhelmed by the number of post here regarding I-140 issues for EB3 in specific at NSC.. on a journal meant for Citizens... We are in that path for 8 years now with pending EB3 I-140.. to get a citizenship I would have to run inside a running train ( thinking that I can reach fast) for at least 4 presidential elections...

By Anonymous, At October 4, 2008 9:36 PM
I always used to wonder the thickness of the skin USCIS leadership has because the number of I-140 backlog post on this blog has done nothing. It's like closing the eyes and saying it's dark.. There are close to around 100000 of us waiting for I-140 to be adjudicated major percent from Nebraska Service Center under EB3 category.

It's been more than a year since the July VB fiasco and still premium processing has not been reinstated in addition to this the most disappointing things is the for those who filed the concurrently where it was stated that until the date become current I-140 will not be processed.. Is this not injustice.. Can the leadership make an disclosure that this is not the case and what it's doing to address the backlog..? How long the VB fiasco is going to be used as a trump card to silence the customers...

Please visit other forums to get information on the dire situation of those waiting on I-140 EB3 adjudication..

By Anonymous, At October 5, 2008 4:29 PM
What is the rationale behind adjudication and Nebraska service center for I-140 EB3s? I have a labor filing date of Oct 2003 and not light what so ever at the end of the tunnel...

Not sure what the grudge is against we innocent people who filed concurrently during july of 2007.. very sad indeed to pick on us.

By Anonymous, At October 6, 2008 10:48 AM
Sir,
It's been over 6 years in the queue to immigration. All I am requesting is to look into the processing time of I-140 program at NSC for EB3 category. I have turned down 4 offers already and one waiting on my I-140 approval, how can we explain the grief USCIS is causing to several families. For no apparent reason EB3s adjudication is in abeyance or to keep the public from ranting it is moved at snails pace with 2-3 per month and totally out of order. How can we trust your system? many of us are fooled thinking that it is foolproof and robust but it all depends who is at the helm. I did post on your "processing time" journal regading I-140 EB3s and no action taken till date. We have totally run out of options, very sad that congress didn't set a time limit on adjudication like I-765.. what it all points to is unless there is some pressure from some quarters nothing happens.. There should be a change in the mentality and eagerness to help customers. AC21 portability has been rendered useless with an infamous memo out of the blue in may of 2008. USCIS will never understand the mental pressure one is going through, I got my 10th year H1 extension recently.. I have been paying USCIS and so the lawyers.. Keep up the good work and milk as much as you can..

By Anonymous, At October 6, 2008 11:37 AM
Mr. Director, thank you very much for this opportunity. I agree with people here that VSC is way behind in processing I-130 and I-129/K3. I think USCIS is missing the point regard I-129/K3. VSC could take their time in processing the I-130 but delaying the non-immigrant application I-129/K3 is totally unacceptable since all application verification, medical exam, visa fee and the affidavit of support will be done overseas. When people asked VSC how come people applying for K1 is being processed so fast and sometimes in less than 2 months, VSC will answer, because it is non-immigrant visa. I believe you VSC but I-129/K3 is non-immigrant visa as well, why is taking for ever to process this application. Mr Director, please pressure VSC to speed I-130 or at least process I-129/K3 just like they process I-129/K1 since both of them are non-immigrant. At least I-129/K3 applicants are married couples not like I-129/K1 who just want to know each other first. Thank you for your time.

By Anonymous, At October 6, 2008 1:34 PM
I-140 backlog on EB3 is killing us.. it is very similar constant pricking with a pin.. unbearable.. Where is the USCIS leadership on this? NSC has been struggling with EB3s for several months now and no sign of any relief in the foreseeable future. With the current economic condition it has become all the more worse.. Please do something.. for those whos application has been pending for more than 400 days..

By Anonymous, At October 7, 2008 4:18 PM
Dear Sir,

Please empathize with EB3 Nebraska I-140 filers. We don't need anybody's pity, please process our applications in a timely manner. We have been waiting being treated like prisoners shackled. You have also removed your article "We're listening". Why is that? Because you cannot handle the truth?

Do note there were 500+ comments on that article, so you know very well how many 1000's of LEGAL TAX PAYING folks are affected. And as an additional slap on our face whilst our hands are tied, you moved the processing time for EB3 to March, 2008, a 1 year JUMP!! While our joyous EB3 moved forward by ONLY 7 days to March 30th, 2007. Guess we just have to be happy it moved FORWARD I guess.

God bless US and everybody else!!
Thank You!!

By cygent, At October 7, 2008 9:51 PM
Thanks Jock for the your leadership and your position on I-140. Since AC21 is open ended people can easily slip through. I appreciate your position on this and would recommend further delaying I-140 adjudication. Keep up the good work. Please concentrate on N-400 application

By Anonymous, At October 7, 2008 11:34 PM
Great Work!! USCIS.. way to go.. More processing delays more good to the country. Thanks for the collective effort of all involved in keeping it this way.. I have never seen any such committment from other organizations that deals with customer service. Hats off to the Nebraska Service Center they are the one having edge over Texas on I-140 adjudication delay on EB3s.

By Anonymous, At October 8, 2008 11:01 AM
@cygent, the post "We're Listening" is still available. See http://www.dhs.gov/journal/leadership/2008/05/were-listening.html.

By DHS, At October 8, 2008 3:21 PM
Jock,
It's been more than 3 weeks since your post here and close to 2/3 of the post here are related to I-140 EB3s specifically at Nebraska Service Center. Please understand the pain USCIS is causing each one of us just by delaying adjudication. Do you think we are unreasonable to ask for consideration having stuck in the backlog for 1.4 years.. We are left with just 1.5 months for this year, will we ever see any progress on I-140 EB3s at NSC???.. As some one else pointed out processing is done in a haphazard manner.. I personally tapped all avenues and all in vain.. Can you please prioritize this july 2007 filers are the most affected.. I did see many approvals for those filed in August 2007 couldn't really understand the rationale behind it...

Hope you are reading the post personally or else getting unfiltered information right out of this.. With our dire situation any help in this regard will be tremedous.

By Anonymous, At October 9, 2008 9:09 AM
I am not what is the right thing to do USCIS standpoint.. I applied for my I-140 EB3 at NSC on july 24, 2007.. Now with the way things are getting done at this center..feels like should have waited until August to file it as many approvals are coming out for those filed in August leaving all of us aside.. Unable to comprehend what is going on.. Please help us sir.. I am really suffering because of this..

By Anonymous, At October 9, 2008 12:07 PM
I so glad that USCIs delay the implementation of the new lockbox for N-400. It seems no test has been done regard this new procedure which could lead to when happen in July 2007 when USCIS changed many applications fee without knowing how the new policy could impact the processing time. Please Mr. Director, make sure the new procedure is implemented if and only if a thorough test and investigation is being done.

By Anonymous, At October 9, 2008 3:07 PM
First of all I would like to appreciate the moderator who publishes unexpurgated information here posted from various people. Secondly, the USCIS leadership for not leaving upto the expectation of the public.. nowhere close. I have been watching this blog for quite a while as a passive reader and always wondered whether any action was taken by USCIS so far. "Zilch".. I-140 program is tremendously backlogged and no one is talking about it as to how to address or what it is going to do moving forward in another 5 years time. I have been on that path for immigration for past 6 years. "Backlog" is quite synonymous to several agencies involved in immigration like labor dept and USCIS. Labor department had some how got rid of the infamous backlog that resulted in this I-140 mess partly and part USCIS making due bad decisions, the ultimate sufferers are the those filed their labor in 2002 and 2003. Has USCIS done anything to help us get our I-140 having an old prirotiy date.. NO.. At the least I would have expected a fair approach to the application, people filed their I-140 under EB3 category at Nebraska Service Center are the worst sufferers.. Out of order processing is killing us, which is significantly increasing the likely adjudication time. I am a July 2007 filer so you can calculate for yourself how long it has been pending..provided mathematics is part of training at USCIS.

USCIS is one of the richest federal agencies solely funded by it's customers but alas "High Principles and low practice" with "Customers are last".

Have a good time.. As soon as my I-140 gets adjudicated I'll certainly post a comment in here thanking all those involved until such time it is a miserable life.

By Anonymous, At October 9, 2008 3:55 PM
Please start adjudicating I-140 EB3 petitions at Nebraska Service Center.. We have been waiting for over 1.5 years ..still no line of sight as to when we can see some progress...

By Anonymous, At October 10, 2008 10:23 AM
How can you and your leadership team mask that issue of I-140 adjudication delays at Nebraska Service Center for EB3s? There is no communication from this agency to public as it is soley run by the fees collected from it's customers, don't think your agency is obligated to inform public? The processing time deciphering requires special training for Customer from USCIS to get something meaningful out of it. Sorry that I had to post negative comments which is not my common practice but frutstration and lacklustre approach drove me pen down on this blog..

Hope USCIS leadership will awake and try to improve the processing time at the same keep it going in a orderly fashion using first in first out process..

By Anonymous, At October 10, 2008 10:35 AM
Thanks for providing a location for people to post the comments, concerns or just vent. I would like to reiterate the sentiment that the processing time for I130/I129 family petitions at Vermont is unacceptable. Further the lack of valuable information from USCIS customer service personnel adds insult to injury. I would like to see more accountability and better information for US Citizens stuck in the immigration quicksand. It would be nice to see if your case has be assigned, or is going through background checks or is stuck on a shelf collecting dust. Since USCIS states (incorrectly, i believe) that cases are handled on a FIFO method, it would also be nice to see the number of cases ahead of yours for a given petition type at your service center. This basic information could help to significantly reduce the number of calls that are routed to the customer service center. This can also improve the overall process by making it more transparent.

By Anonymous, At October 10, 2008 2:42 PM
According to the USCIS website:

Vermont Service Center -

I-130 for U.S. citizen filing for a spouse , parent, or child under 21 - November 26, 2007

California Service Center -

I-130 for Permanent resident filling for a spouse or child under 21 - January 03, 2008

i guess permanent residents of this country deserve better treatment than citizens.

how do you explain that Mr. Director?

By Anonymous, At October 10, 2008 2:46 PM
it is nice to feel somewhat appreciate by the USCIS, although i have a bit of a quarrel to pick with the Vermont Service Center. Its been months that my application to bring my wife was submitted and yet no word from them. I wish they find a better, or more efficient way of conducting business because what is at stake is peoples lifes. i have not seen my wife in months and with the economy the way it is i don't see that i am going to be able to afford a trip anytime soon. i pray everyday that one day we will be united but day after day it just seems like nothing is changing. Please i ask you, please find a way to be more efficient in Vermont or for that matter all the service centers because my life feels like it is on hold until i am reunited with her. thank you

By Anonymous, At October 10, 2008 3:04 PM
I appreciate the chance to express my concern, even though this journal is not meant to be a forum for that. Perhaps I am a worrywart, but I wonder whether USCIS notices have ever been lost or mispitched by mail carriers. I am asking this question because I am an applicant for naturalization and there has recently been an increase in mispitched mail in my area. Some neighbors have cared enough to return the mispitched mail to me, but I doubt everyone would be so conscientious. If USCIS is not already doing so, I suggest that it send its notification with tracking information. Thanks for listening.

By Anonymous, At October 10, 2008 4:37 PM
Dear Mr. Director,

I appreciate the difficulty of your position as well as your team at USCIS. The law must be enforced but the hopes and dreams of millions must be a crushing burden on your shoulders. I, unfortunately must complain about the speed of the I-130 process in Vermont. The wait time in comparison to their peers in California is unforgivable. Please appoint a manager that can correct this imbalance.

Good luck to you sir

jay

By Anonymous, At October 11, 2008 2:10 PM
I am wondering whey there is no congressional hearing on I140 EB3 processing at NSC.. Is it because there is no one to layout the fact? or is it USCIS deciding what to do with different cases? Never heard of this unusal long delay in adjudication.. People are left to wander for answers...

By Anonymous, At October 11, 2008 5:55 PM
Can USCIS fathom the mental agony and stress it has created by keeping the I-140 EB3 adjudication in Abeyance??? Please do something sir..help help help...

By Anonymous, At October 12, 2008 2:27 PM
Sir,
Inspite of repeated plea why you are not considering doing something for I-140 EB3s at NSC?? What have done wrong to have a grudge over us. We July filers are the worst affected.. This is a growing pain...Can you please do something.. Now that voter registration has closed can you please channel resources to look at I-140 EB3 cases at Nebraska Service Center.. Please let us get on with our lives...

By Anonymous, At October 12, 2008 2:31 PM
It's indeed very upsetting and sad to note that Nebraska Service Center is not following any order in adjudication I-140 EB3 applications. Currently August 2007 filed applications are being processed for retrogressed countries of chargeability.. It is a great injustice from a department filled with legal folks..

By Anonymous, At October 13, 2008 12:24 PM
Please Please.. Directors at the Nebraska Service center help help with I-140 EB3s....

By Anonymous, At October 13, 2008 4:19 PM
K1 Visa: Problems Being Faced.
Please remove the provision of waiver of 'meeting within two years before filing the petition' on the grounds of 'established customs/traditions' and 'extreme hardship', because they are left at the sole discretion and subjectivity of the USCIS official. In most cases these are not accepted and just lingers the adjudication of the case. I had met my fiancee on an online matrimonial site and had asked my parents who were visiting India to meet with the girl and her family to perform the engagement. I was that time working in a school as a teacher and also had my adolescent daughter under my care. For me this constituted both 'extreme hardship' and 'established custom' but in the eyes of USCIS officials it appears that it is not possible to agree to marry someone without meeting her. This was told to me by a tier-two officer over the phone. Now it has been over 280 days since my I129F petition for fiancee was filed.
The USCIS can atleast give a decision(approved/denied) so that one is not under anxiety and can take necessary action to fulfill the requirement of USCIS.
My fiancee and I are in mid 40s and have to take care of a child and old and ailing parents.
I am torn apart between my responsibilities in USA and my responsibilities towards my fiancee who is facing an unexpected prolonged delay. This is causing anxiety, straining relationship, and draining us emotionally.
I don't know how many US citizens have to undergo this.
Please look into the above, if this does come to your notice.

By Anonymous, At October 13, 2008 10:36 PM
I don't know how you are able to sleep peacefully every night. We I-140 EB3 filers at NSC are having sleepless night thinking about our application that has been backlogged. Your department has done nothing so far. There are several of us struggling to get an answer.. seems like no one is interested even to acknowledge this as a problem. Can you make a pledge to fight for the backlog.. At least have meeting with your center director to see what the heck is going on the center. I appears from public standpoint that you are totally out of touch with day to day affairs in the agency.. Very very sorry to write it this way.. this just to drive home the point that we are very frustrated..Quite frankly, most of us don't care about the outcome denial is fine but at least have some one look at files... It's a clear indication of sidelining I-140 EB3s especially those filed in July... Have a wonderful day sir.

By Anonymous, At October 14, 2008 11:10 PM
Direct link to this journal has been pushed out of the existing links.. I think this is the pointer that USCIS should use to adjudicate I-140 application at NSC under EB3 category.. which is being processed totally out of order... There is huge loss in terms of revenue for many individuals unable to switch jobs.. People sit in arm chair in the agency and make wierd memos one in blue moon that seals fate of several thousands.. like AC21 of May 2008.. not sure even the person who authorized it knows how ambigous it is.. anyway our fate is to live with it... Good luck...

By Anonymous, At October 14, 2008 11:14 PM
It's been more than an year the VB fiasco. This phenomenon will manifest itself in several different ways by means of surge in I-765 every year ( now that it is 2 year need not worry in 2009) possible I-131 issues etc... Why set low priority for I-140 EB3s at NSC??? why this specific center? how about premium processing? this is major revenue to your organization and why you want to stop the cash cow? Benefit is multifold and is a win-win situation for your dept and customers... I have been waiting on my I-140 for over 1.3 years.. checking website everyday .. rather every hour to see whether it is my lucky day or not... alas futile attempts...

By Anonymous, At October 14, 2008 11:20 PM
How can you sit peacfully in your office with several thousand worrying about their application and your dept not acting at all.. Why crucify I-140 EB3s at NSC??? that too July 2007 filers... I am very frustrated and sad... I lost a job today because of the delay you guys are causing...

By Anonymous, At October 16, 2008 4:57 PM
Sir.. Please please we have pleaded begged.. tell us what we need to do to draw yours and your service center directors attention for looking at I-140 EB3 cases filed in July of 2007. Out of order processing for same country of chargeability is killing us.. Lot of personal things are dependant on just this application... what have we done wrong tell us sir please.. Not sure how best to explain this to you.. do you even recogonize this as a problem.. We are in trouble in this economic times.. Please allocate resource to get us out...please

By Anonymous, At October 16, 2008 9:18 PM
Just so to let you know that the public has quit commenting on this post because there is no action being taken on anything reported as problem. USCIS lacks ownership and so a good leadership. People have been struggling with I-140 adjudication at Nebraska Service Center for a quite a while now EB3 ones particular. Concurrent filer of retrogressed countries are the most unfortunate ones.. and not able to comprehend why USCIS took such a irratic step of shelving those application.. did it forget about the AC21 or what?

By Anonymous, At October 19, 2008 12:29 AM
What can I tell you sir..I am unfortunate of the unfortunate with filing date of July 24, 2007 at NSC I-140 under EB3 category. When is the backlog going to be cleared? Is this processing date movement going to open the flood gates of SRs? Is there a plan in place to handle this.. when can get a relief and get along with our lives...

Thanks for all your efforts but having waited for this long until we get the stuff in hand we can't beleive anything..USCIS is such a dynamic organization blink of an eye things will be 180 degrees...

By Anonymous, At October 20, 2008 11:17 PM
Dear sir,
Things are going down south as far as we are concerned with "out of order processing". There is a mountain of applications out there that needs to be moved, rather than trying to level that, USCIS is trying to create a bye-pass by processing applications filed in August leaving aside those in july 0f 2007. This is a gross injustice. My keyboard's following letter U,S,C,I,.,O,R,G have completely worn out and you know why. How long do we need to wait... Is there any rationale for processing I-140 EB3s @ NSC? We are under tremendous stress and look forward to a fair treatment. I don't intend to blame anybody for this but is there a exist strategy in the works to provide releif for I-140 EB3 July filers at NSC?..

We count on your leadership to circumvent this issue, you military background gives us tremedous confidence that you are the best fit than anyone else who could do this. Thanks for all your help and hope you get a chance to act and help July I-140 EB3 filers at NSC.

thanks

By Anonymous, At October 22, 2008 4:14 PM
Sir.. Please do us some good with pending I-140 EB3s at NSC.. We have been waiting for quite long time and nothing has happened so far.. July 2007 EB3 filer are stuck in the backlog... Please help help..

By Anonymous, At October 22, 2008 8:11 PM
Sir,
Are you witnessing what is going at NSC? August filed applications are being approved leaving rest of us to lurch.. I-140 EB3 category is the worst affect.. Can you please chip in and resolve the issue there.. I am referring to Nebraska Service Center..

By Anonymous, At October 22, 2008 8:29 PM
Jock,
Not sure whether you got chance to read these post as it has vanished from the main page and not sure how it get directed to you. We I-140 EB3 filers at NSC would like to plead and request for your intevention into the matter relating out of order processing. Currently August 2007 application are being adjudicated leaving aside all of those filed earlier.. How long do we need to wait.. I see lot of posts on this blog related to I-140 has there been any action taken till date? I positive response was the jump in processing date ..has it done any good? No, to our dismay Zippo.. Please help us out..we are the most unfortunate folks out of the entire lot that is July EB3 I-140 at NSC..

Please note that if you think there aren't anybody out there writing on this blog about the sad state of I-140 just because many of us have lost hope in the system. May lives have been severly affected and am sure may would cussing everyday...

By Anonymous, At October 22, 2008 11:16 PM
Dear Jock,
You are doing a marvelous job at the helm. I would like to bring out though the state of affairs at NSC. Many private tracking website report the haphazard nature of adjudication at NSC for I-140 program. This is affecting several people, has anybody pointed this out to you? Please do us the favor of streamlining the process so that those waiting in line get justice.. I have labor filing date of Oct 2003 and stuck in this back log for 456 days as of date. Imagine the frustration we would have seeing people filed after us get theirs adjudicated... We have lot of trust in the sytem please don't let us down..

Keep up the good work.

By Anonymous, At October 22, 2008 11:30 PM
Sir,
Can you imagine a situation where your right hand doesn't know what your left hand is doing or vice versa? This is precisely what is going at USCIS very poor communication to customers. Public were informed that they could raise a Service Request for pending application based on the processind date publisehd but not now it is USCIS there is a lead time of 1 month for anything to take effect.. how disappointing this can be. Why release wrong information if your system cannot handling thing, this is the root cause of the problem that needs to be addressed. If the system doesn't allow generating a service request for those application that is 1 day past the posted date why talk about it aren't there any other alternative to this.. does this require a 1 month time fix it.. So we are essentially talking 3 months to get a one line answer.

Very sad indeed..

By Anonymous, At October 23, 2008 10:42 AM
Looking at the pattern of approval from NSC for I-140 under EB3 category our heart sinks.. July 2007 application are untouched where as those filed later in August and Sep 2007 are being adjudicated. We helpless folks have to watch this unfold. Is USCIS doing a fair job?

By Anonymous, At October 24, 2008 12:08 AM
Simply a mess, and I am not sure that anyone can correct this beurocratic nightmare.

By Anonymous, At October 27, 2008 3:31 PM
Jock,
It's shear waste of time to reform this organization it not going to improve in any manner. It is immersed in backlog and it'll be in the foreseable future. Customer Service staff are ill trained and don't know to handle a situation some of them are very rude doesn't deserve to be doing this kind of job...What is the type of training that is imparted to these individuals? If I call within an hour 4 times I get 4 different answers and each time I am directed differently.. who to beleive?

By Anonymous, At October 29, 2008 12:18 AM
Hello Sir,

I am a US Citizen and trying to bring my wife over to the US via the I-130 Application process. It will soon be a year since USCIS has been holding on to the application. The process and communication needs improvement. For US Citizens to have to wait this long doesn't make sense when non-citizens can bring their spouses over ASAP even though they have no legal status in US is very ironic. Once in US we can always apply for the proper documents. I don't think any US citizen would mind having their significant other here and wait for getting the document processed. How can a non-citizen (H-1B etc) get approval to bring their significan other over to US so fast wheres as we have this long awaited process. Very unfair!

By Anonymous, At October 31, 2008 8:22 PM
Dear Sir,

I appreciate the progress USCIS has made in reducing backlogs, but your priority seems to be only naturalization. I am concerned about I 130 (green card) applications. The various service centers seem to have different processing times which are unreliable and at best, erratic. At minimum, we need consistency, competency to ensure that our applications are handled. We invest a lot of time and money on this applications and it would be helpful if the system was consistent and reliable. Thanks

By Anonymous, At November 7, 2008 2:40 AM
Dear Sir,
Can you please look into the injustice happening at NSC for I-140 EB3 July filers. Very sad indeed.Please help us not sure how we can get your attention.Hope you are reading these posts. All of us have been pleading to have some kind of a straightforward process. When I looked at applications received before and after mine heart sinks.. all of them adjudicated except my application.. what order are these being processing really doubt whether even god know?

By Anonymous, At November 8, 2008 11:24 PM
Why Verment is so slow about I-751, we need more respect and better customer service.
Nobody can give you a clear answer.

By Anonymous, At November 15, 2008 7:26 AM
Dear Sir,

I am also awaiting the day I can realize a dream with my husband who I actually waited 13 yrs to marry. I know God's timing is perfect, so I will continue waiting for my Prince Charming to be a part of my life. It is frustrating at times because most people live with their husband/wife. But we who have fallen deeply and madly in love with foreigners have to take the good with the bad. I am also at the VSC and am a little confused with the way they run things there. I believe they should be on some kind of a time limit on each case. Something has to change there, I did notice that the date finally changed for I130 but I still have heard nothing...exercise your power for us and give us our mates for Christmas...that's all I want for Christmas!
I must say that reading all of these stories helps me cope with my situation. I know I'm not alone in my asking...
Thank you and God Bless

By Anonymous, At November 19, 2008 9:56 AM
Sir,
It is really sad to see applications of so many EB-3 140 filers at NSC being backlogged for more than 1.5 years. I myself am in the same category. Because of this, I am not able to make any proper decision regarding the future of my life be it related to future studies or better employment. Because of this backlog, so many of us are just stuck or trapped in the same employer even though we are not comfortable with the policies and have to turn down good opportunities which would otherwise be better for the prospective employer as well as for us.
Anyways, I just want to emphasize that this backlog is really really huge and the processing dates shown by NSC are in no way a reflection of the exact date that is currently processed there since there are so many applications including mine that have filing dates more than 3-4 months prior to the "current" processing time as shown for NSC
Please assist us in some way. If premium processing is reinstated, many of us will definitely enroll into that and that would be beneficial to all parties

Thanks!

By Anonymous, At December 16, 2008 2:43 AM

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September 17, 2008

Citizenship Day: An Opportunity to Reflect

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Leadership Journal Archive October 12, 2007 - January 19, 2008

September 17, 2008

Citizenship Day: An Opportunity to Reflect

146 Comments:

About The Department Journal

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Leadership Journal Archive
October 12, 2007 - January 19, 2008