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Patience and Perseverance: How to Push a Case that has been pending longer than processing time Recently, USCIS has implemented some changes to improve the efficiency of the application process, particularly in regards to I-485 and I-140 processing. On average, an I-140 application now takes less than four months to process, as reported by the most recent service charts posted on the USCIS website. In addition, on June 29, 2009, USCIS reinstated its premium processing service for I-140 petitioners applying under the categories of EB-1(a), EB-1(b), EB-2 (excluding those applying under a National Interest Waiver), and EB-3. After a petitioner submits his or her application to USCIS, along with an additional $1,000 fee, USCIS becomes obligated to review that particular application within 15 days of receipt. Upon which, USCIS can either approve, deny, or give a request for evidence to the applicant. If USCIS fails to give the applicant notice within 15 days, then the $1,000 fee is credited back. The first step is that you or your attorney can submit a USCIS inquiry by contacting the national service office at 1-800-375-5283. If 30 days pass after calling the national service center and you still have not received any information regarding your application, then directly send an email to the local service center charged with handling your case. Texas Service Center： tsc.ncscfollowup@dhs.gov If 21 days pass and you still have not received a response, then you or your attorney should send an email directly to USCIS headquarters at SCOPSSCATA@dhs.gov. Within ten days of sending this email, you should receive a response regarding your application. The second step is, in the event that it has taken an unduly amount of time to review your application, and you have taken the aforementioned steps to contact USCIS, then you can ask your attorney about submitting an inquiry to USCIS through AILA (the American Immigration Lawyers Association). AILA has a liaison office that submits these inquiries to USCIS. However, according to AILA regulations, an applicant cannot call, fax or email the AILA liaison office. Instead, applicants need to ask their attorney to do so, on the condition that their attorney is in fact a member of AILA. Ten attorneys at Zhang and Associates, P.C. are AILA affiliated. It has been part of our attorneys’ daily work to submit inquiries to the AILA liaison office on behalf of our clients. The final step is that applicants can file a Writ of Mandamus. A Writ of Mandamus is a type of legal action issued by a higher court that forces a lower court or government agency to carry out their required duties. In the case of immigration, this would essentially force USCIS to review your application. Before filing a Writ of Mandamus, all other methods should be utilized first. A Writ of Mandamus is considered a last resort. Often, cases will be dismissed by a federal court if there is evidence that an applicant did not try to contact USCIS before filing a Writ of Mandamus. To give you an example of the effectiveness of a WOM, on June 1, 2009, one of our attorneys filed a WOM in a federal district court. On June 4, 2009, three days after filing the WOM, the attorney received a phone call from both the U.S. Department of State and the local USCIS field office informing the attorney that her clients’ I-485 was approved and that the printing of their green cards had been requested. For more detailed information, please refer to “Green Card Approved in 3 Days Following Writ of Mandamus Filing”. While we cannot guarantee that these procedures mentioned above will be any faster, we can only hope that they will expedite the process. Even though you can exercise the options discussed above and repeatedly contact USCIS, it is important to remember that the entire application process takes time and will not happen overnight. The famed Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina once said that “the two most powerful warriors are patience and time”. When pushing for inquiries on applications, let us heed these words. ------ (09/01/2009) For more immigration news, please click here |
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