> On Jun 23, 6:22 pm, ian-mstm
> wrote:
> > > I am in the same boat. I got fingerprinted on Feb 17, 2006, passed
> > > my
> > > citizenship interview on April 19, 2006. After the interview I was
> > > informed that as soon as my name check is cleared I'll be granted
> > > the
> > > citizenship. Since then I've visited Boston local INS office 4
> > > times
> > > and every time I got the same answer - "Your name check is
> > > pending".
> > > They gave me all sorts of possible explanations. The most typical
> > > one
> > > is that my last name is very common in my country of origin
> > > (Russia).
> > > But the fact is - my last name is very very rare in Russia. And
> > > there
> > > are only 10 people with this name in the entire US. I did some
> > > research on the Internet and looks like there are lots of people
> > > in
> > > our situation. I suspect that the long waiting times for name
> > > check
> > > are correlated to the country of origin. For instance, many of my
> > > friends from Russia also have been waiting for a long time. While
> > > people from the neighboring states like Ukraine and Armenia get
> > > their
> > > names checked within 1-2 months at most. I see the same pattern
> > > for
> > > Chinese - many of them have to wait for a long time while Indians
> > > typically go through this much faster.
> >
> > > The irony of the situation is that all the data required for doing
> > > any
> > > sorts of checks is readily available. There are quite a few
> > > companies
> > > that can provide tons of data on practically anyone in the US in
> > > 1-3
> > > days for $ 100-150. And the almighty FBI with annual budget
> > > greater
> > > than GNP of some countries cannot complete a check within 1 year.
> >
> > > I am sick and tired of this. One of the most frustrating things
> > > about
> > > this situation is that INS doesn't even provide us with contact
> > > info
> > > that we can use to find out the status of our cases in FBI. They
> > > also
> > > told me repeatedly that they gather no statistics on name checks
> > > by
> > > FBI so they cannot tell me if my wait is typical or not. So I did
> > > some
> > > quick research on the Internet and guess what I found? Annual
> > > Immigrations services report publicly available on the net:
> >
> > >http://www.aila.org/content/fileviewer.aspx?docid"650&linkid 2321
> >
> > > with all the statistics regarding Name checks delays (search for
> > > FBI
> > > Name Checks) !
> >
> > > >From what I found on the net it looks like the only real way to
> > > expedite processing of such a case is to make it as public and
> > > visible
> > > as possible. Given the fact that there are many many thousands of
> > > cases like ours it's obvious that those who wait patiently have
> > > very
> > > low chance of success. Those who scream and shout have a chance
> > > to
> > > get their cases noticed and therefore approved quicker. So I am
> > > going
> > > to do some screaming :-)
> >
> > > One more thought - maybe people like us should coordinate
> > > "screaming"
> > > efforts. A group of people usually has a higher chance of success
> > > than
> > > a single person.
> >
> > > Dimon
> >
> > > On Jun 13, 12:42 pm, Elvira
> > > wrote:
> > > > > There are many people in your situation. There is nothing you
> > > > > can
> > > > > do
> > > > > to speed up the security checks. Keep contacting your senator
> > > > > and
> > > > > congressperson to get their help, and every few months make an
> > > > > Infopass apppointment to go check on your status in person at
> > > > > your
> > > > > local office. That's about all you can do.
> >
> > > > > Rene
> >
> > > > Writing to Congresspeople initially is a good idea but
> > > > completely
> > > > pointless thereafter. All they do is send back letters to say
> > > > "case
> > > > pending". It's a flicking scandal.
> >
> > > > --
> > > > Posted viahttp://britishexpats.com
> >
> > In fact, most of the FBI background checks are completed within a
> > few
> > weeks. The slowdown happens when those checks are sent back to USCIS
> > and
> > they are not correctly paired up with your case file. USCIS claims
> > the
> > FBI checks are not back (because they're not in the file), and the
> > FBI
> > claims that the checks have already been completed (because they
> > were).
> >
> > Ian
> >
> > --
> > Posted viahttp://britishexpats.com
>
> That's interesting. Ian, just out of curiosity - where do you get this
> information from? I mean - if you are right then the course of my
> actions to investigate my case will be very different from what I am
> planning to do. So I would appreciate if you could give me more
> information and point me in the right direction
>
> Thanks,
> Dimon
I can't seem to find them right now (I kept them on my computer
someplace), but there was a series of memos released by both USCIS and
the FBI a few years ago.
In response to a USCIS memo claiming that the FBI was terribly
backlogged with immigration background checks (since 9/11) and that's
why USCIS was unable to finish the immigration process, the FBI
released a memo indicating (I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact numbers...)
that they got through 90%+ of all background checks within 4 weeks,
with almost half of the rest completed within 12 weeks, and the
remainder within 6 months or so. Only about 1% of the background checks
lasted longer than 6 months.
In the memo (it might have been a second memo), the FBI counter-claimed
that the reason USCIS was unable to complete their current caseload was
because the myriad background checks which had been completed were not
being correctly matched to the case files that were sitting on the desks
of the adjudicators or (and this is the really interesting part) sitting
in piles on the floor of some office and left to gather dust.
To be fair, I'm not sure I believe either story, but there have been
numerous posts in this forum about people who have emailed the FBI only
to be told that their check had definitely been completed months ago and
the information returned to USCIS! To me, this lends credence to the
FBI's claim.
Ian
--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com |