We regularly pop in on USCIS Reddit – found this very interesting post from a USCIS former officer. It proves many of the points we harp on about here on our site – as applicants we must keep the officer in mind by submitting a clear and concise application to allow them approve you and instantly pass your application along up the chain.
Too many times we have others applications fail because they feel then need to write a lot of blurb, needlessly bulking up their applications and so making them difficult for officers to approve. If you understand the requirements, back it up with the correct evidence. We have more articles on this on our site.
Lessons learned
- Why the USCIS is so slow.
- Forms should be completed properly.
- The burden of evidence is on the applicant.
- Be patient. Best not rush the USCIS.
- Fraud is always obvious.
- Make it easy for the USCIS to approve you.
- Keep your address updated.
- Bring a translator.
- Appeal if you believe they made an error.
- Follow instructions to speed up your application.
Why is USCIS so Slow? From a (Former) Officer’s Perspective.
From time to time I will look into this subreddit, and provide some advice, but also just want to see what people are saying about their immigration processes. I worked as an ISO/ISO2 for several years and thought it might be of value to say why some cases take longer, and why USCIS is so “slow”. This list is not in any particular order – and I’m not going to provide case-specific recommendations. This is what comes to mind, and I am sure there are other issues that I’ll forget to add.
Firstly, remember, these are people that are at work. This is their job. They don’t know you and have no agenda – either you qualify or you don’t or you have your complete application or you need more evidence. They have a list of requirements you should do your best to fulfill them.
USCIS is understaffed. Yes, it is understaffed. You cannot imagine how bad it still is. USCIS is about 85% staffed, and a great deal of the people who left, are leaving, or are trying to be hired are officers. Major FODs struggle to keep ISOs for more than a year or so, and the turnover is horrible. This means that even in the best circumstances, USCIS (CIS), is going to be operating at a sub-optimal rate. Often time this is brought up, but I cannot stress this enough. Let me put this another way; there are many application types and benefits that USCIS adjudicates. Not every ISO is trained to adjudicate every form, and new ISOs cannot do all of the most common form types. This creates a problem for FODs that cannot retain staff as fewer and fewer ISOs can do specific benefits like DV, or I-601 waivers. This means that bottlenecks arise for certain applications that need to wait for waivers or have complex factors at play. There are other issues:
- ISOs realize the pay and stress of the job are crazy; you can find almost any job that pays the same GS level that has a fraction of the stress. Ironically, ISOs are still very productive but it’s the fact that the number of cases coming in outpaces the adjudication rate.
- Major FODs have the worst retention as the stress, gs-pay, and cost of living frequently drive people out of the job. In metropolitan FODs, some have lost basically half of the ISOs from a year or two ago.
- Management issues; Some supervisors are great. Many are not, and for different reasons.
- For ISOs that stay, they can find promotions or jobs elsewhere and usually dip after 2-5 years.
- Everything has a cost – every task or delay comes at the cost of something else. When ISOs leave, management will keep the same goals and will shift them to the diminishing pool of ISOs until they burn out. Great ISOs are rewarded with more work, and they figure out very quickly who the good workers are, and who the favorite workers are (yes, nepotism/favoritism is yet another issue).
- For context, of the roughly 30+ ISOs that I worked with that started around the same time as me or slightly after, all but 2 left. This is incredible considering that immigration is a niche field, and so you get lots of immigration/human rights/volunteering people with tremendous backgrounds, and they all become disillusioned right away.
- Covid funding and possible furloughs made a bunch of people jump ship and CIS still has not recovered – imagine losing a significant portion of your workforce and then because of a hiring freeze, you cannot hire any new people! This was the case for CIS for about 1-2 years.
- But wait, CIS is hiring new people, right? Yep, but there’s a delay in the hiring and working. Two things to keep in mind. One, hiring takes a while and requires a background check and a clearance (which makes sense – we work with sensitive information and national security issues) which can take up to a year, meaning it takes a long time to get hired, after getting an offer. Two, new hires have to be trained and that takes a long time (again, understand this is a very difficult and niche job). For the first year, new ISOs don’t start interviewing and adjudicating until 3 months or so.
Legal
- For any benefit you apply for, the burden of proof never shifts to USCIS. Unless USCIS is seeking to revoke/take back a benefit provided, you have a 100% burden to establish that you are eligible for any benefit. Why does this matter? If there is any doubt or issues with a case, and USCIS asks for info about it – it is up to you to submit evidence to clarify that. Some cases have issues that are being hidden by applicants, and sometimes things come up that may not appear to matter to applicants but matter to USCIS. Because the burden is on applicants, oftentimes USCIS has to request more information to establish that they are eligible – this delays things. Of course, USCIS can provide better information before interviews, attorneys can better prepare their clients and applicants could be better informed – but ultimately this standard slows things down (for good reason).
“…the burden is on applicants…” You must provide comprehensive evidence. Have a read [here] of how we show ideas of how to prove criteria with evidence. Check out the game changing document E-11 RFE Template that all examiners use here.
- CIS is frequently sued (this is the case for all agencies that provide benefits, like Social Security), and so in time ISOs become more and more risk-averse – you learn very quickly that 99 successes will be overlooked if you mess up once – and so ISOs will stick to the book whenever possible. This means ISOs will frequently kick things back to applicants if there is ever a doubt, and this is partly why. Additionally, the common discourse about delays in applications leading to, “sue/file a mandamus” has organizational costs as lawyers are expensive, and they take staffing hours. This isn’t saying you should not consult legal services and take appropriate measures if your case needs specific redresses, but the overwhelming majority of applicants file unjustified (IMO) expedites or mandamus very shortly after passing expected timelines.
Patience is the key here – if you are working on an underlying visa be prepared to renew it. If you are working on a temporary green card, it is as good as a full permanent residency card, stay on it. The EB1 and O1 visas require examiners to spend more time going through them as the petition letters are more detailed than most. They are obviously understaffed right now so allow them the time to work through it. Obviously, if you are waiting an inordinate amount of time over the norm consider reading [here] or [speeding up the decision here].
- Immigration law is a political football – the rules change frequently, and CIS is always having to update and follow these laws. CIS also has to enforce these, even when it doesn’t seem fair. CIS does not make laws, Congress does. So when people raise issues about visa allocations or testing requirements, it wasn’t CIS that set these rules up. Contacting your representatives about updating immigration policy is always recommended, but getting angry at an ISO for following the letter of the law is like shooting the messenger (bad example, but that’s how it feels). Sometimes cases are placed on hold pending Immigration court outcomes or pending litigation, or even nationwide holds on possible cases – there is nothing that ISOs can do, just wait and work on the files we are given.
It is for this very reason that we each took control of our own cases. We had discovered that people had been submitted under old USCIS immigration policies. A friends medical was submitted on an outdated form. Every president that comes into office brings changes in immigration. It is important that you are working from updated information.
Fraud
- Fraud is getting more complex every year, and that increases the costs and time it takes to adjudicate cases. Whether we like it or not, immigration is wrought with fraud, and in some areas much more than others. This means that even cases that are fine, require more time to properly vet because of trends with fraud, and again, the burden is on the applicant to show eligibility (and meet other requirements like discretion).
- This also burns out ISOs because believe it or not, it takes quite a bit out of you having people lie to you every day. Often times the lies are so overt that you’d be surprised. This makes most seasoned ISOs jaded because years of this takes a toll.
- But if nothing else, let me give you an example that exemplifies the issues that USCIS currently faces. Consider N400’s, applications for naturalization. By law, there are requirements (tests) for basic English and civics (US History). Of course, there are exemptions for this if you meet certain age and length of residency, but the majority of applicants have to meet these testing requirements. Unfortunately, there are people with medical/psychological issues that are unable to meet these requirements – which is terrible! So USCIS makes a change to allow people with these terrible conditions to file another form that describes these conditions, which would allow them to be exempted from the testing requirements. This is great – this created a pathway for special needs applicants to citizenship. Almost immediately, people started submitting bogus forms to sidestep the testing requirements. In the years I interviewed these forms, I’d say a couple of hundred interviews for these (as you would review them at the N400 interview), and I can say that I can count on my fingers how many were genuine (Let’s say 10 which is rounding up generously). So imagine having hundreds of applicants come in and testify that they are severely disabled to the point they cannot take care of themselves, and almost every single one is lying. To make this even worse, applicants will pay MORE to the doctors creating fake writeups than a filing fee, and will also file for a fee waiver; meaning they pay nothing to USCIS, but thousands for fraud assistance, and USCIS still has to pick up the processing tab.
As an applicant that is applying as an expert in their field this should not apply to you. You should always be honest and upfront in your accomplishments and in your application. There is this thing called the Internet and everything can be checked. There is also an FBI check on you before you are approved. The USCIS is a fee based organization – it is our fees that keep it running. People may think the fees are exorbitant but if you consider how many people handle your case and the value you receive when approved the fee is worth every US cent.
Interview
- Interviews frequently bring up new issues, which means you have to establish that you are eligible. This delays things. Sometimes applicants answer questions, or cannot answer questions that raise questions.
Again, as they “have no interest in taking more time than necessary on any given case.” Your role is to make the application easy to approve. “You have to establish that you are eligible” – bring your petition letter with you along with the original reference letters, contracts, newspapers etc. The burden of proof is with you – you submit copies of your evidence to the USCIS, this is your chance to show the originals if they need to see them. It takes nothing to have this evidence on hand. Having to set up another appointment just to bring paperwork will draw out the case and increase the chances of your paperwork going missing.
- Moving and rescheduling delay your process by a bit, this is because it takes a while to route files to new offices, and that’s assuming USCIS was told about your new address.
[Update your address] as soon as you have it. If you are concerned about the safety of your mail use a [mail service]. Many people give a friend or families address so that they can apply to a particular center. In our opinion this is leaving you open to missing reciept notices etc. It is better to use your own address. Certainly sign up to the USCIS for case alerts Form G-1145 and Check Case Status.
- Applicants often speak their 2nd, 3rd, or nth language, so there can be misunderstood questions that create issues. I’ve had applicants say that they have been members of terrorist groups because they didn’t understand the question.
You are permitted to bring a [translator] with you. Why deny yourself. Don’t take that chance.
- Interviews can quickly go off the rails as applicants can cheat on tests, bring in fake documents, or try to have their family members lie about their identity so they can interpret the interview. If you can imagine it, it happened in an interview at some point.
- ISOs are also human, they might be having a bad day that makes the interview suboptimal – I get that. Most days ISOs have people come in super late, or interviews go very late for a variety of reasons, and that means they don’t get lunch or have to catch up. This can change the nature of interviews. It also means that there might not be enough time to cover all of the necessary topics. Human error plays a role in everything, and fortunately for applicants, there is a standardized way to appeal decisions if there was/appeared to be an error by USCIS.
Here is how to [appeal a USCIS decision] if you believe there was an error.
- ISOs have no interest in taking more time than necessary on any given case. If they have what they need, they will move the case along. On any given day, ISOs want to get rid of all 8-10 applicants/files they work with.
AGAIN! Make it easy for them to approve you.
Tech
- USCIS is trying to modernize, which is great. But this comes with growing pains.
- Often times systems break, which delays adjudications. ISOs get blamed for this no matter what – but it’s a common issue.
- Legacy cases might be in old systems that create issues when the issues are resolved and are finally being reviewed/adjudicated. This is inevitable when you have millions upon millions of applications.
This is why it is important that you follow instructions – if the form requires black ink and you use red the OCR machine cannot read it. The USCIS website is an excellent resource – every form is listed, on the form pages are instructions on how to complete it and also where to file it, fees to pay etc. Forms have gotten longer in the last few years so print them now to see what is required of you and check the forms before you file to ensure nothing has changed.
- Things are delayed for lots of reasons, don’t panic if you are waiting. Median and average processing times are exactly that, your case might be different. It might be simpler and just waiting to be sent to a FOD. Be patient.
- Be cautious about posts complaining about why USCIS is taking a closer look at their case, often times the real reason isn’t included in their post. ISOs very quickly learn about common issues, and you’d be amazed at how bad some people are at hiding illegal things.
- Sometimes the changes in priorities are set by Washington, so that is why certain benefits like I-485 employment-based might be brought to the forefront for a bit, and then other applications become the top priority. This can delay things for some applicants.
And that’s all I want to write for the moment, and like I said this is just what came to mind, and there are many other issues that make the process lengthy. Stay the course and you will be okay.
…Hopefully, this is helpful! I know the process is slow and at times maddening, but USCIS tends to arc towards getting better but it will take time.
Edit – I am going to slowly get back to the messages and new posts over the next few days. I am glad this is helpful – again, I would remind you to always seek legal counsel for immigration needs as be (be careful as there are scams), and to remember I am not all-knowing. Also, lots of posts and messages talk about mental anguish, stress, and depression; and I would encourage any of you to seek help if you can. I am also here to chat if you need someone – but I am not a medical or psychological professional. Lastly- just a reminder not to send me or anyone any information that might reveal personal information about yourself or your process. I will never ask for any information like this. Hope you are all doing well and best of luck.
I’ll see you all in the future and wish you the best in your journeys.
Read the full article here if it hasn’t disappeared.
Thank you to this anonymous officer for taking the time out to advise us. This post is full of gems. It comes back to the old adage “‘”Keep it simple sweetheart”. We must make sure to submit our application and information in an easy to digest manner for fast approval.
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All articles are written from our experiences and the experiences of our colleagues. These are fantastic visas and we wish to empower others in applying. This information is for general guidance only and shouldn’t be considered legal advice.
If you have any questions or encounter any issues that we have left out let us know – it is important that others are aware. Email here!