Recent changes in immigration policies triggered by “Buy American, Hire American” executive order and increased volume of filed petitions resulted in immigration delays. Institution of interviews for all employment-based green card cases, along with an increased amount of RFEs created substantial backlogs. At the same time suspensions of premium processing for certain petitions made it harder to speed up adjudications of cases. Processing times increased by 46% over the past two fiscal years. Most likely, you have already experienced a longer wait than you would have expected and are wondering why. If it is of any comfort, no one specific is being targeted. Processing delays have impacted thousands of people, occurred on all levels and affected all types of immigration petitions. For example, some H-1B petitions now take up to a year for a decision. I-140 immigrant visa petitions that used to take about 3 months to process are now taking about 8 months. Naturalization cases used to be processed in 5 months, but now they are taking about 10 months.
“Processing delays for applications and immigration benefits have reached crisis levels and these delays are hurting families and businesses that depend on timely adjudications,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) and 81 other lawmakers wrote in a letter, submitted to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.
Jessica Collins, a spokeswoman for USCIS, responded saying that “waits are often due to higher application rates rather than slow processing. USCIS strives to adjudicate all applications, petitions, and requests as effectively and efficiently as possible in accordance with all applicable laws, policies, and regulations.”
Trying to address the problem of increased delays in the adjudication of cases, USCIS will implement a national strategy to decrease differences in processing times based on location for Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
Do not get discouraged by longer processing time. Understandably, it can be frustrating and stressful to wait for your case to be adjudicated. In the time of immigration delays, it is more important than ever to seek the assistance of a knowledgeable immigration attorney, who will aggressively inquire on all government levels about the status of your case. A good attorney can help to expedite the processing of your case and obtain your immigration documents faster. At Root Law Group we offer free in-office consultations with our experienced immigration attorneys specializing in all aspects of U.S. Immigration. Over the years, we helped 2500+ clients and are proud to have a high 95% success rate on most of our cases. Call us today at (323) 456-7600 to schedule your free in-office consultation!
