INS Interview/FBI CHK UPS

[luigi2004]

I am in Chicago Ill, I have an Interview for Permanent residence trough an american citizen, My lawyer told me that there was a chance that they could put my application on hold if the two FBI check ups are not terminanted yet, and that that could take up to 1 year, any feed back from this?
Thanks

 

[phwl]

I am surprised that your interview was scheduled without the FBI background check first completed. It usually takes about 4-6 months to do the check, but of course, that is only and aproximate timetable. Are you from a country deemed on the terrorist list?

 

[luigi2004]

I am from Colombia

 

[luigi2004]

Well, My interview went well, they didn,t ask me that much, only my 4 month old daughter's birth certificate, BUT THEY TOLD ME THAT THE FBI BACKGROUND CHK UP WERE NOT COMPLETED YET.
Does any body know how soon after the interview it takes to get the check ups

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

Sometimes it takes weeks, sometimes it takes months. It really just depends on how long your particular one takes. I have had clients who have had to wait for 3-4 months and others who have been waiting for a year.

 

[BlackFrog]

We are going through the same thing in CA. We had our interview two years ago. Some portion of the file had not come in before the interview which put us back 9 months before INS got it all straight. Since then we have been waiting for the FBI clearance. It has been over a year and it is extremely frustrating to wait.

We even went as far as transferring our file to our local congressman office. It seems like they don't have any extra power to look into this either.

The frustrating part is that there is no way to tell whether the file is just sitting on somebody's desk, if it has been lost or it has invalid info in int.

Obviously, we know there is no reason for the background check to not pass or we would not press on this. However, the helpless feeling is just killing us.

Hopefully, you don't have to go through the same.

Any ideas or suggestions to expedite this is greatly appreciated.

-kg

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

The background clearance checks are something that causes many people's cases to linger in limbo for months and sometimes over a year. It is something that was implemented in the wake of 9/11 and due to the zero tolerance policy at the USCIS is causing significant delays because of the backlogs. I know this firsthand because some of my clients are stuck in this very predicament with little that I can do except follow up with the local office on a periodic basis. IT is not so much that YOUR particular case is being checked all this time; it is a bottleneck that is caused by someone's case not being able to be cleared and no other cases that can be put into the check system until that one is cleared (this is how it has been explained to me by the USCIS). In some cases the delays are awful but patience is the only solution at this time, unless you want to sue the USCIS, which is unlikely to solve the problem in my opinion. So, don't despair, just keep checking with the USCIS and hopefully, it will be resolved in short time.

 

[grioghair]

I am being processed in Indianapolis.

I had my fingerprinting done on December 16th 2003...I have since been up to my AOS interview on June 10th. I am still waiting for my clearance check. I know they are going to find nothing in my background to interfere with my approval, so I was thinking: "What is taking so long?" It makes perfect sense that I could be queued alongside people who may be suspect - and it is that which is slowing down my approval.

I have about three months to run on my work permit...so, hopefully, it will all be completed by that date.

Steve

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

It's not that YOUR check is taking all that time. You are simply in the queue with all the others who are ahead of you, and because of delays on some of those, a bottleneck is created. There is no reason to assume that it will be done before the work permit expires (you can always renew that), but the security clearance checks can sometimes take a year. You just need to keep following up with the local office to see how it is going as sometimes these things just need constant reminders to them.

 

[grioghair]

You just need to keep following up with the local office to see how it is going as sometimes these things just need constant reminders to them.

* Being processed in Indianapolis*

I wrote to the USCIS about one month after my AOS interview. They told me that currently they were still awaiting the results of my security check, and that there was no way of telling how much longer it would actually take. It seems to me that everything was pretty speedy while it was being processed through Indianapolis...but when it went to the SC it slowed right down.

I wrote to my local senator's office a few weeks back - as I know of someone who moved to Indianapolis who acheived quite good results by getting them involved in his case. He had waited eight months beyond his interview...and then he contacted the FBI and they had never even heard of him. The senator's office got involved, and he received three letters of "welcome to America" within the next two days...and when his green card eventually arrived, it was dated the same day as the letters.

In my own case, the senator's office said they will check my case out and see what is taking so long - but they promised nothing.

Thanks for your advice, Lana - at least I know what the problem is now. As for the work permit, the USCIS advised me to wait until 30 days from the expiry date and then renew my current one if I had heard nothing from them by then. The problem is, if I renew my current one - and I get approved before, or even slightly after the work permit comes into force - I know that that payment is non-reinbursable...and it is a cost I cannot really afford right now - as we are living on limited income here.

Steve

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

Although I know that cost may be an issue for you, you need to plan on getting your EAD renewed WAY BEFORE 30 days from the expiration date since it takes up to 90 days to get the EAD renewed. Although you may not have the money for the EAD extension, can you really afford not t o have the EAD so that you cannot work with authorization???!!! This can very well happen if your current EAD expires before the renewal is approved and there is nothing you can do to expedite the process until the EAD has been pending for at least 90 days.

 

[grioghair]

Although I know that cost may be an issue for you, you need to plan on getting your EAD renewed WAY BEFORE 30 days from the expiration date since it takes up to 90 days to get the EAD renewed. Although you may not have the money for the EAD extension, can you really afford not to have the EAD so that you cannot work with authorization???!!! This can very well happen if your current EAD expires before the renewal is approved and there is nothing you can do to expedite the process until the EAD has been pending for at least 90 days.

*Processed in Indianapolis*

When I applied for my EAD last October, I just walked in and received it the same day. I am pretty sure that they are still issuing work permits in the same way, otherwise they would not have advised me to apply for one that close to the expiry of my current one. Of course, I could always write back and confirm this to be the case, but I am pretty confident that that is the way that they still work in Indianapolis. (Homeland Security was well underway when I got my first work permit - as that was an issue then, also.)

But you are right, there is no way that I want to be put in the position of not being able to work - it is vital that I do not lose any time from work. Of course, the best possible scenario would be to be approved before October...but I know that that may not happen now - of course, it may do...but I need to make sure I am covered by any eventuality.

Once again, thanks for your good and speedy - which is very rare for a forum - advice,

Steve

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

Be sure to check with the Indianapolis office and make sure you doublecheck with the supervisor there. I know that it used to be that you can get the EAD same day (I used to practice with a firm in Indianapolis and am very familiar with the Indianapolis office, which I visited rather frequently with my clients and on their behalf) but procedures are changing all the time at all the offices nationwide and just because they tell you one thing, you really cannot rely on this or hold them to it. After all, they do not care if you are out of employment authorization and have to go off payroll. They are not your attorneys and are certainly not looking out for your best interest.

 

[Majman]

Name Check approved but INS Stalling. HELP!

I filed AOS in November 2001 in Utah. Had interview January 2003 and was told to wait for the name check to be completed and that after that my application would be approved.

I finally received a fax from the FBI last week stating that the name check was completed and that the local immigration authorities had been notified.

The problem is that now the INS says that further checks need to be done. The local Salt Lake City INS office says that the FBI needs more information form them to finish the name check and that the computer system shows that the name check is neither pending nor complete.

I am very very confused. Why on earth can't these people get their stories straight? Has anyone else had a similiar experience where the INS continues to stall after the FBI says the name check is complete?

 

[role]

AOS andFBI Check timing-schedule

Hello:
Would some body please tell me what is AOS?
If I jus apply for my I-485 in May 2004, when should I file for that AOS interview and how could I start ASAP with the FBI check to gain time?

Rod