USCIS sent me a response on our FOIA

[vbkris77]

My Guess is that this pending cases is only based on the demand and they have other data like I140 approvals etc., to cover their bases. Their processing is strictly on RD (Not Reciept Date, Random Date) :-)..

[needhelp!]

Try this link to see USCIS response:
http://download206.mediafire.com/xwcsdggj4yjg/blrmnntd10w/FOIA_USCISResponse.pdf

[boreal]

Originally Posted by logiclife

They have said that country of chargeability is not assigned until case is ready for approval. However, whether or not a case is ready for approval is determined by country of chargeability.

I think pre-adjudication solves this catch-22 situation, and they have been pre-adjudicating quite a bit over the past two years. So, I dont think that this is an issue.

[desi3933]

Originally Posted by boreal

I think pre-adjudication solves this catch-22 situation, and they have been pre-adjudicating quite a bit over the past two years. So, I dont think that this is an issue.

>> I think pre-adjudication solves this catch-22 situation
No. It does not.

Since, as per letter, country of chargeability is assigned at the time of approval (i.e. when immigrant visa number is assigned)


.

[krishnam70]

Originally Posted by pa_arora

i think if we are paying for something we should have the ownership it too.

lets format a reply saying that 5K is too much for the job...if they can give us their Data Model diagram, we can give them the code in a week without any cost.

This is an excellent idea and a great opportunity to show case our skills. How about IV offering as non-profit organization our expertise ( from members) to help with this and reduce cost and improving efficiency of this program for USCIS - FREE OF COST.

I am aware there might be many issues with data security etc here but at least we could propose this. As a fellow member suggested this should be a report that needs to be published every few months or so to make it transparent and traceable.Ooops wait, will it show the true picture of how efficient USCIS is if they do this?

I dont see it going anywhere, this is just stalling. They already have that kind of information if the statement from O'man office is any indication or they lied to the office. Either way we need to highlight this with the O'man's office first and then follow it up with Local senators and highlight it. This needs to go big way.

Getting them to give one off statement is not going to solve anything besides it might be only a starting price and might increase or are they charging the same $5000 every time somebody asks them for an update.

- cheers
kris

[mirage]

In my opinion Let's contribute $100 each pay them and get this information. I'm sure there'll be 50 people who would want this information for $100....Atleast I'm sick of seeing Visa Dates predictions and seeing Visa bulletins itself. Atleast we'll know what we are dealing with.

[nixstor]

Those of you who are thinking that you can write a SQL query in a snap, you are egregiously mistaken.

The CLAIMS database, which contains the AOS/485 petitions is neither a SQL database nor a modern CRM application. AFAIK, It is a legacy Mainframe system and needs significant effort and rare expertise to extract the data.

Ideally, The Country of Chargeability should be in there. But these systems were built around 92 or before and the requirements gathering probably might not have thought about retrogression or carelessly left it out. What ever it is, it is not in the electronic format, it is almost impossible to get the biographic information unless a physical check is conducted. We can cringe and cry all we want, but not a lot is going to happen on the CC

The good side of the issue is, Since EB-3 ROW is beyond 2004 and we have per country PERM data (not completely accurate, but significant), our statisticians and operations research folks will break down both data and get some thing that is valuable and accurate above 90%. We can safely assume that more than 90% EB-3 Pending before 2005 belong to I, C & M.

What bothers me is the requirement of the definition of Priority Date? You would expect some one in the CIS/NRC to know what a priority date is. Don't ya? Any ways, We are working with members who received the response to get a better answer from CIS to determine further action.

Stay tuned and we will let you know.

[yvjoshi100]

You can count me for contribution.

[desi3933]

Originally Posted by nixstor

.....
What bothers me is the requirement of the definition of Priority Date? You would expect some one in the CIS/NRC to know what a priority date is. ....

22 CFR § 42.53 Priority date of individual applicants
The priority date of a preference visa applicant under INA 203 (a) or (b) shall be the filing date of the approved petition that accorded preference status.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_20...22cfr42.53.pdf


______________________
Not a legal advice
US citizen of Indian origin

[mirage]

If you are from India. All you should just ask for
How Many EB India applications Pending by year and by Category. So give us Information like how Many Applications for Indian Citizens pending in
2001 EB3 & EB2
2002 EB3 & EB2
2003 EB3 & EB2
....
2007 EB3 & EB2

$5000 shouldn't be a big deal for a quarter million community who's seeking some information on this...I guess either IV should start and campaign and collect money for this or we can saperately collect money for this..

Originally Posted by needhelp!

I have received a response on my request last year to USCIS for information on number of AOS applications pending. Here it is:
--------------------------------------
February 24, 2009
NRC2008065126


____________________________
Here is the original letter template sent to USCIS

[dallasdude]

Nice job fellas. God bless all of you for getting involved in this. You can expect a contribution from me as well.

[Madhuri]

I am in for contribution. As many other members suggested we should insiste them to run the report every quarter or so.

[ItIsNotFunny]

Originally Posted by logiclife

Based on the reply to this FOIA from Needhelp!, it seems that we have a bigger problem than transparency.

They have said that country of chargeability is not assigned until case is ready for approval. However, whether or not a case is ready for approval is determined by country of chargeability. If you have 500,000 pending cases and dont know how many cases for each country of chargeability, then the only way to respond to a visa bulletin is to go thru all 500,000 cases every month, take a peek in it, look at the PD, look at the country and see if it is up for approval. I dont think they are doing that.

Also, if priority date is something that is different for different countries, then cases for those countries have to be sorted by priority date in different silos, so that when the next bulletin comes, you know how many cases are eligible that month and which ones are the earliest cases (from PD perspective) for each country.

I think we need to build case with proper arguments and present in front of Ombudsman.

[hopefulgc]

Yep.

If the EB system is categorized by country quota, what is what would be the apparent use of capturing data without the unlerlying country of origin of the applicant?
If the data is truly not available, what system are they using to anticipate demand and inform the DOS?

Originally Posted by logiclife

Based on the reply to this FOIA from Needhelp!, it seems that we have a bigger problem than transparency.

They have said that country of chargeability is not assigned until case is ready for approval. However, whether or not a case is ready for approval is determined by country of chargeability. If you have 500,000 pending cases and dont know how many cases for each country of chargeability, then the only way to respond to a visa bulletin is to go thru all 500,000 cases every month, take a peek in it, look at the PD, look at the country and see if it is up for approval. I dont think they are doing that.

Also, if priority date is something that is different for different countries, then cases for those countries have to be sorted by priority date in different silos, so that when the next bulletin comes, you know how many cases are eligible that month and which ones are the earliest cases (from PD perspective) for each country.

[hopefulgc]

If it is an IBM 3270, 5250, etc mainframe it still wouldn't take that long.
Let me take it a step further.
If the information is stored as a segregated flat file, it won't take that long.
One could just proxy a perl/java gateway and write a script to parse data.

Who does it.. makes all the difference.

Originally Posted by nixstor

Those of you who are thinking that you can write a SQL query in a snap, you are egregiously mistaken.

The CLAIMS database, which contains the AOS/485 petitions is neither a SQL database nor a modern CRM application. AFAIK, It is a legacy Mainframe system and needs significant effort and rare expertise to extract the data.

Ideally, The Country of Chargeability should be in there. But these systems were built around 92 or before and the requirements gathering probably might not have thought about retrogression or carelessly left it out. What ever it is, it is not in the electronic format, it is almost impossible to get the biographic information unless a physical check is conducted. We can cringe and cry all we want, but not a lot is going to happen on the CC

The good side of the issue is, Since EB-3 ROW is beyond 2004 and we have per country PERM data (not completely accurate, but significant), our statisticians and operations research folks will break down both data and get some thing that is valuable and accurate above 90%. We can safely assume that more than 90% EB-3 Pending before 2005 belong to I, C & M.

What bothers me is the requirement of the definition of Priority Date? You would expect some one in the CIS/NRC to know what a priority date is. Don't ya? Any ways, We are working with members who received the response to get a better answer from CIS to determine further action.

Stay tuned and we will let you know.