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Discussion

Green cards in 180 days?!

colleagues, this post is meant to inform, not to inflame.

i came across this article by an immigration lawyer, but could not find the actual policy cited in the uscis website. maybe another member can post it here.

i think this uscis policy change will have a tremendous and far-reaching impact on all nurses dreaming of working in a us hospital.

green cards in 180 days?!

[color=dimgray]immigration corner by michael j. gurfinkel

[color=dimgray]sunday, february 17, 2008

on february 4, 2008, the uscis announced a dramatic policy change in the way it handles adjustment of status applications. from now on, "where the [adjustment of status] application is otherwise approvable and the fbi name check request has been pending for more than 180 days, the adjudicator shall approve the i-485 [adjustment of status application] . . . and proceed with the green card issuance."

this new uscis policy states, in essence, a person's fingerprints will be sent to the fbi, and if no response is received from the fbi within 180 days of submission, then the uscis could go ahead and approve the adjustment of status and grant the green card (assuming there are no other grounds for ineligibility for the green card).

if, once the fbi performs the fingerprint check, it is determined that a person is not eligible for the green card (i.e. a criminal record is discovered) then the uscis could revoke the green card and start removal/deportation proceedings against the person. in other words, the uscis could grant the green card, but if it later turns out that the person is not eligible, the green card could be taken away.

this new 180 day policy for fbi processing of fingerprint clearance does not apply to naturalization applicants. this is because once a person is granted citizenship, the uscis could not easily "revoke" citizenship and/or deport the person. the 180 day time limit applies only to immigrant's applications.

but still, this is welcome news, in that now many long-stagnating adjustment of status applications can finally be approved, since the uscis no longer needs to wait for a definitive response from fbi. of course this 180 day "approval" applies only to cases where:

(a) a petition has been approved (whether family or employer),

(b) the priority date is current,

© the adjustment of status application has been filed, and

(d) a person was fingerprinted more than 180 days ago.

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  • Expert

Notice that this is for those petitions that have been approved to start with and the only hold up is FBI approval of the fingerprints, this will not apply to most that are waiting.

And priority date is current, so this also does not make this current for most.

The actual approval for the I-140 is what holds up many to begin with, not the FBI processing.

And when visas are not available, all rules go out the window.

So this does not get one a green card in 6 months, there needs to be approval on the I-140 first and that changes things right away. That can take up to a year or so as you are well aware of, and the fact that there are no visas available also changes things.

This is a fact already and has circulated already on diff. immigration-related websites but some may mis-construe this as an automatic GC within 180 days. It is not so.

This is only for those that has everything complete already and if there are actually visa numbers to be given away but could not proceed because of the lacking FBI name check. Previously, USCIS would have to wait for the FBI name check (and it can take months to years) before they can give someone a GC, even though everything is complete already and USCIS is ready to give the GC.

Putting it in another way, if all is complete as far as USCIS is concerned (and the case is ready for approval) and there are visa numbers available they will approve it if all that is lacking is the FBI name check that has been pending for more than 180 days.

This move is meant for all those stuck in the FBI name check only and if the giving of the GC only lacks that FBI name check and that only. If there is retrogression or if there is USCIS backlog or if the case is not at all meant for approval anyway because the adjudicators will deny the case, it will be denied or put on hold (retrogression or backlog) w/ or w/o the FBI name check.

This is not automatic GC within 180 days as some are already mis-interpreting it.

Also, USCIS reserves the right to revoke the GC and deport the one given once the FBI name check indicates criminal record.

This is good news to everyone (nurse or not) who already filed for AOS and are 'documentarily' complete but are stuck in the FBI name check for years.

However, this also means that when things are current again (if ever), there will be more people from PDs of 2004, 2005 or even older that were stuck there forever and were constantly by-passed by USCIS everytime retrogression is lifted because of no FBI name checks will now be the first in line to get the GC when their PDs become current in the near future as they have earlier PDs.

this is a great move by the USCIS. almost 400,000 pending immigrants are stuck in the name check nightmare since USCIS implemented it a few years ago. some who missed the "current" date last july who were not approved due to pending name checks eventhough some had PD's dating as early as 2001 and 2002 would now be approved. this is a welcome news for these earlier filers but unfortunate for 2005-2007 filers as the VB dates would surely retrogress

Adding this Q&A for completion: http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=24696

Seems that there are only 47,000 that will directly benefit from this policy change (approvable with only the FBI name check missing) and they estimate it to be completed by mid-March.

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