What does 10 million approved immigration cases mean to you?
THAT is the $10 million question.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a performance report on Feb. 9. 2024, saying that the agency had completed “an unprecedented number of immigration cases in fiscal year 2023, a record-breaking performance in the agency’s history.” Backlogged no more. Compared to the 380,407 backlogged cases that the National Visa Center (NVC) reported for February, the USCIS performance is almost miraculous – at first glance, from afar.
In the case of the Philippines, from a distance of 11,941 kilometers or 7,140 miles.
Upon closer scrutiny, sorting out the forest from the trees, one would realize that, to judge the performance of these two entities – simply basing the report on backlog reduction is unfair, much like comparing apples to oranges.
The USCIS is “the government agency that administers lawful immigration to the United States.” For legal immigrants, the USCIS has nearly 20,000 government employees and contractors working at more than 200 offices around the world.
To lawfully emigrate to the US, you need a visa. Visas are issued at consular posts worldwide after processing has been completed at the National Visa Center.
The National Visa Center is a facility run by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. The NVC’s job is “to prepare immigrant visa applications for consular officers to review and adjudicate.”
The USCIS and NVC perform different functions on different levels and stages.
In short, part of (not the whole) 10 million immigration cases reported as completed by the USCIS just passed the first stage of an intending lawful immigrant’s intent to reside permanently in the United States.
What is the breakdown of the 10 million cases?
The USCIS reports on its website that on an average day last year, the agency would have:
– Adjudicated more than 40,500 requests for various immigration benefits.
– Processed 3,800 applications to sponsor relatives and future spouses.
– Analyzed nearly 560 tips, leads, cases, and detections for potential fraud, public safety and national security concerns.
– Processed refugee applications around the world in support of the refugee admissions ceiling of 15,000 refugees for fiscal year 2022.
– Granted asylum to 163 individuals already in the United States.
– Screened more than 547 people for protection based on a credible fear of persecution or torture if they return home.
– Serves 800 people at in-person appointments for document services and other urgent needs.
– Fingerprinted and photographed 12,000 people at 130 application support centers.
– Approved applications and petitions to help unite three foreign-born orphans with the Americans who want to adopt them.
– Granted lawful permanent residence to more than 2,300 people and issue nearly 9,200 green cards.
– Welcomed more than 3,400 new citizens at naturalization ceremonies — that’s one every 25 seconds in a 24-hour period. Typically, about 47 of these new citizens are members of the US armed forces.
– Ensured the employment eligibility of 100,000 new hires in the United States.
– Received 60,000 phone calls to our toll-free phone line and more than 150,000 inquiries and service requests via online accounts and digital self-help tools.
– Received 1.5 million visitor sessions to our website.
– Conducted automated verifications on employment eligibility and immigration status for more than 124,000 cases in E-Verify and 52,000 cases in SAVE.
– Conducted manual reviews of eligibility and immigration status for more than 1,300 cases in E-Verify and 7,000 cases in SAVE.
– Resolved more than 1,000 phone calls and 450 emails related to E-Verify and SAVE inquiries.
– Processed more than 1,500 Form I134A supporter applications for Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela
– Processed 900 Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act requests.
It is reasonable to assume that the USCIS’ 20,000 government employees and contractors at more than 200 offices around the world work five days a week.
Note that from the millions of cases the agency handles, the USCIS units concerned process only 3,800 applications to sponsor relatives and future spouses. These petitions are subsequently forwarded for decision at the various USCIS service centers, mainly California, Nebraska, Texas and Vermont, after being pre-processed at designated lockbox facilities.
In 2023, the USCIS would have processed 912,000 petitions/applications by relatives of US citizens and lawful permanent residents (green card holders).
Where do these family-sponsored petitions go?
Petitions filed by US citizens for a spouse, minor child or parent go directly to NVC for visa processing. The rest of the 912,000 petitions go to the various family-preference categories, waiting for their turn for processing.
That stage comes only when visas become available for each of the petitions on the specific date of a specific preference category. An immigrant visa becomes available when the priority date (the date the petition was received at the USCIS facility) becomes current.
In 2022, the State Department reported 212,185 visas issued to immediate relatives of US citizens: 494,448 immigrant visas in the preference categories.
These 2022 figures from the State Department do not include the 912,000 petitions reported completed last year except for the approximately 583,397 immigrant visas issued at consular posts worldwide. (Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/ travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/ immigrant-visa-statistics.html)
The not-so-lucky ones whose petitions were approved (and part of the reported completion by the USCIS) languish at the NVC/State Department’s storage, waiting to be activated.
As of Nov. 1, 2022, the State Department reported 4,083,649 sponsored legal immigrants in the family-preference categories, 168,148 of which are employment-based approved petitions.
Of this waiting list total, 296,037 are immigrant visa applicants from the Philippines.
And these numbers do not include the 912,000 approved and completed petitions cleared by the USCIS from their facilities which logically are now added to the 4,083,649 total.
When an F2B petition gets the green signal
An F2B petition filed by a lawful permanent resident (LPR/green card holder) for an unmarried, over 21 son or daughter last year (part of the 912,000 total) may be activated and scheduled for interview approximately 12 to 13 years from now.
The cut-off dates of the family-preference categories from 2020-2023 below illustrate the waiting period facing the 912,000 approved petitions for the next stages of immigrant visa processing.
Cut-off dates of familypreference categories
– F1: Over 21 unmarried sons/daughters of US citizens — after inching its way from Dec. 15, 2011, to March 1, 2012, in 2022, the interview date remained stuck on March 1, 2012, to March 2024.
– F2A: Spouse, minor children of LPRs. Current for three years (20202022), retrogressed in April last year, moved back by month in August, then jumped to Jan. 1, 2018, until now.
– F2B: Over 21, unmarried sons/ daughters of LPRs. From January to August 2020, it was moving, stationary from September to December 2020. Moved in spurts the next year. The cut-off date moved to June 3, 2022, from June 2021.
– F3: Married sons/daughters of US citizens. The Feb. 15, 2002, cut-off date remained static from September-December 2020, moved forward to June 8, 2002 in June 2021, and remained there till March 2024.
– F4: Adult sisters/brothers of US citizens — The last forward movement was in July 2021, when the cut-off date advanced from Jan. 1, 2002 in December 2020. Since then, the cut-off date has remained Aug. 22, 2002.
As of March 2024, the State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin shows the interview date for the F2B category as October 22, 2011. Same as last month’s cut-off date. Same as in June 2021 when the cut-off date moved forward the month before.
Since then, the F2B priority/cutoff date has not moved for more than three years now.
The other preference categories share the same frozen state.
This long period of stagnation is to be expected by beneficiaries of the 912,000 completed petitions by the USCIS last year.
Even the approved petitions of the immediate relatives of USC citizens face the prospect of waiting for an interview schedule at the specific consular post, given the NVC 380,407 backlog for February this year.
So far, neither the National Visa Center nor the US Embassy in Manila can answer the $4 million question faced by the 4 million plus intending legal immigrants on the immigrant visa waiting list.
That includes the 338,256 DQ applicants waiting for interview schedules at consular posts worldwide and the 296,037 immigrant visa applicants from the Philippines.
Tel est le sort des immigrants — les miserables.