NSC on I-485 Processing Issues - January 2001
Posted Feb 16, 2001
A teleconference between representatives of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and officials at the INS Nebraska Service Center was held on January 9, 2001. Among the issues discussed were various items relating to processing of Adjustment of Status (I-485) applications.
Processing Time
As of January 9, 2001, NSC was processing I-485 applications received in the fall of 1999, so processing time is roughly 12 to 15 months. [Editor's Note: this timeframe is similar to the current processing time at the Vermont Service Center.] INS also has an ambitious backlog reduction effort underway, with the goal of getting processing time down to six months by September 2002.
Please note that cases involving "aging out" (dependent child turning 21 within a year), cases are expedited. When filing the case, it is important to mark the case clearly as an age-out, because there is no guarantee that INS on its own will notice. If the case is already pending, it is possible to request an expedite once the child is within a year of turning twenty-one.
Yellow Sheets
As many readers are aware, NSC routinely sends a yellow sheet requesting an updated employer letter in employment-based cases. Usually this sheet is sent at the same time as the fingerprint notice. On occasion, an applicant may receive a yellow sheet more than once. AILA attorneys asked whether it is necessary to again provide the requested documentation.
NSC replied that only one response to the yellow sheet is necessary. Unless 15 months have passed from the date of the earlier yellow sheet, it is not necessary to respond to a second one.
Change of Fingerprint Location
AILA attorneys asked whether there is any problem in appearing for fingerprinting at a location other than the one specified on the fingerprint notice. There have apparently been cases when applicants were turned away in this situation.
According to NSC, it is permissible to be fingerprinted in a different location. NSC will request INS Headquarters to provide more instructions to the fingerprinting centers, indicating that they can fingerprint people who have received notices for a different location.
This option should be helpful to people who may have moved since filing the I-485, but INS has not yet updated the address information. Rather than waiting to be rescheduled in the correct location, it may be possible to go to the nearest location and bring the notice for the other location. © The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.
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