DISTRICT DIRECTOR – AILA NY CHAPTER MEETING
June 1, 2015 MEETING
AILA Chapter Meeting, New York Law School
General Questions:
1. Please provide an updated list of the current processing times for I-485, N-400, N-600, N-336, I-751, Stokes, VAWA, I-290B, SIJS, and other relevant applications at the district office.
New York City / Queens Office / Long Island OfficeI-485 / Jan. 2015 / Nov. 2014 / Nov. 2014
N-400 / Feb. 2015 / Jan. 2015 / Jan. 2015
N-600 / May 2014 / Sept. 2013 / July 2014
N-336 / Jan. 2015 / Dec. 2014 / Dec. 2014
I-751 / Upon receipt / Oct. 2013 / May 2014
Stokes / NYC Only: April 2015
VAWA / Upon receipt / Upon receipt / Upon receipt
I-290B / Upon receipt / Upon receipt / Upon receipt
SIJS / Upon receipt / May 2014 / May 2014
2. Please provide updated org charts with telephone numbers for all ISOs and SISOs for New York, Long Island City, and Holtsville. Please advise if there have been any new hires or changes in staffing.
Available on NY AILA website.
3. What if any training or guidance has the front desk staff at the AOS and Natz Units received with regard to the one hour waiting policy? Many members have reported waiting over one hour before approaching the front desk clerks, who seem indignant when questioned regarding the wait times. Several members report being told by the clerks to disregard the signs that say the wait time should only be one hour.
All personnel have been instructed that the one hour wait time is the goal for each unit. Members should ask the people at the counter to speak with a supervisor or section manager if the wait time has been significantly longer. It is the office’s goal to see applicants within one hour.
4. Please provide an update regarding the Stop & Drop program. Has it been implemented in the Long Island field office?
Attorneys can comment about clerks with Stop & Drop. The procedure is to complete both the top and bottom portion of the form, and bring it to the clerk to be stamped. You will keep the bottom portion of the form. Customers/attorneys should expect to receive a response to Stop & Drop within 48-72 hours. Comments that are appropriate for the Stop & Drop include issues with wait times, problems with officers, or other items that attorneys see as becoming trends in the office that they believe should be addressed by a supervisor.
5. Thank you for the email address for rescheduling requests.
Rescheduling Email Address are:
· NYC:
· Queens (Long Island City):
· Long Island (Holtsville):
- It is possible to set up an automatic reply to these requests confirming that the request was received? This is in the works.
- Members report that they have had to send several requests, and in some cases they have still received denial notices. Please bring these cases to supervisor attention.
- How long should members expect to receive a response to their request? Members should expect to receive a reply within one week.
- We understand that the rescheduling date depends on the office’s availability, but what is an approximate time frame we can expect for rescheduling before we should follow-up? The District Office has to review the file, and see the number of times that a reschedule has been requested, the reason for the request, and also find time in the calendar to reschedule an interview.
6. Please confirm that the escalation policy for inquiries to follow up on interviewed cases remains the 30/60/90 policy. This policy is that an inquiry letter should be sent to the Interviewing Officer 30 days post interview, to the Supervisor after 60 days, and to the Section Chief/Field Office Director after 90 days.
Within 30 days, members can contact the interviewing officer, and then should reach out the officer’s supervisor, then Section Chief, then FOD.
7. While we greatly appreciate that the District has provided email addresses for the Section Chiefs and FODs, members still report that emails go unanswered. What is the best practice for members when they do not receive a reply?
Members should email the District Director if they do not receive email replies within a reasonable timeframe.
InfoPass
8. Members have reported they continue to have problems scheduling InfoPass appointments. They have tried logging on early in the morning, to no avail. It seems that with the Long Island City office closure, the New York City office is even more overburdened. Would the District consider creating more INFOPASS appointments? Or setting up new attorney only InfoPass appointments? If not, how do you recommend that attorneys follow-up with cases for which they would ordinarily go to InfoPass?
It’s recommended to try to schedule an appointment early, logging on before 8am to do so. Appointments are released two weeks out. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays generally have the most availability. Additionally, the District will accept walk-ins for emergency cases.
9. Please confirm that attorneys can make up to five inquiries per INFOPASS appointment. A member has reported that they were limited to one inquiry per INFOPASS a few weeks ago.
Correct, attorneys can make up to five inquiries per InfoPass appointment. This also applies in Long Island (Holtsville).
10. Does USCIS have an official policy on the issuance of I-551 stamps to LPRs who are arriving aliens placed in proceedings by CBP?
Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. §264.5 officers can issue I-551 stamps and Form I-90 is not required.
11. What is the official procedure or best practice for requesting that USCIS update or correct someone’s SAVE record?
Questions regarding SAVE should be sent to . If the issue is USCIS, it can be addressed at InfoPass, and the applicant must present relevant immigration documentation in order for USCIS to assist with the issue.
12. Please confirm that an applicant who has a Naturalization application pending and has an expired green card can obtain an I-551 stamp by showing an N-400 receipt notice.
Applicants with expired green cards and a pending naturalization case can obtain an I-551 stamp valid for one year at InfoPass.
13. Please advise regarding the District’s documentation requirement for Emergency Advance Parole. One member reports that an officer refused to issue the Emergency Advance Parole without first seeing the client’s old passport with the old visa with which the client had first entered the US. The applicant had been travelling with AP for several years already and her first valid entry was in her old, expired passport. The representatives in Room 102 insisted that they were specifically trained to require the original visa and entry stamp that the person first used to enter the United States. We understand that the regulations require only proof of the most recent legal entry. We trust that this was a training issue. Please remind officers that documentation regarding an applicant’s original visa and entry to the US is not required, only the most recent entry is required to obtain advanced parole.
Applications for emergency advanced parole are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. Generally, applicants need to show proof of the emergency, photos, and the passport that was most recently used to enter the US, which should include proof of valid entry.
I-130/245 Units
14. When parents and children must attend an adjustment interview, may parents request that children be interviewed separately from parents so as not to expose the children to the parent’s embarrassing criminal history (eg. DUI, simple possession etc.)? To whom should we make such requests?
This issue will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Attorneys should bring such matters to the attention of the interviewing officer or the Duty Supervisor. The Service should be able to accommodate such requests.
15. A person has a flawed permanent resident status and wishes to readjust with a waiver. Will the person be able to give up his prior lawful permanent residence status with the filing of an I-407, “Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status”,
Form at the local office? Is there a different answer if the person is an "arriving alien"?
I-407 Applications cannot be filed at the local office. They must be filed at a US Embassy/Consulate abroad or at the port of entry. In order for USCIS to “fix” LPR status, an applicant must first lose it. An applicant is an LPR until a determination is made to the contrary or he/she submits I-407 at the port of entry or a US Embassy/Consulate abroad.
16. Members continue to report that files for cases remanded from Immigration Court to the §245 Unit continue to be mis-routed to NRC, or not acted upon for several months to a year. We've had this problem for years, and we appreciate the NY District Office’s attempt to ameliorate this problem. Is the current procedure still to bring Immigration Judge Remand orders to Room 8-100 with a copy of the I-485 adjustment application? If not, is there a new procedure?
USCIS met with ICE to address these issues. ICE can’t send files directly to USCIS without the routing sheet for USCIS. USCIS is still working with ICE on these issues. The District suggested that attorneys liaise with the TAs to request that the files be forwarded to USCIS.
a. Is it possible for there to be an assigned USCIS liaison officer with ERO and ICE that members can seek assistance from for these IJ remand cases?
Attorneys can send a copy of the Remand Order and client information to Tamika Gray, . The case will still have to clear the EOIR and ERO docket. In the alternative send a copy of the order to Chief of Staff, John Carrington, .
17. Members report very long Stokes interviews, lasting 3 to 4 hours, often after a 2 hour wait in the waiting room before being called into an office. While we understand and appreciate the necessity of determining the bona fides of a marriage, we believe this goal can be accomplished in a 1-2 hour interview instead of one that lasts for 3-4 hours. What is the appropriate amount of time for an officer to spend interviewing a Petitioner and Beneficiary? What type of training are officers given for Stokes interviews?
The nature of Stokes interviews is unique such that they make take a significant amount of time. However, if an attorney feels that the interview was excessive, he/she can speak with a supervisor or raise the issue via Stop & Drop.
18. Please advise regarding the District’s policy for adjustment of status interviews when the Petitioner is incarcerated.
This is determined on a case-by-case basis. The interview can be done telephonically, or the District can waive an interview. However, for most cases, the case is administratively closed until the petitioner is released.
19. An attorney attended a 245 interview with a client in April this year. The following day, the interviewing officer contacted the client on his cell phone to ask additional questions in Mandarin, violating the client’s right to counsel. What training do officers received regarding contacting clients whose attorneys have submitted form G-28? Please remind officers that if there is a G-28 on file, they should contact the attorney of record before contacting the client.
This is an anomaly and the attorney should bring this up with the Section Chief. This should not happen. Officers should be contacting attorneys directly.
20. Usually officers provide customers with some written notice at the end of an interview that indicates the officer’s name, whether the case can be completed, and what time frame they can expect for decision; however this practice is not consistent. The District has advised that this is the policy for all units. Can you please remind officers that they should be providing these notices, with their name on them, to applicants and attorneys at the end of each interview?
Officers are instructed to provide post-interview notices for all I-485 and N-400 interviews, which have the officer’s name on them. There are not notices for N-600 interview or I-751 interviews, but the District Office will look in to providing them.
21. For cases where attorneys file I-485s with the Service Center with a copy of an already approved I-130 petition, is there any protocol that should be followed to ensure that the officer orders and reviews the I-130 file prior to the interview? Members report that they have appeared for interview but were told that the case would not be adjudicated due to the missing I-130 filing. In instances where the approved I-130 case is not in the I-485 file before the interview date, can these cases be rescheduled before the interview date?
Part of the initial review process is to make sure that the file is complete. If the Office does not have the complete record, in cases like this one, they will generally accept the I-797 to show that the I-130 was approved, but it remains in the officer’s discretion, and he/she must request complete file before completing.
22. Please confirm that when applicants move out of New York, post interview, that the NY office still has jurisdiction to complete adjudication of the application.
If the address change is post-interview then it will not affect jurisdiction. For N-400 cases, the District will continue to adjudicate the application, but will then forward the case to the office with jurisdiction for the oath ceremony.
23. Members have reported that some officers require that Special Immigrant JuvenileFamily CourtOrders be amended to their liking, so that the Orderincludes details that the officer specifies in addition to what is required by the regulations.The regulations at 8 CFR 204.11state the requirements for the Family Court Order. Some officers have issued RFEs for the Family Court Orders to be amendedto recite the supportingdetails (without providingany guidance as to how much detail would be sufficient) for the judge's findings.However, Form G-42, which is a standard Family Court Form, issued in New York by the Office of Court Administration (OCA) cannot be amended to include the details of the findings made by the Judge presiding in the Family Court guardianship proceedings. Counsel is unable to request that judges amend an order that legally has no defects or legal errors of any kind.Is the Director aware of these types of requests and if so, what is the District office’s position? Is this a new practice or a training issue?