Great News on the Immigration Front: USCIS revises FBI Name Check Policy!

USCIS Revises Name Check Policy.

This is great news!

The USCIS previously required that the FBI name check clearance be obtained before any immigration benefits applications were approved, regardless of the length of time required for the FBI name check approval.

This has led to many frustrated clients (often brilliant scientists) that often have been waiting for years.

Now the USCIS has issued this new policy, which essentially says that they'll wait 180 days for a clearance - and if the case is approvable it will be granted! This is the USCIS' way of forcing the FBI to do its job.

As an aside, this has been a long time in coming. Let's all cross our fingers for more!

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"Where the application is otherwise approvablc and the FBI name check request has been pending for more than 180 days, the adjudicator shall approve the 1-485,1-601,1-687, or 1-698 and proceed with card issuance. The FBI has committed to providing FBI name check results within this timeframe."



FEB4- 2008

HQ 70/23 & 70/28.1

Interoffice Memorandum

TO: Field Leadership

FROM: Michael Aytes

Associate Director, Domestic Operations

SUBJECT: Revised National Security Adjudication and Reporting Requirements
Background

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducts background checks on alt
applicants, petitioners, and beneficiaries seeking immigration benefits. This is done both to enhance national security and to ensure the integrity of the immigration process. USCIS has previously mandated that FBI name checks be completed and resolved before any positive adjudication can proceed on certain form types. This memorandum modifies existing guidance for applications where statutory immigration provisions allow for the detention and removal of an alien who is the subject of actionable information that is received from the FBI or other law
enforcement agencies after approval of the application. USCIS is issuing revised guidance in response to recommendations of the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG-06-06) regarding the need to align the agency's background and security check policies with those of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The
Background and Security Investigations in Proceedings Before Immigration Judges and the Board ofImmigration Appeals regulations prevent immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) from granting benefits to aliens before DHS confirms that all background and security checks have been completed. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.47(g); 8 C F R. § 1003.1(d)(6)(i). In the context ofremoval proceedings, ICE has determined that FBI fingerprint checks and Interagency Border Inspection Services (IBIS) checks are the required security checks for purposes of the applicable regulations. In the unlikely event that FBI name checks reveal actionable information after the immigration judge grants an alien permanent resident
K?5 ??iLmay detain and initittt0 remoya proceedings against the permanent resident. See 8 U.S.C. § 1227; see also 8 U.S.C. § 1256 (allowing DHS to rescind an alien's adjustment of status).

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