AOS background check waiting times
Nov 16th 2006, 9:25 pm
#1
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AOS background check waiting times
I think the last time I posed this question was about this time last year. What sort of waiting times have people experienced waiting for the background check to be finished?
A little background:
Filed AOS July 2004
Interview January 2005
still pending background check!! now on my third advanced parole and waiting for my third EAD to be processed. Every year it gets more stressful waiting for these two to come because I always forget and leave it down to the wire.
I was actually told by an immigration officer on the helpline that my GC had been approved and mailed to the wrong address when I called them in September. However when I called back and subsequently also went for an InfoPass in October I was told that that was not correct and that I am still pending. It's driving me crazy.
Jim
A little background:
Filed AOS July 2004
Interview January 2005
still pending background check!! now on my third advanced parole and waiting for my third EAD to be processed. Every year it gets more stressful waiting for these two to come because I always forget and leave it down to the wire.
I was actually told by an immigration officer on the helpline that my GC had been approved and mailed to the wrong address when I called them in September. However when I called back and subsequently also went for an InfoPass in October I was told that that was not correct and that I am still pending. It's driving me crazy.
Jim
Nov 16th 2006, 10:22 pm
#2
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Originally Posted by jimothy
I think the last time I posed this question was about this time last year. What sort of waiting times have people experienced waiting for the background check to be finished?
Check for posts by Elvira. Her son has also been waiting a couple of years, same as you. It seems to vary between several weeks to (so far) a couple of years. There's no way of knowing how long it will take.
I do hope it gets cleared up soon for you.Best Wishes,
Rene
Nov 16th 2006, 11:56 pm
#3
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Originally Posted by jimothy
I think the last time I posed this question was about this time last year. What sort of waiting times have people experienced waiting for the background check to be finished?
A little background:
Filed AOS July 2004
Interview January 2005
still pending background check!! now on my third advanced parole and waiting for my third EAD to be processed. Every year it gets more stressful waiting for these two to come because I always forget and leave it down to the wire.
I was actually told by an immigration officer on the helpline that my GC had been approved and mailed to the wrong address when I called them in September. However when I called back and subsequently also went for an InfoPass in October I was told that that was not correct and that I am still pending. It's driving me crazy.
Jim
A little background:
Filed AOS July 2004
Interview January 2005
still pending background check!! now on my third advanced parole and waiting for my third EAD to be processed. Every year it gets more stressful waiting for these two to come because I always forget and leave it down to the wire.
I was actually told by an immigration officer on the helpline that my GC had been approved and mailed to the wrong address when I called them in September. However when I called back and subsequently also went for an InfoPass in October I was told that that was not correct and that I am still pending. It's driving me crazy.
Jim
Nov 17th 2006, 9:42 am
#4
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Thanks for the replies. Every time I call or go for an InfoPass appointment everyone is very nice but they can always only tell me "pending" and there seems to be no process by which you can apply further.
I am now at 28 months pending. The officer I last spoke to in Houston said that around two years was the worst she had seen. Is there a cutoff date beyond which I could reasonably start to take legal action to get a decision made? If so does anyone know a good immigration attorney in Houston? We only moved here in March and my previous attorney is 1500 miles away.
Thanks
Jim
I am now at 28 months pending. The officer I last spoke to in Houston said that around two years was the worst she had seen. Is there a cutoff date beyond which I could reasonably start to take legal action to get a decision made? If so does anyone know a good immigration attorney in Houston? We only moved here in March and my previous attorney is 1500 miles away.
Thanks
Jim
Nov 17th 2006, 1:38 pm
#5
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
It doesnt sound like theyre just not making a decision... just sounds like theyre waiting for background checks. Theres plenty of reasons that it might take awhile...
Nov 17th 2006, 1:50 pm
#6
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Originally Posted by andrea874
It doesnt sound like theyre just not making a decision... just sounds like theyre waiting for background checks. Theres plenty of reasons that it might take awhile...
???
What are you on about?
Nov 17th 2006, 2:00 pm
#7
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Originally Posted by Elvira
???
What are you on about?
What are you on about?
Haha, honestly I have no idea. In fact I came back on here thinking "what the hell did I just write?". I guess thats what I get for typing when I first wake up. I swear that made sense in my head before I typed it. But, just ignore me. hah
Nov 17th 2006, 3:03 pm
#8
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Reminds me of this guy and his family. Yes - different circumstances for sure but same lengthy delays.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Trapped by their name
BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, November 17th, 2006
It started off as a much-needed family vacation in Canada. But their first-ever trip north of the border devolved into a harrowing four-month ordeal - turning Amir Khan and his family into exiles from the country they love.
On a summer trip to Toronto, the Connecticut bond trader discovered his name matched one on a security watch list. That meant he couldn't cross back over the border until extensive checks cleared him.
That took exactly 116 days."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/v-pf...p-397290c.html
entire article
Originally Posted by Noorah101
... There's no way of knowing how long it will take. ...
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Trapped by their name
BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, November 17th, 2006
It started off as a much-needed family vacation in Canada. But their first-ever trip north of the border devolved into a harrowing four-month ordeal - turning Amir Khan and his family into exiles from the country they love.
On a summer trip to Toronto, the Connecticut bond trader discovered his name matched one on a security watch list. That meant he couldn't cross back over the border until extensive checks cleared him.
That took exactly 116 days."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/v-pf...p-397290c.html
entire article
Last edited by Rete; Nov 17th 2006 at 3:23 pm.
Nov 17th 2006, 3:22 pm
#9
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Posts: 46,388
Re: AOS background check waiting times
Janadeen in the future only print a small paragraph or one sentence of the article and then the link. We don't wish to have a problem with any copyright infringement laws.
Thanks.
Rete
Thanks.
Rete
Originally Posted by janadeen
Reminds me of this guy and his family. Yes - different circumstances for sure but same lengthy delays.
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Trapped by their name
BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, November 17th, 2006
It started off as a much-needed family vacation in Canada. But their first-ever trip north of the border devolved into a harrowing four-month ordeal - turning Amir Khan and his family into exiles from the country they love.
On a summer trip to Toronto, the Connecticut bond trader discovered his name matched one on a security watch list. That meant he couldn't cross back over the border until extensive checks cleared him.
That took exactly 116 days - an unthinkable hardship that didn't end until yesterday, when the family finally returned to their Wilton, Conn., home.
"[My name's] as common in South Asia as John Smith is in the USA," said the 38-year-old, a nonpracticing Muslim originally from India. "I kept thinking, have I done something illegal? Do I know somebody who's done something illegal? But the only thing I've done is get a few parking tickets."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/v-pf...p-397290c.html
entire article
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Trapped by their name
BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, November 17th, 2006
It started off as a much-needed family vacation in Canada. But their first-ever trip north of the border devolved into a harrowing four-month ordeal - turning Amir Khan and his family into exiles from the country they love.
On a summer trip to Toronto, the Connecticut bond trader discovered his name matched one on a security watch list. That meant he couldn't cross back over the border until extensive checks cleared him.
That took exactly 116 days - an unthinkable hardship that didn't end until yesterday, when the family finally returned to their Wilton, Conn., home.
"[My name's] as common in South Asia as John Smith is in the USA," said the 38-year-old, a nonpracticing Muslim originally from India. "I kept thinking, have I done something illegal? Do I know somebody who's done something illegal? But the only thing I've done is get a few parking tickets."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/v-pf...p-397290c.html
entire article
Nov 17th 2006, 6:08 pm
#10
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Jim, *the* longest I have read about was over 3 years post-successful AOS interview. Yours is one of the longer ones I have heard about as well... you are at 22 months since interview and counting, correct?
Ours took 11.5 months post-interview.
Ours took 11.5 months post-interview.
Nov 17th 2006, 6:09 pm
#11
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Originally Posted by hcj1440
Jim, *the* longest I have read about was over 3 years post-successful AOS interview. Yours is one of the longer ones I have heard about as well... you are at 22 months since interview and counting, correct?
Ours took 11.5 months post-interview.
Ours took 11.5 months post-interview.
But surely the count starts at the time they took the fingerprints?
Nov 17th 2006, 6:15 pm
#12
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Originally Posted by Elvira
But surely the count starts at the time they took the fingerprints?
1) it seemed to me that they didn't run the background check until close to your interview date -- at least that's how it seemed to work for us, way back when.
2) also "back in the day" when NYC and Atlanta were taking 2+ years to get to the AOS interview, it didn't seem quite apples-to-apples to be counting the two years before the interview, because for example people in my office were getting to the interview in ten months instead of two years. The time spent waiting post-successful interview seemed a more fair comparison when I looked at waiting times for background checks across the US.
Just how I tracked it, no significance otherwise.
Nov 17th 2006, 7:13 pm
#13
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one. I remember when I got the interview notice I thought I was very lucky, only 6 months and I've got the interview. Then the interview itself was very short and friendly. I should have known it was too good to be true .....
I was thinking about filing a mandamus writ to get a decision but I suspect Andrea maybe had a point in that it may not be that USCIS is not making a decision, just that they are waiting on the FBI. Does anyone know whether the mandamus writ will be worth doing?
I was thinking about filing a mandamus writ to get a decision but I suspect Andrea maybe had a point in that it may not be that USCIS is not making a decision, just that they are waiting on the FBI. Does anyone know whether the mandamus writ will be worth doing?
Nov 17th 2006, 7:25 pm
#14
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
Originally Posted by jimothy
Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one. I remember when I got the interview notice I thought I was very lucky, only 6 months and I've got the interview. Then the interview itself was very short and friendly. I should have known it was too good to be true .....
I was thinking about filing a mandamus writ to get a decision but I suspect Andrea maybe had a point in that it may not be that USCIS is not making a decision, just that they are waiting on the FBI. Does anyone know whether the mandamus writ will be worth doing?
I was thinking about filing a mandamus writ to get a decision but I suspect Andrea maybe had a point in that it may not be that USCIS is not making a decision, just that they are waiting on the FBI. Does anyone know whether the mandamus writ will be worth doing?
I think it's time someone at USCIS followed up with FBI or whoever to ask what the holdup is. And maybe a mandamus action would prompt that?
In our case our approval was coincidental with either our congressman's inquiry or our second AP application -- or perhaps both. We think one or the other prompted someone to look at our file again and go "Oops this one has been pending for a while" and it finally got actioned.
Nov 17th 2006, 7:34 pm
#15
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Re: AOS background check waiting times
I'm on my third AP and third EAD now so I guess that didn't trigger it for me. Maybe I should try my congressman first before going to an attorney. It sounds like that may have worked for you. Thanks for the reply.
Jim
Jim