Matthew Udall

I just received a new report for the MSC, as of 11/30/02 (with print date of 12/03/02). It reflects some movement for I-129f K-3/4 cases. You can find it at, http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/sctimes.htm if you are interested.

Regards,
Matthew Udall
Attorney
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/fiancee.htm

bobzy

Matthew,

There was a discussion on another thread about how timetables that are posted at different web sites give a rather wide range if all taken in aggregate. In my case, the range between the reports on these web sites was even wider than the estimate that is given by INS itself -- so it isn't helpful to study them.

Your web site mentions that you get the information from Am. Imm. Lawyer's Assn.: are they compiling it from surveys of members' experiences, or do they compile a report from data that is provided by INS?

Matthew Udall

The data for the “Service Center� reports comes straight from each particular Service Center, and is given to AILA HQ who turns around and gives it to the AILA members. I'm an AILA member, and I repost that information on my site. If other AILA member’s pages have different information, it could be that they just have not updated their site with the new numbers yet (for example, I was out of town last week so I could not update my pages immediately as I usually do the moment the new numbers come out), "or" they got the new numbers before any of the other AILA members did (I've received the numbers earlier than the rest of the AILA membership on prior occasions; this happens just about every time I go to a Service Center meeting).

When a service center gets ready to issue a new report, they send a worker to the file room where he or she reads the cards on each shelf containing a different case type. The card (or sheet as the case may be) will have written on it the notice date of the last case that was taken off of the shelf and given to an officer for adjudication. The worker complies that data in a report, and that report is given to AILA HQ "as a courtesy to AILA" (since as a membership, we have so many cases pending with the INS). The reports are by no means perfect, and I've seen typos on reports from all of the Service Centers in the past.

But also remember that you CANNOT use a Service Center report if your case gets an IBIS hit, and you probably won't know for sure if your case is going to get, or did receive an IBIS hit (so that sort of takes some of the utility out of the reports, don't you agree).

Now when it comes to the District and Suboffice reports that you will also find on my site (as well as other AILA members sites), those numbers come from reports from AILA monitors around the country, “not� directly from the INS. Those numbers reflect average processing time or ranges of processing times as of a given date.

I just might have to discontinue posting those numbers (District and Suboffice numbers) on my site. When Ange and I had our little discussion about Copyright last week, I visited the AILA copyright policy page (had not visited it before) and I saw that they specifically say its OK for AILA members to republish the "Service Center" reports, however they say that since so much original work from AILA goes into creating the District Office and Suboffice reports, that even us AILA members do not have permission to republish those numbers on our sites unless we get permission from AILA to do so. Judging by how many other AILA members also republish the District and Suboffice numbers, apparently I'm not the only AILA member who was not aware of this request by AILA (not to republish these particular numbers... heck, they don't want AILA members to even post the AILA logo on the members site without permission [and I don't post the AILA logo on my site... never have]).

M.U.

Folinskyinla

Matt:

In notation of your replacement of your old picture with one of a pretty lady -- I'm reminded of when I was editor of the original "Immigration Lawyer's Toolbox" with Bonnie Stern-Wasser -- we put the lady on the cover but replaced the torch with a crescent wrench. Shortly thereafter, the torch started appearing on the NOA's.

I wonder if there is a connection?

Matthew Udall

You were part of the creation of the "tool box"? I bought that product two or three years ago! Did you personally make any $ for your efforts, or was your time "donated" with the proceeds going directly to AILA? Just curious as to how that works.

I took quite a few photos of Ms. Liberty on the day I visited her (I took the one that I’m currently using as my “posting photo�). Too bad they don't let you walk up the stairs inside the statue any more. I heard that when it was open for people to walk up and down the one-way circular stairs; that on hot days it got quite ripe inside :-)

I have a few photos from my trip to New York that I'll swap in from time to time as my "posting photo". Next one will likely be one of myself at Ellis Island, and I have a nice one of a cross at the WTC site, made from steal girders that were salvaged from the wreckage.

M.U.

Matthew Udall

Oh, Folinskyinla,
I see that the "aging hippies" are back and were mentioned on the AILA infonet today. Didn't you have something to do with that when it first came on line?

M.U.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Yes, I am the father of the "Toolbox" in concept. The LA Chapter hosted the 1993 California Chapters AILA Conference. Chuck Miller, Bonnie Sten-Wasser [now in Seattle], Darlene Seligman [before she became a Judge] and yours truly were the organizing committee. Before 1993, the hosting chapter published the conference materials. We had National AILA publish but Chuck negotiated a royalty deal for the CHAPTER. As you may know, AILA does not pay authors. So Bonnie and I profited not a penny but the Chapter did quite well! It was a "best seller" among AILA publications.

Unfortunately, Bonnie and I had a falling out with Amy and neither of us get credit in the acknowledgments of the subsequent editions for originating the thing. In contrast, I co-authored a book for the Immigraiton Law Project of the NLG and my name is still listed as author even though I haven't touched the thing since the second edition in 1992. Go figure.

Pardon my venting on this one. It is a little irritating.

bobzy

Matthew,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. You might consider pasting parts of your post on your web site with a link to it -- I suspect that there are a lot of people like me (unnecessarily anxious) who want to know what kind of confidence to put in these charts. Now I feel confident - at least if there is a reference to AILA and to a date which indicates the freshness of the table.

But I am still confused -- comparing some of these sites still leaves me wondering how the dates could be different in some cases -- it seems to be more than just an issue of when they were last updated. For example, the Texas Service Center is listed on one web site as processing I-129Fs with a receipt of 30 SEP 02. Your site (and others) shows a receipt date of 12 SEP 02. The one with the later date comes from a table that is two months old -- which means that the processing date has moved backward, not forward.

Is this possible? In case not, I have deliberately not named the board so that you can just say so! This is one that does not reference AILA, and many of these do not.

Matthew Udall

Ah, the old typo is rearing its ugly head again :-). It is my personal opinion that the report you are referring to is a very "old" report (you yourself noticed that its around 2 months old) that had a typo on it for the I-129f date.

Think about it: That old report was published on 09/30/02, and on that report they are saying that the last case they gave to an officer (meaning the case had already gone through the mail room, presorting, sorting, data entry, and made it to the front of the shelf) had a notice date of the very same date of publication of the report... 09/30/02. I don't see how that is possible (the notice date is the date a file is at Data Entry… and after Data Entry it “still� has to wait its turn on the shelf; usually for a number of days or perhaps weeks [depending on current work load] before being assigned to an officer).

The typo theory is reinforced when you look at the TSC reports "before" and "after" the report that I think contains a typo. If they really meant to type 08/30/02 (instead of 09/30/02), then that would fit right in line with the dates listed for I-129f’s on "prior" reports “and� the reports issued after the typo report.

So, I think the site you are referring to has not been updated in a long time (way overdue) and is still giving out information from a report that had a typo on it. If that is the case, I’d never visit that site again as they obviously don’t take their reporting very seriously.

Do them, yourself and the immigration community a favor. Send them e-mail and tell them to get their act together. (And is this an AILA member’s site...? Send me the URL via private e-mail so I can see for myself please. Thanks).

Regards,
Matthew Udall
Attorney
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/fiancee.htm

Ayisha

Oh my goodness. I was so sad because the last update showed a
processing date of August 3rd, and my NOA1 is Sept. 30. Now I have
hope, and my spirits have been lifted! I immediately called my
husband, and the both of us are so ecstatic. Thank you, Matthew! Thank
you so much! I can't stop smiling!!

A beaming Ayisha

Matthew Udall wrote in message news:...
    > I just received a new report for the MSC, as of 11/30/02 (with print
    > date of 12/03/02). It reflects some movement for I-129f K-3/4 cases. You
    > can find it at, http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/sctimes.htm if you are
    > interested.
    >
    > Regards,
    > Matthew Udall
    > Attorney
    > http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/fiancee.htm

bobzy

Done. (Private Message on this board) Thanks for all of these details!

claudia13839

Matthew:

What's going on with Vermont Service Center and the I-130's??? I've been checking the dates since the beginning of October and still no change!

Claudia