A new United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") policy now allows I-485 applications for adjustment of status to permanent resident to be approved where a Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") name check of the applicant has been pending for more than 180 days if the application is otherwise approvable. Previously, the USCIS waited indefinitely for an FBI name check clearance before approving any case. The new policy will hopefully result in final adjudication of many applications that have been pending for many years due to FBI delays.
This new policy does not extend to other required background checks, including FBI fingerprint clearances and checks of the federal government's Interagency Border Inspection System ("IBIS"). If the FBI name check later reveals adverse information about the foreign national, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") can move to rescind the adjustment approval and take other action, including removal proceedings, if the agency believes such action to be warranted. The new policy does not apply to applications for naturalization which have also been significantly delayed due to FBI name check backlogs.
The USCIS states that approximately 47,000 adjustment of status applications are approvable, but for pending FBI name check clearances. Many of these name check clearances have pending for more than 180 days.
How This Affects You
The USCIS Service Center has advised that status updates on employment-based adjustment of status applications pending at service centers can be made after March 30, 2008, so long as the FBI name check has been pending for more than 180 days. Previously, the agency asked applicants and attorneys to delay making status inquiries where there have been FBI name check delays until April 30, 2008. The agency requests that these inquiries be made to the USCIS customer service line at 1-800-375-5283.
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