Questions and Discussion Topics USCIS Nebraska Service Center Open House July 21, 2015

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1 Questions and Discussion Topics USCIS Nebraska Service Center Open House July 21, 2015 These notes were taken by members of NAFSA s ISS-RP Regulatory Ombudsperson Subcommittee and have not been reviewed by the agency officials who participated in the NSC Open House. These NSC Open House notes reflect information provided by government officials in an informal setting. Liaison notes and summaries are best used as general information concerning current agency processes and policies, and it is important to recognize that agency processes and policies are subject to change. NAFSA notes and liaison summaries do not constitute legal advice. The Nebraska Service Center (NSC) Open House was a general USCIS open house engagement that briefly addressed several different topics and didn t focus on one particular specialty. It was designed to give participants a feel for how the service center works with a brief overview of the benefits adjudicated by USCIS at NSC. There was a room set up with product line tables, where visitors were able to meet with product line officials and ask non-case specific questions. Throughout the day, 30 minute presentations were held on the following topics: 1. Welcome/Opening Remarks 2. What Does A Service Center Do? 3. Overview of Adjustment of Status/Business Product Line 4. Overview of Family Product Line 5. Overview of Document Production Product Line 6. Form I-9/E-Verify Visitors were also taken for guided tours of the NSC facility. While the Open House provided general information sessions, NSC did not allow for pre-submitted questions. The opportunity to ask product line officials non-case specific questions was provided. Some NSC background info: On a typical day, NSC processes 15,500 pieces of mail, acts on 5,578 adjudications, processes 680 employment authorizations, produces 593 travel documents. NSC receives 22,200 inquiries monthly. The NSC total workforce is 1271 persons, including 976 government employees and 295 contractors. The Document Production Division processes I-765s, I-131s, I-360s, TPS, and N-400s. The AOS/Business Division processes I-140s, I-485s, I-360s and TPS. There are 4 other divisions. The following notes were taken throughout the various sessions: The NSC Schools NSC.schools is moving to the customer service unit within NSC so there will be more standardized responses, plus a more standardized level of service to be more in line with what the other SCs are doing. This is due to a huge increase in volume to that .

2 The NSC Schools is still in transition. It is not always fully functioning. DSOs are still experiencing automatic response s. OPT Issues: NSC Schools has decided to amend their expedite request policy. In the past, NSC would consider an offer to expedite OPT with just an offer letter attached. NSC will now only consider a request to expedite OPT if the student submits proof of potential financial hardship or job loss if the OPT is not approved by a certain date. NSC appreciates schools providing as much information as possible with the OPT application. The more information put in the recommendation comment, the better. They also do appreciate it when we include a copy of the NAFSA date calculator with the CPT/employment page from SEVIS. While the additional information is not required, it is appreciated. NSC is aware of the OPT STEM Extension problem that arises when a STEM CIP Code is paired with a non-stem major title. This issues was sent to SCOPS and NSC is still waiting for guidance from SCOPS. Some recent OPT EADs account for the fact that 2016 is a leap year and some do not. We were told that EADs that do not account for the leap year and have the additional day are still considered valid. Requests for withdrawing OPT have to be signed by the student and they may not be scanned in and sent to the NSC . They need to be forwarded by the student via regular mail. Evidently they are receiving scans/letters that are not signed by the student. These letters will not be accepted. For OPT beyond 75 days, the student can contact to get their SRMT ticket. NSC Engagement Stakeholder call topics rotate, including student/academic, so participate, the CEO, Janelle Herres, at Janelle.m.herres@uscis.dhs.gov to get on the announcement list. RFEs: The RFE receipt date is the date of the scan of the bar code in the mail room-even if it hasn t been matched with a file yet. Expedited Processing (Premium Processing): The 15 day processing period begins when the I-907 is accepted. If an RFE is issued, the 15-day processing period restarts at 15 more days when the response to the RFE is received.

3 I-9 and E-Verify Issues: The I-9 has expanded instructions. Please see the latest version of the form here: The E-Verify representatives were very excited about their E-Verify, Self-Check services, They wanted us to make sure our students knew about this service. One of the positive aspects of this service is that it allows students to lock-in their SSN, making it impossible for others to use it for E-Verify purposes. Like S.A.V.E., E-Verify is document driven. E-Verify cross-checks against government databases depending on the document provided for the I-9. For example if a visa is a document, it checks against DOS. E-Verify@dhs.gov for questions. Not all employers who are E-verified are listed on the E-verify website, as they can opt out of having their information available on this website. If an employer is not willingly giving a student the E-verify number, the student should not contact E-verify, as they cannot give out this number. However, the employer should provide the student with this number, and often the employer is just nervous about distributing any form of employer identification. The E- Verify number can be used for nefarious purposes/fraud, so that s why companies may be reluctant to release it. I-131 Notes: NSC will expedite a travel document for the following: severe economic hardship, extreme emergency situation or humanitarian situation. TPS notes: While on TPS, designees may hold another immigration status, and can return to that status if TPS ends and they have maintained the requirements of the other status. Green Card Petition Issues: For LPR applicants, there is an advance parole document, but parole is not guaranteed. The Border official decides if parole is appropriate (a humanitarian travel purpose). It s usually 1 year with multiple entries. There is a combo card advance parole and EAD called, appropriately, an APEAD.

4 I-140 notes: Most I-140 petitions come from persons on H status. I-140 adjudicators do not look at maintenance of nonimmigrant status (that is reviewed for I-485 applicants) Once approved, an I-140 is valid indefinitely (unless revoked) For Labor Certification cases, if something is written in H.14 of the 9089, be sure to send evidence of how the applicant meets the requirements The I-140 production line was asked if they actually read transmittal letters and they said that they read them carefully and find them very useful. When asked how carefully they look at documents that support that an employee met the minimum requirements at the time of offer for a SHLC, and they said that they look at these very carefully. When adjudicating OPR I-140 s, they understand that researchers in certain fields, such as Finance, do not publish as prolifically as in other fields, such medical research. They take this into consideration. I-140 filing tips handout is attached* I-485 notes: An I-485 sent concurrently with an I-140 can only begin to be processed after the I-140 is approved. Dependents of I-140 principals can file with the principle, or while the I-485 of the principal is pending. Families are processed together whenever possible, but the principal must by processed first. On the I-485 form, complete all sections and items. Documents not in English must be accompanied by a certified English translation. Background checks of each I-485 are mandatory; this includes criminal and immigration status violations. The I-551 "green card" is valid for 10 years. I-485 filing tips handout is attached* The Center Support Division Notes: The Center Support Division oversees quality assurance and training for consistency. Training of new adjudicators All new adjudicators go to a five-week basic course in Texas and then come back to the center for more training, which depends on their production line. They work with an expert trainer who checks their cases and mentors them. A basic trainer is IS01 and then can move up

5 to IS02, and then become a senior, which is IS03. Any adjudicator can issue an RFE without having the supervisor review it, but all NOIDS have to go through supervisors. There is a prep team that prepares files for adjudicators. Eventually, the goal is for everything to become electronic, but for now, only the I-90 at the NSC can be filed through ELIS. Other forms can be E-filed, but the supporting documentation still has to be sent through mail to the NSC. When asked if double-sided documents were okay, the NSC representative said yes, and it has been okay for a while. They have double-sided scanners. The NSC does not set a numerical quota for adjudicators each month, but rather focuses on the quality of the adjudications. That being said, quantity can be a factor in evaluating quality, as processing times are an integral aspect to achieving their customer service standards. The Quality Control Unit pulls cases at random to review and decide whether standards were met, and most importantly, if the adjudicator s decision was correct. The Customer Service Unit received 235,000 inquires last year. The NSC processed 1.5 million actions last year, which includes approvals, denials, NOIDS, and reissuing of documents. The NSC has four attorneys in the legal department that assist with adjudications with regards to more difficult cases if the adjudicators have specific questions. They help supervisors with questions on policies, and of course are involved with any litigation for the NSC. When speaking with the attorneys, they mentioned that the backgrounds of the adjudicators are quite diverse. Some of them are former military men and women, some are former teachers, former attorneys, etc. They made the statement that the adjudicators are working very hard on these cases.