IMMIGRATION BENEFITS

GAO United Sttes Generl Accounting Office Report to Congressionl Requesters My 2001 IMMIGRATION BENEFITS Severl Fctors Impede Timeliness of Appliction Processing GAO-01-488

Contents Letter 1 Appendix I: List of INS Applictions nd Petitions Processed t the Service Centers, Districts, nd Appliction Support Centers 51 Appendix II: Description of Mjor INS Appliction nd Petition Forms 53 Appendix III: INS Nturliztion nd Adjustment of Sttus Processing Flowchrts 54 Appendix IV: INS Worklod Dt on Mjor Types of Applictions 60 Appendix V: Sttisticl Profile of INS Field Offices Visited 80 Appendix VI: INS Vlution Study Results on Pending Appliction Wit Times for Selected Field Offices 110 Appendix VII: Comments From the Deprtment of Justice 113 Appendix VIII: GAO Contcts nd Stff Acknowledgments 114 Tbles Tble 1: Funding Sources for INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion Progrm 10 Tble 2: Onbord Adjudictions Stff 11 Tble 3: Applictions INS Received by Appliction Type 13 Tble 4: Applictions INS Completed by Appliction Type 15 Pge i

Tble 5: Bcklog of Pending Applictions by Appliction Type 16 Tble 6: INS Production Gols for Nturliztion Applictions (Form N-400) 17 Tble 7: INS Production Gols for Applictions for Adjustment of Sttus (Form I-485) 19 Tble 8: Vlution Study Results on Wit Times Associted With Pending Applictions s of September 30, 2000 29 Tble 9: Cliforni Service Center 80 Tble 10: Vermont Service Center 85 Tble 11: Chicgo District 90 Tble 12: Houston District 95 Tble 13: Los Angeles District 100 Tble 14: Mimi District 105 Tble 15: Vlution Study Results on Wit Times for Nturliztion Applictions (Form N-400) 110 Tble 16: Vlution Study Results on Wit Times for Appliction for Adjustment of Sttus (Form I-485) 111 Tble 17: Vlution Study Results on Wit Times for Appliction to Replce Permnent Resident Crd (Form I-90) 111 Tble 18: Vlution Study Results on Wit Times for Petition for Alien Reltive (Form I-130) 112 Tble 19: Vlution Study Results on Wit Time for Appliction to Extend/Chnge Nonimmigrnt Sttus (Form I-539) 112 Figures Figure 1: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Nturliztion Applictions (Form N-400) 18 Figure 2: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Applictions for Adjustment of Sttus (Form I-485) 20 Figure 3: Bcklog of Applictions Associted With Adjustment of Sttus Applictions (Form I-485) 21 Figure 4: Bcklog of Applictions for Employment Authoriztion (Form I-765) nd Trvel Document (Form I-131) 22 Figure 5: INS Estimtes of Processing Time Bsed on the Lst 3 Months of Fiscl Yers 1996-2000 25 Figure 6: Appliction for Nturliztion (Form N-400) Flowchrt 54 Figure 7: District Appliction for Adjustment of Sttus (Form-485) Flowchrt for Fmily-Bsed Applictions 56 Figure 8: Service Center Appliction for Adjustment of Sttus (Form I-485) Flowchrt for Employment-Bsed Applictions 58 Figure 9: Appliction for Nturliztion (Form N-400) Worklod Compred to Completions 60 Pge ii

Figure 10: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Applictions for Nturliztion (Form N-400) 61 Figure 11: Appliction for Adjustment of Sttus (Form I-485) Worklod Compred to Completions 62 Figure 12: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Adjustment of Sttus Applictions (Form I-485) 63 Figure 13: Appliction to Replce Permnent Residence Crd (Form I-90) Worklod Compred to Completions 64 Figure 14: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Applictions to Replce Permnent Residence Crd (Form I-90) 65 Figure 15: Petition for Nonimmigrnt Worker (Form I-129) Worklod Compred to Completions 66 Figure 16: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Petitions for Nonimmigrnt Worker (Form I-129) 67 Figure 17: Petition for Alien Reltive (Form I-130) Worklod Compred to Completions 68 Figure 18: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Petitions for Alien Reltive (Form I-130) 69 Figure 19: Appliction for Trvel Document (Form I-131) Worklod Compred to Completions 70 Figure 20: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Applictions for Trvel Document (Form I-131) 71 Figure 21: Immigrnt Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140) Worklod Compred to Completions 72 Figure 22: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Immigrnt Petitions for Alien Worker (Form I-140) 73 Figure 23: Petition to Extend/Chnge Nonimmigrnt Sttus (Form I-539) Worklod Compred to Completions 74 Figure 24: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Petitions to Extend/Chnge Nonimmigrnt Sttus (Form I-539) 75 Figure 25: Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence (Form I- 751) Worklod Compred to Completions 76 Figure 26: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Petitions to Remove Conditions on Residence (Form I-751) 77 Figure 27: Appliction for Employment Authoriztion (Form I-765) Worklod Compred to Completions 78 Figure 28: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Applictions for Employment Authoriztion (Form I-765) 79 Pge iii

Abbrevitions ASC Appliction Support Center BETS Bufflo Exms nd Trcking System CLAIMS Computer Linked Appliction Informtion Mngement System FBI Federl Bureu of Investigtion IEFA Immigrtion Exmintions Fee Account INS Immigrtion nd Nturliztion Service IRCA Immigrtion Reform nd Control Act ISD Immigrtion Services Division LIFE Legl Immigrtion nd Fmily Equity Act NCSC Ntionl Customer Service Center RNACS Reengineered Nturliztion Applictions Csework System Pge iv

United Sttes Generl Accounting Office Wshington, DC 20548 My 4, 2001 The Honorble Jmes F. Sensenbrenner, Jr. Chirmn, Committee on the Judiciry House of Representtives The Honorble George W. Geks Chirmn, Subcommittee on Immigrtion nd Clims Committee on the Judiciry House of Representtives The Honorble Jim Turner House of Representtives The Honorble Judy Biggert House of Representtives INS hs been criticized by Congress, the medi, nd immigrnt dvoccy groups for its inbility to provide immigrnts with timely decisions on their pplictions for such benefits s nturliztion nd legl permnent residence. In 1996, the integrity of INS nturliztion process cme under fire becuse in n effort to reduce bcklog in pplictions, INS ws nturlizing liens without first completing criminl history bckground checks. In response, INS implemented qulity improvement mesures in 1997 nd 1998 to enhnce nd monitor the qulity of its nturliztion process. These efforts, however, contributed to further bcklogs tht reched high of 1.8 million nturliztion pplictions 1 by the end of fiscl yer 1998. INS continues to struggle with lrge ppliction bcklogs nd lengthy processing times. In some loctions, pplicnts must wit 2 yers or longer for INS to djudicte pplictions for benefits. You sked us to review INS ppliction worklod, quntify the resources expended djudicting pplictions, determine the fctors ffecting INS bility to process pplictions, nd identify INS ctions to improve processing. This report ddresses the following questions: 1 INS receives both pplictions nd petitions from immigrnts nd U.S. citizens. Immigrnts submit pplictions to INS when they seek benefits for themselves, such s U.S. citizenship. Petitions re filed on behlf of liens, such s when employers petition on behlf of employees or prents petition on behlf of children. For purposes of this report, the term ppliction is used to refer both to pplictions nd petitions. Pge 1

1. Since 1994, to wht extent hve INS djudictions budget, stffing, nd worklod chnged? 2. Since 1994, to wht extent hs INS experienced bcklogs in processing pplictions for immigrtion benefits? 3. How long does it tke INS to process pplictions from the time the ppliction is received until it is completed? 4. Wht fctors ffect INS ppliction bcklogs nd processing times, nd wht ctions hs INS tken or plnned to ddress them? 5. Wht other ctions hs INS tken or plnned to improve ppliction processing? Results in Brief Although INS hs experienced substntil growth in its budget nd stff, it continues to hve difficulty mnging its ppliction worklod. INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm budget, comprised lrgely of fees pid by pplicnts, hs nerly qudrupled since fiscl yer 1994 to nerly $500 million. The size of its progrm stff hs more thn doubled since fiscl yer 1995 to bout 6,100. In fiscl yer 2000, INS received nerly 50 percent more pplictions thn in fiscl yer 1994, while its ppliction bcklog incresed nerly four-fold to bout 3.9 million during the sme time period. INS efforts to meet production gols for processing nturliztion nd djustment of sttus pplictions helped reduce bcklogs in those res, but bcklogs for other ppliction types then incresed. INS does not know how long it tkes to process liens pplictions becuse its vilble servicewide utomted systems contin unrelible dt nd its districts do not hve utomted systems for trcking mny types of pplictions. A recent physicl inventory of pending pplictions reveled tht bout 767,000 out of lmost 3 million pplicnts with pplictions pending s of September 30, 2000, hd been witing t lest 21 months for INS to process their nturliztion, legl permnent residence, nd other immigrtion-relted pplictions. To minimize wit times for employment benefits, INS hs implemented policy tht provides permission to work to liens who re witing decision on their ppliction for djustment of sttus to legl permnent residence. However, thousnds of pplicnts who were grnted employment uthoriztion by INS re denied djustment of sttus ech yer, mening tht they lso cnnot work in the United Sttes nd tht their work Pge 2

uthoriztion needs to be revoked. For other ppliction types, the uncertinty cused by lengthy processing times hs reportedly disrupted mny pplicnts lives. INS officils identified three fctors s impeding INS bility to reduce bcklogs, improve processing times, nd effectively mnge its worklod: Automtion: INS districts lck n utomted cse mngement nd trcking system for ppliction types other thn nturliztion. As result, INS cnnot redily determine (1) the size nd sttus of its pending worklod; (2) ppliction processing times; (3) the existence of processing bottlenecks; (4) how to deploy stff bsed on worklod nd bcklogs; or (5) whether pplictions re processed in the order in which they re received. Stffing: INS officils sy they need dditionl stff to keep up with growing worklod. However, they could not specify the types of stff needed or where they should be locted becuse they lck stff resource lloction model. Fingerprinting: Due to lengthy processing times, INS frequently does not djudicte cses within the 15-month period tht the results of the Federl Bureu of Investigtion s (FBI) fingerprint checks for criminl history re vlid. As result, INS must incur the dditionl time nd expense of refingerprinting the individuls nd sending the fingerprints to the FBI to perform nother criminl history check. INS hs tken or plnned to tke number of ctions to improve ppliction processing. It creted the Office of Production Mngement in 1998, which hs estblished monthly production gols nd ccountbility for field offices. INS hopes to implement single servicewide utomted cse mngement nd trcking system, nd it is prepring business pln nd n informtion technology strtegy to guide immigrtion benefits reengineering nd informtion technology improvements over the next 5 to 10 yers. In response to our prior recommendtions, INS is developing blueprint for ll its utomted system needs, nd it is developing n informtion technology investment mngement process. We believe these efforts re steps in the right direction. Mny of them, however, re still in plnning stges, so it is too erly to tell whether nd to wht extent they will resolve INS ppliction worklod problems. At the end of this letter, we mke recommendtions to INS regrding clculting ctul ppliction processing times; developing guidnce nd trining for screening djustment of sttus pplictions before issuing temporry work uthoriztion benefits, nd monitoring the qulity of this Pge 3

screening; developing stffing model for processing pplictions; nd improving its fingerprinting procedures. The Deprtment of Justice ws provided drft of this report for comment nd concurred with our recommendtions. Bckground INS, through its Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm, delivers vrious immigrtion benefits nd services to liens, including nturlizing immigrnts, djusting the sttus of immigrnts to permnent residence, providing employment uthoriztion, nd grnting sylum. INS chrges liens fees for processing their pplictions nd deposits the fees into the Immigrtion Exmintions Fee Account (IEFA). This ccount ws estblished in 1988 to reimburse ny INS pproprition for expenses incurred in providing djudictions nd nturliztion services. In 1990, Congress uthorized INS to set djudictions nd nturliztion fees t level tht would ensure recovery of the full costs of providing services. 2 From fiscl yer 1994 to fiscl yer 1996, the Adjudictions nd Nturliztion budget ws lmost entirely funded by IEFA. Beginning in fiscl yer 1997 nd continuing through fiscl yer 2000, Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm funding included direct ppropritions, 3 in ddition to IEFA funds, to reduce ppliction cselods. INS crries out its service function through network of field offices consisting of 4 service centers, 33 districts, nd 75 ppliction support centers (ASCs). (App. I contins list of pplictions nd petitions processed by the service centers, districts, nd ASCs; nd pp. II contins 2 IEFA ws estblished by the 1989 Deprtment of Justice Approprition Act (P.L. 100-459 (1988)), 8 U.S.C. 1356 (m), (n). The requirement to recover the full costs of providing services ws included in the 1991 Deprtment of Justice Approprition Act (P.L. 101-515 (1990)). IEFA funds, which ccount for pproximtely 18 percent of INS budget, re disbursed to mny progrms within INS, including Inspections, Investigtions, Intelligence, Construction nd Engineering, Informtion nd Records Mngement, nd Dt nd Communictions. 3 For the most prt, ppliction fees deposited into IEFA cover ppliction processing ctivities. In some yers, direct ppropritions from the INS Slries nd Expenses ccount re lso provided for ppliction processing. The conference reports for ech fiscl yer ccompnying the nnul Justice ppropritions lws estblish the spending level uthority for the ctivities funded by IEFA. If INS nticiptes need for chnge in funding uthority s result of high or lower-thn-expected fee collections, then INS is to prepre reprogrmming proposl for trnsmittl by Justice to the Office of Mngement nd Budget nd, subsequently, to the congressionl ppropritions committees with jurisdiction over Justice. Pge 4

description of the mjor pplictions submitted to INS bsed on number received or those of specil interest tht re cited in the report.) INS four service centers re locted in Cliforni, Nebrsk, Texs, nd Vermont. They were creted in 1990 to help reduce ppliction bcklogs in the district offices. Service centers process 35 types of pplictions, including petitions for permnent nd temporry workers, petitions for dmission of spouses, nd pplictions for employment-bsed djustment of sttus to permnent residence. Since Februry 1996, the service centers hve shred responsibility with the districts for processing nturliztion pplictions. Nturliztion pplictions re received by the service centers nd processed up to the point of interview, t which time responsibility for processing the cse is shifted to the cogniznt district so tht the pplicnt cn be interviewed nd the cse decided. INS 33 districts, consisting of district office nd in mny cses suboffices, re locted throughout the ntion. The districts process 42 types of pplictions, most of which require interviews with the pplicnt or verifiction of n pplicnt s identity. In ddition to nturliztion pplictions, districts process petitions for lien reltives nd fmily-bsed djustment of sttus pplictions, mong others. INS 75 ppliction support centers re under the jurisdiction of districts nd re locted throughout the ntion. They were estblished in fiscl yer 1998 to serve s INS designted fingerprint loctions. 4 In June 2000, INS shifted responsibility for processing pplictions for renewl of permnent resident crds (i.e., green crds) from the districts to ASCs. 5 INS ppliction processing procedures vry by ppliction type nd by office. In generl, the following tsks re involved in processing n ppliction: (1) collect nd deposit the ppliction fee nd issue receipt to the lien; (2) crete n lien file, or request n existing lien file; (3) enter dt on the pplicnt into n utomted system (if vilble); (4) tke pplicnt s fingerprints nd send them to the FBI for criminl history check (if needed); (5) review the ppliction, nd other supporting documents, such s FBI fingerprint check results, mrrige certificte, or 4 To ccommodte the minority of cses in which pplicnts would hve to trvel more thn 100 miles to n ASC, INS lso estblished fingerprint opertions in 52 district offices nd suboffices, developed greements with pproximtely 40 lw enforcement gencies, nd estblished 44 mobile routes with 82 service points. 5 In 1989, INS set 10-yer limit on the vlidity of lien permnent resident crds. They begn to expire in fiscl yer 2000. Pge 5

court disposition of n rrest; (6) interview the pplicnt (if needed); (7) dminister nturliztion test (if needed); (8) pprove or deny the cse; (9) notify pplicnt of INS decision; nd (10) updte INS utomted systems (if vilble). (App. III contins flowchrts depicting INS process for djudicting nturliztion nd djustment of sttus pplictions.) While INS processes bout 50 different types of immigrtion pplictions, two types nturliztion nd djustment of sttus pplictions ccounted for more thn 46 percent of INS ppliction bcklog in fiscl yer 2000. The number of these pplictions incresed drmticlly during the 1990s due, in prt, to two pieces of legisltion. First, under the Immigrtion Reform nd Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, INS creted progrm to leglize the sttus of certin illegl liens who hd resided in the United Sttes continuously since Jnury 1, 1982. 6 As result, nerly 3 million illegl immigrnts becme legl permnent residents, 7 nd by Februry 1995, they were eligible to pply for citizenship. Second, under Section 245(i) of the Immigrtion nd Ntionlity Act, certin illegl liens residing in the United Sttes (e.g., non-immigrnts with expired viss) were llowed to djust their sttus to legl permnent residence without returning overses. 8 This provision, which ws encted in 1994, resulted in surge of djustment of sttus pplictions during fiscl yers 1995 through 1997. 9 (Sttistics on the number of pplictions received by INS in ech of fiscl yers 1994 through 2000 re provided in tble 3 on p. 13.) To ddress the surge in nturliztion pplictions, in August 1995 INS lunched the Citizenship USA (CUSA) inititive. INS hd projected tht without serious effort to reduce the bcklog of nturliztion pplictions, by the summer of 1996 n eligible pplicnt would hve to wit 3 yers to be nturlized s U.S. citizen. The stted gol of CUSA 6 P.L. 99-603, 8 USC 1324 et seq. 7 These illegl immigrnts were first leglized nd grnted temporry legl residence sttus. After 18-30 months s temporry legl residents, they were ble to pply for permnent legl residence. 8 1995 Deprtment of Justice Approprition Act (P. L. 103-317 (1994)). 9 The 1994 provision ws mended by the 1998 Deprtment of Justice Approprition Act (P.L. 105-119 (1997)), to provide tht only liens who were beneficiries of n immigrtion petition or lbor certifiction ppliction on or before Jn. 14, 1998, would be eligible for djustment under 245(i). The Legl Immigrtion nd Fmily Equity Act (P.L. 106-553), encted on Dec. 21, 2000, extended the Jn. 14, 1998, dte to Apr. 30, 2001.) Section 245(i), s mended, is codified t 8 U.S.C. 1255i. Pge 6

ws to reduce the nturliztion ppliction bcklog to the point where eligible pplicnts would be nturlized within 6 months of their submitting nturliztion pplictions. The CUSA inititive ws found to be frught with qulity nd integrity problems tht resulted in ineligible pplicnts receiving citizenship. According to recent Deprtment of Justice report, 10 INS mde the timely completion of nturliztion cses its guiding principle during its citizenship inititive t the expense of ccurcy nd integrity in the determintion of eligibility. In response to the problems tht rose, INS implemented nturliztion qulity procedures in November 1996, which were designed to chieve consistent nd complete processing through revised fingerprint check procedures, the use of work sheets nd stndrdized documenttion for ech file, enhnced supervisory review, nd stndrdized qulity ssurnce progrm. In 1997, INS estblished the Office of Nturliztion Opertions, now nmed the Immigrtion Services Division (ISD). The role of the office is to help restore integrity nd credibility to nturliztion processing procedures, nd to reduce nturliztion bcklogs. The office contrcted with PricewterhouseCoopers for pln to reengineer the nturliztion process nd, in September 1997, the contrctor issued its proposed pln, which INS is in the process of implementing. Improvements tht hve been mde include performing complete file review of cses before pplicnts re scheduled for interviews, developing Ntionl Customer Service Center with 1-800 phone line for informtion, nd creting nd distributing Guide to Nturliztion for use by pplicnts. Objectives, Scope, nd Methodology As greed with your offices, this report ddresses the following: (1) Since 1994, to wht extent hve INS djudictions budget, stffing, nd worklod chnged? (2) Since 1994, to wht extent hs INS experienced bcklogs in processing liens pplictions for immigrtion benefits? (3) How long does it tke INS to process pplictions from the time the ppliction is received until it is completed? (4) Wht fctors ffect INS ppliction bcklogs nd processing times, nd wht ctions hs INS tken or plnned to ddress them? nd (5) Wht other ctions hs INS tken or plnned to improve ppliction processing? 10 An Investigtion of the Immigrtion nd Nturliztion Service s Citizenship USA Inititive (Office of Inspector Generl, U.S. Deprtment of Justice, July 31, 2000). Pge 7

To ddress our first two reporting questions the extent to which INS budget, stffing, nd worklod hve chnged nd the extent which INS hs experienced bcklogs we nlyzed INS budget nd stffing dt, including dt on INS contrcts supporting djudictions ctivities. We lso nlyzed worklod dt from INS Performnce Anlysis System, which is INS primry system for recording the size of its worklod. We interviewed INS field nd hedqurters stff regrding the collection nd nlysis of the worklod dt. We lso reviewed Inspector Generl reports regrding the relibility of INS worklod dt nd held discussions with Justice Inspector Generl stff regrding their reports. Questions hve been rised bout the relibility of INS dt on pplictions received, completed, nd pending. However, INS officils mintin tht they re the only dt currently vilble nd re useful for discerning trends in ppliction worklod. We rounded the numbers to the nerest thousnd when presenting worklod dt in order to reduce the impression tht the dt re precise. To nswer question 3, regrding how long it tkes INS to process pplictions, we reviewed the methods INS hs used to estimte nd report processing times. We interviewed field nd hedqurters stff bout how these dt were being collected, monitored, nd disseminted. We reviewed nd nlyzed INS ppliction inventory vlution study, which estimted the ge of INS pending worklod for selected types of pplictions s of September 30, 2000. We lso interviewed representtives of community-bsed orgniztions to obtin informtion bout their experiences with INS nd how INS processing delys hve impcted their clients. In this review, we focused on the mount of time tht elpsed between INS receiving nd completing the processing of n ppliction, not on the mount of stff time expended by INS to process individul pplictions. To ddress the lst two questions fctors tht ffect INS ppliction bcklogs nd processing times nd ctions tht INS hs tken or plnned to improve ppliction processing we interviewed INS officils in hedqurters, s well s in six field offices the Cliforni Service Center in Lgun Niguel; the Vermont Service Center in St. Albns; nd district offices in Los Angeles, Chicgo, Mimi, nd Houston. We chose these loctions becuse they were identified s offices hndling lrge volume of pplictions nd bcklogs. Together, these two service centers nd four districts ccounted for 47 percent of ll pplictions received by INS in fiscl yer 2000. We reviewed plnning documents, including reports regrding improvements to INS processes. In this review, we focused on Pge 8

ppliction bcklogs nd processing times nd did not conduct nlyses of the integrity of INS processing efforts. We conducted our work from Februry 2000 through Mrch 2001 in ccordnce with generlly ccepted government uditing stndrds. We requested comments on drft of this report from the Attorney Generl. The INS Executive Associte Commissioner for Field Opertions provided written comments, which re summrized t the end of this letter nd reproduced in ppendix VII. INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion Progrm Budget nd Stffing Hve Substntilly Incresed INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm budget, funded primrily by fees, hs incresed significntly since fiscl yer 1994. The lrgest increse occurred in fiscl yer 1996, when INS hired over 900 temporry officer nd support stff to reduce ppliction bcklogs. Stffing dt for ech of the six field offices tht we visited re presented in ppendix V. INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm budget lmost qudrupled from $129 million in fiscl yer 1994 to $496 million in fiscl yer 2000. As shown in tble 1, the mjority of funding hs been from fees INS chrged pplicnts for processing their pplictions nd deposited into the IEFA. Beginning in fiscl yer 1997, INS IEFA funds were supplemented with direct ppropritions. For fiscl yers 1997 nd 1998, INS received pproprited funds to support bcklog reduction nd improve the integrity of the nturliztion process. For fiscl yers 1999 nd 2000, these pproprited funds were generlly used to reduce ppliction bcklogs. 11 11 According to INS officils, INS used the pproprited funds to hire officers in temporry positions; to contrct for clericl support in districts, service centers, nd ppliction support centers; to contrct for studies to reengineer the ppliction process; to fund stff overtime; nd to expnd the Ntionl Customer Service Center, mong other things. Pge 9

Tble 1: Funding Sources for INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion Progrm Dollrs in thousnds Funding source 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 encted 2001 pproprited IEFA funds $126,313 $168,523 $276,272 $302,663 $360,992 $363,871 $407,605 $457,362 Other fee ccounts 2,885 2,652 1,163 1,182 1,031 754 1,125 1,125 b b b Approprited funds 5,916 c 16,687 c 75,788 c 86,896 d 41,621 e Totl $129,198 $171,175 $277,435 $309,761 $378,710 $440,413 $495,626 $500,108 Includes Legliztion, H1-B, nd other immigrtion fee ccount funds. b The Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm did not receive direct ppropritions these yers. c According to n INS officil, INS received these funds to reduce ppliction bcklogs nd improve the integrity of the nturliztion process. These funds were used to fund stff overtime, fund contrcts for clericl stff, nd reengineer the nturliztion process. d The totl mount of direct pproprited funding ws $176 million in fiscl yer 1999 nd $124.2 million in fiscl yer 2000. According to INS officils, these funds were used to hire temporry officers to reduce ppliction bcklogs, to expnd the Ntionl Customer Service Center, to conduct fingerprint verifiction project, to fund stff overtime, nd to upgrde computer systems, mong other things. e According to n INS officil, $35 million is being used to fund contrcts for clericl support in INS service centers, nd bout $6 million is being used for the mintennce nd repir of digitl fingerprinting mchines used by ASCs. Source: GAO nlysis of INS dt. Overll, the totl number of onbord progrm stff more thn doubled between fiscl yers 1995 nd 2000. 12 As shown in tble 2, the number of djudictions officers incresed 78 percent (from 1,277 to 2,278 officers) nd INS support stff incresed by 60 percent (from 1,037 to 1,664 clerks). The overwhelming mjority of the growth in INS stff occurred in fiscl yer 1996. Between fiscl yers 1996 nd 2000, the number of contrctor support stff for the Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm incresed by 86 percent (from 1,158 to 2,154 clerks). 12 INS officils did not hve detiled servicewide stffing dt vilble before fiscl yer 1995 becuse stffing ws mnged t the field office level. The exct growth in progrm stff cnnot be determined becuse INS did not hve records on the number of contrctor stff who provided clericl support services prior to fiscl yer 1996. Pge 10

Tble 2: Onbord Adjudictions Stff INS djudictions officers b INS support stff c support stff Grnd Contrctor Permnent Temporry d Totl Permnent Temporry e Totl Totl totl f 1995 1,273 4 1,277 847 190 1,037 2,314 1996 1,419 497 1,916 971 736 1,707 1,158 4,781 1997 1,436 442 1,878 981 701 1,682 1,340 4,900 1998 1,692 408 2,100 1,049 633 1,682 1,584 5,366 1999 1,788 522 2,310 1,161 495 1,656 2,110 6,076 2000 1,954 324 2,278 1,124 540 1,664 2,154 6,096 Note: Stff onbord s of the end of ech fiscl yer. Detiled stffing dt were not vilble for fiscl yer 1994. b Includes djudictions officers nd supervisory djudictions officers. c Includes pplictions clerks, office utomtion clerks, secretries, nd clerk typists d Includes term ppointments (up to 4 yers) nd rehired nnuitnts. e Includes term ppointments (up to 4 yers), rehired nnuitnts, nd temporry ppointments (up to 2 yers). f INS did not hve contrctor support stffing dt vilble for fiscl yer 1995. Source: GAO nlysis of INS dt. Tble 2 lso shows the growth in the number of djudictions officers nd INS clericl support stff in both permnent nd temporry positions. The number of officers in permnent positions incresed 53 percent (from 1,273 to 1,954 officers) between fiscl yers 1995 nd 2000. The number of officers nd INS support stff in temporry positions grew primrily in fiscl yer 1996 due to dditionl funding to process ppliction bcklogs. Of bout 6,100 progrm stff who were onbord in fiscl yer 2000, bout hlf were in temporry or contrctor positions. INS officils told us tht by using temporry djudictions stff, INS cn more esily ressign temporry positions from one field office to nother bsed on ppliction processing needs. In ddition to the INS support stff, INS contrcted for clericl support for its service centers beginning in fiscl yer 1996, nd for its districts beginning in fiscl yer 1998. At the end of fiscl yer 2000, INS hd 341 contrct clericl support stff in the districts nd 1,813 in service centers. Contrct clericl personnel were to support the processing of nturliztion nd djustment of sttus pplictions. Clericl support stff duties included dt entry, scheduling ppointments for pplicnts, file opertions, courier services, nd nturliztion ceremony support. In fiscl yer 2000, INS spent lmost $64 Pge 11

million for contrcts to provide clericl services in their service centers nd districts. INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion Worklod Hs Vried, But Exct Size nd Nture of Worklod Are Not Known Although there were yer-to-yer vritions in INS worklod tht is, the number of pplictions of different types tht INS received nd completed INS worklod in fiscl yer 2000 ws generlly lrger thn in 1994. An exception ws new nturliztion pplictions, which were fewer in fiscl yer 2000 thn in fiscl yer 1994. However, INS completed more nturliztion pplictions in fiscl yer 2000 thn in 5 of the previous 6 yers. The size nd nture of INS ppliction worklod re not known exctly becuse INS worklod dt re not ccurte. The Justice Inspector Generl hs reported tht INS Adjudictions nd Nturliztion worklod dt contin errors, re indequtely monitored, nd cnnot be udited becuse they cnnot be trced bck to individul pplictions. INS officils with whom we spoke cknowledged tht INS worklod dt re not precise, but they mintined tht they re useful for understnding worklod trends. Therefore, the worklod figures presented in this section should be used with cution nd hve been rounded to the nerest thousnd to reflect their lck of precision. (Worklod dt for ech of the six field offices tht we visited re presented in pp. V.) Annul Number of Applictions Received by INS Hs Vried Over Time Between fiscl yers 1994 to 2000, the totl number of pplictions received by INS incresed by bout 50 percent to more thn 6 million, s shown in tble 3. Generlly, from fiscl yers 1994 to 1997, most types of pplictions submitted incresed stedily. Nturliztion pplictions peked t bout 1.4 million in fiscl yer 1997, then declined substntilly ech subsequent yer to bout 461,000 in fiscl yer 2000. The number of nturliztion pplictions tht INS received in fiscl yer 2000 ws bout 15 percent less thn in fiscl yer 1994 nd bout 67 percent less thn the high of 1.4 million in fiscl yer 1997. Adjustment of sttus pplictions peked t bout 760,000 in fiscl yer 1997, declined in fiscl yers 1998 nd 1999, nd gin incresed in fiscl yer 2000. Receipts of most other types of pplictions were greter in fiscl yer 2000 thn in fiscl yer 1994. For exmple, employment uthoriztion pplictions (form I-765) doubled between fiscl yer 1994 nd 2000, nd ccounted for nerly one-fourth of the totl number of pplictions tht INS received in fiscl yer 2000. As discussed on pge 21 nd 22, lengthy djustment of sttus processing Pge 12

times cn contribute to the number of employment uthoriztion pplictions tht liens submit to INS. This cn occur becuse INS provides employment uthoriztion for 1 yer but my tke longer thn yer to djudicte n djustment of sttus ppliction, prompting the lien to submit new ppliction for employment uthoriztion. Tble 3: Applictions INS Received by Appliction Type In thousnds Type of ppliction 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Appliction for nturliztion (N-400) 543 960 1,277 1,413 933 765 461 Appliction for djustment of sttus (I-485) 317 578 647 760 527 456 562 Appliction to replce permnent resident crd (I-90) 544 461 409 321 336 360 705 Petition for nonimmigrnt worker (I-129) 303 273 274 312 383 502 721 Petition for lien reltive (I-130) 663 630 709 886 743 466 598 Appliction for trvel document (I-131) 281 283 335 385 453 449 522 Immigrnt petition for lien worker (I-140) 47 52 61 69 68 79 96 Appliction to extend or chnge nonimmigrnt sttus (I-539) 227 203 213 239 262 380 393 Petition to remove conditions on residence (I-751) 110 118 120 103 131 117 112 Appliction for employment uthoriztion (I-765) 707 865 953 1,161 1,212 1,357 1,451 All other ppliction types 394 458 450 630 516 467 437 Totl 4,138 4,879 5,447 6,277 5,563 5,399 6,059 Sum of columns my not equl totls due to rounding. Source: INS Performnce Anlysis System. According to INS officils nd community-bsed orgniztion representtives with whom we spoke, the increse in nturliztion pplictions between fiscl yers 1994 nd 1997 ws due, in prt, to three fctors. First, pproximtely 3 million liens who hd been grnted mnesty through the Immigrtion Reform nd Control Act of 1986 were eligible to pply for nturliztion by Februry 1995. Second, INS instituted requirement tht by Mrch 1996, permnent resident liens hd to replce their existing lien registrtion crd with nother crd with incresed security fetures. Since the cost difference between the replcement crd nd the nturliztion ppliction ws smll, mny liens my hve decided t tht time to pply for nturliztion. Third, number of congressionl proposls nd Cliforni bllot proposition mking certin governmentl helth, welfre, nd eductionl benefits contingent on U.S. citizenship my hve provided n incentive to liens to pply for nturliztion. Pge 13

Some community-bsed orgniztion representtives expressed the view tht the decline in the number of new nturliztion pplictions since fiscl yer 1997 my hve been due to publicity bout the long witing periods liens fced before INS djudicted their pplictions. In ddition, INS rised the fee for nturliztion pplictions in Jnury 1999 nd for most other ppliction types in October 1998, nd this my hve discourged potentil pplicnts from pplying. Annul Number of Applictions Completed by INS Hs Vried Over Time The totl number of pplictions INS completed (pproved nd denied) hs vried by type, but overll, incresed from bout 3.9 million in fiscl yer 1994 to nerly 6.5 million in fiscl yer 2000. 13 (See tble 4.) The number of completed nturliztion pplictions lmost tripled from bout 444,000 in fiscl yer 1994 to high of slightly over 1.3 million in fiscl yer 1996, when INS efforts to reduce bcklogs through its CUSA inititive were underwy. As INS begn its qulity improvement mesures to ddress identified weknesses in CUSA, completions declined to bout 713,000 nd 611,000 in fiscl yers 1997 nd 1998, respectively. Then, s it renewed its efforts to reduce its nturliztion bcklogs, INS more thn doubled the number of completed pplictions in fiscl yers 1999 nd 2000, completing nerly 1.3 million pplictions in ech of those yers. INS completed more nturliztion pplictions in fiscl yer 2000 thn in 5 of the previous 6 yers. INS completed greter numbers of djustment of sttus pplictions in fiscl yers 1995 nd 1996 reltive to 1994 s seen in tble 4. For the following 3 yers, however, INS completed incresingly fewer pplictions. In fiscl yer 1999, INS completed bout 300,000 djustment of sttus pplictions, fewer thn in ny prior yer since fiscl yer 1994. In fiscl yer 2000, INS mde the processing of these pplictions priority nd nerly doubled its completion level, reching 7-yer high of more thn 560,000 completed pplictions. 13 INS officils told us tht the time it tkes to complete pplictions vries becuse some types re more complex thn others. For exmple, n ppliction to replce permnent resident crd (form I-90) is reltively simple, while n ppliction to djust to permnent residence sttus (form I-485) is more complex. Pge 14

Tble 4: Applictions INS Completed by Appliction Type In thousnds Type of ppliction 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Appliction for nturliztion (N-400) 444 506 1,334 713 611 1,252 1,298 Appliction for djustment of sttus (I-485) 342 358 542 478 416 300 564 Appliction to replce permnent resident crd (I-90) 443 543 487 260 146 259 718 Petition for nonimmigrnt worker (I-129) 319 273 300 327 385 527 698 Petition for lien reltive (I-130) 619 629 758 764 593 450 383 Appliction for trvel document (I-131) 264 283 331 356 507 398 468 Immigrnt petition for lien worker (I-140) 52 55 64 69 54 59 98 Appliction to extend or chnge nonimmigrnt sttus (I-539) 249 212 235 234 227 307 383 Petition to remove conditions on residence (I-751) 106 107 123 106 96 99 96 Appliction for employment uthoriztion (I-765) 680 847 939 1,106 1,228 1,258 1,392 All other ppliction types 393 452 433 541 429 310 388 Totl 3,912 4,265 5,547 4,954 4,693 5,219 6,487 Sum of columns my not equl totls due to rounding. Source: INS Performnce Anlysis System. Nturliztion Bcklogs Hve Declined While Most Others Hve Incresed INS totl ppliction bcklog (pending pplictions) incresed from bout 1 million in fiscl yer 1994 to lmost 4 million in fiscl yers 1998 through 2000. (See tble 5.) INS nturliztion bcklog more thn doubled during the sme period. Since fiscl yer 1998, however, the nturliztion bcklog declined by more thn hlf from bout 1.8 million pending pplictions in fiscl yer 1998 to bout 817,000 in fiscl yer 2000. As ws the cse with INS dt on pplictions received nd completed, INS bcklog figures my be more useful for discerning trends thn s precise mesures of worklod t given point in time. As shown in tble 5, the bcklog of nturliztion pplictions declined in fiscl yer 1999 nd gin in fiscl yer 2000, wheres the bcklog of djustment of sttus pplictions nd most other types of pplictions continued to increse. Pge 15

Tble 5: Bcklog of Pending Applictions by Appliction Type In thousnds Type of ppliction 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Appliction for nturliztion (N-400) 314 705 684 1,440 1,803 1,356 817 Appliction for djustment of sttus (I-485) 121 321 435 699 809 951 1,001 Appliction to replce permnent resident crd (I-90) 200 174 44 48 168 170 239 Petition for nonimmigrnt worker (I-129) 12 21 16 24 49 43 77 Petition for lien reltive (I-130) 182 231 242 407 554 593 797 Appliction for trvel document (I-131) 28 28 34 78 42 73 102 Immigrnt petition for lien worker (I-140) 7 6 7 8 20 43 48 Appliction to extend or chnge nonimmigrnt sttus (I-539) 17 31 17 32 75 176 178 Petition to remove conditions on residence (I-751) 23 28 27 35 68 76 99 Appliction for employment uthoriztion (I-765) 44 70 77 135 115 186 256 All other ppliction types 40 52 69 144 189 305 276 Totl 987 1,668 1,652 3,051 3,891 3,973 3,892 Note: Number of pplictions pending t the end of ech fiscl yer. According to n INS officil, the totl number of pending pplictions is the sum of pplictions received (see tble 3), plus pplictions reopened, plus djustments mde s result of udits, minus pplictions completed for the fiscl yer (see tble 4). Sum of columns my not equl totls due to rounding. Source: INS Performnce Anlysis System. As short-term solution to reduce its ppliction bcklogs, INS llocted dditionl stff resources to process nturliztion pplictions by ressigning stff nd using overtime. INS lso set n nnul production gol for completing cses for the first time in fiscl yer 1999. As shown in tble 6, INS fiscl yer 1999 nd 2000 gols, respectively, were 1.2 nd 1.3 million completed nturliztion pplictions. INS met its gol in both yers. As shown in tble 5, the number of pending nturliztion pplictions decresed from high of bout 1.8 million t the end of fiscl yer 1998 to bout 817,000 t the end of fiscl yer 2000. INS officils told us tht they re lso plnning to reengineer their processes to chieve long-term solutions to mnging their worklod. These efforts re discussed on p. 47. Pge 16

Tble 6: INS Production Gols for Nturliztion Applictions (Form N-400) In thousnds Production gol Applictions completed Result 1999 1,200 1,252 Met gol 2000 1,300 1,298 Met gol 2001 800 According to INS officils, the possibility of INS chieving its fiscl yer 2001 production gol ws contingent upon n ssessment of the impct of the Legl Immigrtion nd Fmily Equity Act (LIFE), encted on Dec. 21, 2000, on INS worklod. The LIFE Act extends the eligibility dte from Jn.14, 1998, to April 30, 2001, for pplicnts to pply for djustment of sttus to legl permnent residence without returning overses. INS my revise this gol originlly proposed in October 2000 lter in fiscl yer 2001. Source: INS Office of Production Mngement. The number of djudictions officer workyers spent processing nturliztion pplictions hs incresed in most yers since fiscl yer 1994. 14 In order to meet the production gols it set for itself in fiscl yers 1999 nd 2000, INS devoted bout 660 nd 618 djudictions officer workyers, respectively, to processing nturliztion pplictions. 15 Figure 1 shows the officer workyers spent processing nturliztion pplictions during ech of fiscl yers 1994 though 2000. 14 There is not lwys direct reltionship between the number of INS officer workyers spent processing nturliztion pplictions nd the number of completed pplictions (see tble 4) on yer to yer bsis. An INS officil told us tht the number of officer hours could increse, while the number of completions could decrese, due to chnges in nturliztion ppliction processes (e.g., nturliztion qulity procedures, fingerprinting procedures) nd trining newly hired stff. 15 INS does not mintin dt on the number of officers or clericl stff ssigned to process vrious types of pplictions. In order to mke n pproximtion of the mount of stff devoted to processing nturliztion pplictions, we nlyzed hours recorded by officers in INS Performnce Anlysis System. Clericl hours could not be nlyzed becuse contrctor clericl hours re not recorded by type of ppliction processed. Pge 17

Figure 1: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Nturliztion Applictions (Form N-400) Number of officer workyers 700 600 660 618 500 400 400 434 466 300 200 155 172 100 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Note: Dt include djudictions officers overtime but not the time they spent on dministrtive ctivities (e.g., trining or leve). According to INS officils, dt do not lwys include the time INS officers, such s inspectors, were detiled to the Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm becuse INS did not consistently collect these dt. Source: GAO nlysis of INS Performnce Anlysis System dt. During the 2 yers tht INS ws concentrting on meeting nturliztion production gols, the bcklog of djustment of sttus pplictions incresed from bout 809,000 t the end of fiscl yer 1998 to slightly over 1 million in fiscl yer 2000. Although INS lso experienced increses in djustment of sttus ppliction bcklogs in fiscl yers 1995 through 1997, these increses were ttributed to other fctors. INS officils cited chnges to section 245(i) of the Immigrtion nd Ntionlity Act (see p. 6 for further discussion) s mjor reson for the djustment of sttus ppliction bcklog in the yers before INS nturliztion inititives. INS set production gols for djustment of sttus pplictions beginning in fiscl yer 1999. As shown in tble 7, INS gol ws 361,000 in fiscl yer 1999 nd 500,000 in fiscl yer 2000. INS fell short of the fiscl yer 1999 gol by bout 60,000 pplictions becuse, ccording to INS officils, it Pge 18

ws still giving priority to completing nturliztion pplictions. INS did meet its fiscl yer 2000 production gol. Tble 7: INS Production Gols for Applictions for Adjustment of Sttus (Form I-485) In thousnds Production gol Applictions completed Result 1999 361 300 Did not meet gol 2000 500 564 Met gol 2001 800 According to INS officils, the possibility of INS chieving its fiscl yer 2001 production gol ws contingent upon n ssessment of the impct of the Legl Immigrtion nd Fmily Equity Act (pssed on Dec. 21, 2000) on INS worklod. The LIFE Act extends the eligibility dte from Jn. 14, 1998, to April 30, 2001, for pplicnts to pply for djustment of sttus to legl permnent residence without returning overses. INS my revise this gol originlly proposed in October 2000 lter in fiscl yer 2001. Source: INS Office of Production Mngement. As shown in figure 2, the number of workyers INS djudictions officers spent processing djustment of sttus pplictions vried between fiscl yers 1994 nd 2000. 16 In fiscl yer 2000, INS devoted 240 officer workyers to processing these pplictions, more thn twice the 116 workyers spent in fiscl yer 1994. Adjudictions officer time spent processing djustment of sttus pplictions peked t 280 workyers in fiscl yer 1997. INS incresed its officer workyers by 22 percent in fiscl yer 2000 from 197 workyers in fiscl yer 1999 to 240 workyers in fiscl yer 2000. 16 There is not lwys direct reltionship between the number of INS officer workyers spent processing djustment of sttus pplictions nd the number of completed pplictions (see tble 4) on yer to yer bsis. An INS officil told us tht the number of officer hours could increse, while the number of completions could decrese, due to chnges in djustment of sttus ppliction processes (e.g., new ppliction requirements nd fingerprinting procedures). Pge 19

Figure 2: Officer Workyers Spent Processing Applictions for Adjustment of Sttus (Form I-485) Number of officer workyers 300 280 250 253 240 200 197 197 150 100 116 128 50 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Note: Dt include djudictions officers overtime but not the time they spent on dministrtive ctivities (e.g., trining or leve). According to INS officils, dt do not lwys include the time INS officers, such s inspectors, were detiled to the Adjudictions nd Nturliztion progrm becuse INS did not consistently collect these dt. Source: GAO nlysis of INS Performnce Anlysis System dt. The growth in the bcklog of djustment of sttus pplictions ws ssocited with growth in the bcklog of some other ppliction types. For djustment of sttus pplictions bsed on employment, n employer must file petition for n lien worker (form I-140) before the lien files n djustment of sttus ppliction. In ddition, reltive my file petition for lien reltive (form I-130) t the sme time tht the lien pplies for djustment of sttus (form I-485). 17 INS officils expect tht s INS reduces the bcklog of djustment of sttus pplictions, these relted 17 To pply for djustment of sttus to permnent residence, n lien must hve reltive petition for them. If the lien is lredy physiclly present in the United Sttes, then the petition by reltive is filed with INS. If the lien is overses, then the petition is filed with the U.S. consulte. Pge 20

ppliction bcklogs should lso decrese. Figure 3 shows how the bcklogs of these three types of ssocited pplictions hve chnged for fiscl yers 1994 through 2000. Figure 3: Bcklog of Applictions Associted With Adjustment of Sttus Applictions (Form I-485) Number of pplictions (in thousnds) 1,100 900 700 500 300 100 50 40 30 20 10 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 I-485 ppliction for djustment of sttus I-130 petition for lien reltive I-140 immigrnt petition for lien worker Source: GAO nlysis of INS Performnce Anlysis System dt. An lien my lso submit n ppliction for n employment uthoriztion document (form I-765) if the lien wnts to work while the djustment of sttus to permnent residence ppliction (form I-485) is pending, or for trvel document (form I-131) if the lien wnts to trvel outside the U.S. while the ppliction is pending. Bcklogs for these types of pplictions hve lso incresed. INS officils told us tht the length of time liens hve to wit for INS to mke decision on their djustment of sttus pplictions hs direct impct on the number of pplictions tht they submit for employment uthoriztion documents nd trvel documents. Pge 21

This is becuse employment nd trvel documents re vlid for limited periods of time. For exmple, if INS tkes more thn 24 months to complete n djustment of sttus ppliction, n lien my hve to pply for employment uthoriztion 3 times during the witing period, since the employment uthoriztion is only vlid for period of 1 yer. Figure 4: Bcklog of Applictions for Employment Authoriztion (Form I-765) nd Trvel Document (Form I-131) Number of pplictions (in thousnds) 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 I-765 ppliction for employment uthoriztion document I-131 ppliction for trvel document Source: GAO nlysis of INS Performnce Anlysis System dt. While INS worked on the bcklogs for nturliztion nd djustment of sttus pplictions, bcklogs for other ppliction types incresed. For exmple, the bcklog for ppliction to extend/chnge nonimmigrnt sttus (form I-539) incresed 10-fold from 17,000 pending pplictions in fiscl yer 1994 to over 178,000 in fiscl yer 2000. INS officils told us tht mny liens re left in the difficult sitution of not hering from INS regrding their pplictions to extend their stys t the time they re Pge 22