U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services failed to meet its own deadlines for processing green card applications in a timely manner from 2011 to 2016, and instead took nearly twice as long to do the job, according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.
The USCIS website said its field offices expect to approve or deny an application for a permanent resident card, or green card, within 120 days.
However, only 3 percent of applications submitted between fiscal years 2011 and 2016 made it from start to finish in that period of time.
The average application process lasted seven months, and about 30 percent of them took longer than eight months to review.
The investigation also found the length of time it takes USCIS officers throughout its 86 field offices take to review applications has increased in recent years by 43 days, bringing it to a 282-day, or nine-month, process.
“We believe USCIS is not meeting its 120-day goal because the goal itself is unrealistic given the complexity of adjudications and factors beyond USCIS’ control that affect the timeline. A goal that does not reflect operational realities contributes to unmet customer expectations and reduces trust in USCIS,” Inspector General John V. Kelly wrote in his report.
The application review process involves collecting a fee; forwarding the application to the USCIS National Benefits Center for background, criminal, and national security checks; scheduling an interview and biometrics appointment with the applicant; and deciding whether he or she will be approved.
Kelly wrote in an attached letter to USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna that its use of temporary staffing assignments and allowing employees to work overtime has not helped the agency keep up with the demand.
USCIS agreed to and has implemented the inspector general’s recommendations to reassess its application timeline and process “more clearly on its website” processing information.
The report was requested by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., in October 2016.
