INS Issues Advisory on Asylee Adjustment Processing

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Obtaining Lawful Permanent Residence Status

INS ISSUES ADVISORY ON ASYLEE ADJUSTMENT PROCESSING
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 16, No. 1, February 28, 2002

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has instituted a new procedure for adjudicating asylees' applications for adjustment to permanent residence. The INS says the new procedure is necessary "[i]n order to ensure utilization of all 10,000 asylum adjustment numbers" for Fiscal Year 2002.

The INS's new policy provides that, as of Jan. 11, 2002, field offices may adjudicate asylee adjustment applications that have a priority date of June 9, 1998, or earlier. (The priority date is the date the asylee's adjustment application was "properly filed." 8 C.F.R. § 209(a).) Prior to Jan. 11, 2002, INS policy was to have all asylee adjustment applications adjudicated by examiners at the agency's Nebraska Service Center. This policy had been in effect since 1998. According to the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, the INS's 1998 transfer of asylee adjustment jurisdiction from local offices to the Nebraska Service Center proved chaotic, resulting in a large backlog of unadjudicated cases. The policy instituted last month appears to be an attempt to clear up this backlog.

While the new policy gives some asylee adjustment adjudicating authority back to field offices, it nevertheless maintains the Nebraska Service Center's overall authority over such cases. For example, before adjudicating a case, a field office must obtain an authorization number from the service center. Before requesting authorization to adjudicate a case, the field office must determine that the case file is complete and that the applicant is not eligible for adjustment under another immigration classification (besides "asylee"). In addition, once the field office has adjudicated an application, it must send a copy of the document on which it records its decision (INS Form I-181) to the service center within 10 days.

As of Jan. 1, 2002, all asylee adjustment cases other than those with priority dates of June 9, 1998, or earlier are to be sent to the Nebraska Service Center, according to the Jan. 11, 2002, INS advisory announcing the new policy. However, local offices are to keep and complete work on any cases for which they have already conducted an interview of the applicant and have either requested that the applicant provide further evidence or decided that the application will be denied.

For all cases forwarded to the Nebraska Service Center, it will send notices to the applicants concerning the requirement that they be fingerprinted and it will adjudicate any cases that do not require that the applicant be interviewed. If the service center determines that an interview is necessary, the applicant's case will be sent to the local office that has jurisdiction over the applicant, and the local office will complete work on the case.

The INS has not instructed the public on how to make inquiries regarding pending asylee adjustment cases. According to the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, advocates should call the service center's Adjustment of Status Unit at (402) 323-7830. In light of the heavy call volume at the service center, the INS suggests that case inquiries be submitted in writing with the following information:

The applicant's current name and address, and, if it is different, the name as it appears on the application.
Any A-number assigned to the applicant or the application.
The applicant's date of birth.
The date and place where the application was filed.
Any receipt number that the INS has issued for the application.
A copy of the most recent notice that the INS has sent regarding the case.
The date and office where the applicant was fingerprinted and interviewed, if these steps have been completed.

Inquiries may be mailed to the INS Nebraska Service Center, P.O. Box 87483, Lincoln, NE 68501-7485.