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 Email:
NSC.schools email 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 email.
The NSC Schools email is still in transition. It is not always fully functioning. DSOs are still experiencing
automatic response emails.
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 email. 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 1-800-375-5283 to get their SRMT ticket.
NSC Engagement
Stakeholder call topics rotate, including student/academic, so participate, e-mail the CEO, Janelle
Herres, at [email protected] 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.
I-9 and E-Verify Issues:
The I-9 has expanded instructions. Please see the latest version of the form here:
http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-9.pdf.
The E-Verify representatives were very excited about their E-Verify, Self-Check services,
http://www.uscis.gov/mye-verify/self-check. 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. [email protected] 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 EVerify 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.
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
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.”