************************************************************** IFCSS Headquarters News Release No.5029 July 25, 1993 ************************************************************** Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) 733 15th Street, N.W., Suite 440, Washington, D.C.20005 Tel. (202)347-0017 Fax: (202)347-0018 Email: ifcss@wam.umd.edu IFCSS Latest Report on CSPA's Implementation ============================================ Over the last few days, the IFCSS HQ has maintained close and frequent contact with the Senate Subcommittee of Immigration, the offices of Senators Kennedy and Gordon, Congressman Barton and Congresswoman Pelosi, White House National Security Council's office, the office of Attorney General, the INS HQ and its various offices charged with the CSPA implementation. Information is trickling in, however, we still need time to contact all the aformentioned offices to obtain further details and to eliminate any discrepancies. The issue related to the late-arriving dependents is inevitably entangled with many U.S. immigration legislations and regulations. It could be extremely complicated. You may need to read THOROUGHLY and CAREFULLY all our News Releases in the next few days. PROCESSING OF APPLICATION AT THE FOUR INS OPERATION CENTERS (1) There are apparent discrepancies in the operations of the four INS centers. Some applicants have received receipts and others have not. It seems that the INS centers are not following "first come, first served" principle. Some are required to go to the local INS to fill up form I-89 and do finger prints, others are not required to do so although they are of the same status. The Southern Center has not asked any applicants to go to the local INS offices. Please explain. There may be some difference in processing times between the four centers. This difference is the result of the different workloads and staffing available at each center. However, within each Center the cases are being processed on a "first come, first served" basis. Since the INS has such large workloads and four Centers, there is no way to ensure total equality nation-wide. Since priority dates are determined by the date the application was received and not by the date the receipt was issued, these differences in processing times will not affect the individual's priority date. The decision was made to only ask some of the applicants to go to the local INS offices for I-89 processing now in order to assure that the local offices are not overwhelmed with CSPA applicants needing processing. Applicants who have not already completed the Form I-89 processing will be asked to appear at the local INS office for I-89 processing after their CSPA applications are approved. Whether the I-89 processing is done now or later has no effect on the CSPA applicant's eligibility for permanent resident status, nor will it delay action on their applications. (2) What is the priority date for each applicant, the date the application is received or the date the INS sends out the receipt? What's the total number of applicants in the four INS operation centers up till now? No priority date will be given to any CSPA application unless it is signed and accompanied by the correct fee. The priority date for properly filed CSPA applications received before July 1, 1993, will be July 1, 1993. The priority date for properly filed CSPA applications received on or after July 1, 1993, will be the date the application was received at the Service Center. As of the close of business of July 16, 1993, the four Service Centers had received a total of 42,372 applications for CSPA adjustment of status. (3) If the applicants have made some mistakes in their application forms or forgotten to enclose some documents, shall they resend the correct forms and supplementary application materials to the INS center after they get their receipts or wait until the INS send them notice to do so? Applicants should not send additional information until it is requested by the Service. (4) Most of the applicants have enclosed only one finger-print chart according to the requirements specified in the Additional Instructions for Form I-485. If the finger-print chart is unclear or blurred, shall their application packages be returned and thus lose the priority dates? Only one fingerprint chart is required. Applications will not be returned because a fingerprint chart is blurred or unclear, although the Service Center could ask the applicant to send a new chart. As long as the CSPA application has been signed and filed at the appropriate Service Center with the correct fee, the priority date will not be lost (except, of course, if the CSPA application cannot be approved). ********************************************************************* * IFCSS Headquarters Office * *-------------------------------------------------------------------* * President: Lin Changsheng Vice President: Shi Heping * *-------------------------------------------------------------------* * PBS-L is IFCSS's news distribution list for individuals. To sign * * on or off from the list, please send email to listserv@ifcss.org * * leave the subject line open and put in the mail body: * * (For signing on) sub PBS-L last name first name * * (For signing off) unsub PBS-L last name first name * * For more information about IFCSS, write to ifcss-info@ifcss.org * *********************************************************************