It’s been no surprise, only disappointment and frustration, that “administrative processing” of visa applications at U.S. consulates has increased and lengthened. Consular officers long have used the term as a catch all for applications that require additional background or security checks or simply require further review on substantive grounds. In the days of yore, most administrative processing cases were resolved in a few days. Several years ago the State Department issued guidance requiring visa applicants to wait six months before inquiring into the status of their visa applications. As a result, administrative processing has become a black hole that has ruined company plans for the hiring of key personnel, dashed career advancement of highly skilled workers, and prevented family visits.
In the last several months, USCIS seems to have adopted the administrative processing playbook for its case adjudication protocol. For certain employment-based petitions, paying an additional “premium processing” fee of $2,805 is supposed to guarantee an approval, denial, or request for evidence within 15 or 45 business days, depending upon the specific case type. More and more, we are seeing a stock response from USCIS when asking about a case that has exceeded the premium processing timeframe:
“USCIS is conducting further review of your case. We cannot provide a timeframe for completion of this additional review. However, once this additional review has been completed, USCIS will take adjudicative action on your case. USCIS appreciates your patience during this process. Please note that refunds can only be requested after a final decision has been made. Please contact us again once a final decision has been issued.”
Translation: We’re just sitting on your case, will not tell you why, and will keep your $2,805 until we get around to reviewing it. Good day.
Faced with this quandary, organizations and individuals are left with the frustrating choice of simply waiting or pursuing a mandamus action in federal court to force USCIS to adjudicate the petition. It becomes the sunk cost dilemma: Do we cut our losses on this and drop the case, or do we invest even more time and money into an adjudication that still has a discretionary outcome? This is not acceptable. USCIS can and needs to improve its operational protocols to fulfill its mission as the “Services” organization that it is named.