Thread by @LilySAxelrod

1/? Next up, I'll be live tweeting the USCIS open forum at the @AILANational #AILAAC22 .Michael Valverde (field operations), Carrie Selby (external ops), Dan Renaud (associate director of DHS), Tracy Renaud (service center ops), Ashley Tabbador (USCIS Chief Counsel), Doug Rand.

2/ First up Michael Valverde of field ops: we're examining our processing to make sure we are moving cases forward efficiently, we can always do better. Eg reducing the N400 (naturalization) backlog.

3/ Our hour-per-case rates have fallen across categories, even while detailing staff to military installations to facilitate Afghan work

4/ Valverde just repeated the stat that they have completed "50% more employment based adjustment than we did before" (@David_J_Bier ) - still unclear whether he means week-to-week or overall.

5/ Valverde ctd: Expect to see more adjudications without interview.
AOS: 40% get an RFE and 80% of RFEs are for the I-693 medical. They are encouraging us to send the medical in with the application. There may be policy changes here...

6/ Valverde ctd: how can we make N400 interviews more efficient? Recent change: officers now instructed to ask the question that pertain to the case and not every single question.

7/ Valverde ctd: video interviews for N400s started as pandemic response and we intend to continue bc we believe it's a useful tool and we haven't fully figured out possible benefits & uses. Eg overseas military natz almost exclusively by video.

8/ Valverde ctd: federal record centers status update re: natz applicants getting stuck in caves, should be seeing these cases getting scheduled now. Those files were pre-processed and are priorities for interview bc they are older than others.

9/ Next up Carrie Selby, Assoc Director, External Affairs Directorate of USCIS.
Public engagement is a priority, have hosted lots of national stakeholder engagements; field offices have are holding local ones. Will have quarterly stakeholder engagements on specific topics.

10/Selby ctd: we are working on better process for requesting emergency appointments. When there are no appointments at local field office we have to work with them to open additional slots which causes delay. To minimize, working with FOs.

11/Selby ctd: we know it's a burden to wait for a callback for emergencies. We are envisioning: individual calls with emergent need, will be routed to tier 2 ISOs, get pulled out of the queue and prioritized. Changing work flow to have a dedicated team review & respond to these.

12/ Selby ctd: We know callbacks are frustrating esp when you miss one. Later this summer we will bring SMS messaging to the callback center (applause!). They'll text with a heads up for call for specific time and we can respond requesting different time / number.

13/Selby ctd: the text will also have identifying info so you know which client it's about.
We are trying to provide contact center employees the tools to immediately resolve issues rather than callbacks, escalations, etc.

14/ Selby ctd: will announce a new stakeholder inquiry inbox, will not be a direct mailbox to field ops / service center ops. Will be an inquiry account managed by specialized employees in public services division. Won't take place of existing customer service channels.

15/ Selby ctd: this will be an opportunity to raise systemic trends, and to raise cases that haven't been resolved with the usual inquiry method. Will be rolled out next week. "Coming to us first is cheaper, faster, and less adversarial than litigation" (ok, if you listen!)

16/ Selby ctd: updates to processing times on website, now displaying simple 80th percentile processing time rather than the range (50-93 percent). We had an engagement on this in May, will be implementing some of the feedback we got.

17/Selby ctd: online filing going well for TPS, DACA, 765. Developing it for I-134 for Uniting for Ukraine. Most online filings don't involve counsel - we want to build APIs so we can connect with attorneys' forms systems.

18/Selby ctd: will announce 2022 citizenship & immigration grants. She wraps up. Ms. Selby seems genuinely giddy to be here and enthusiastic about these initiatives. "Please continue to challenge me, I welcome your scrutiny and your feedback."

19/ Next up Tracy Renaud, Director of Service Center Operations, with updates on TPS processing, premium processing, EADs, and 485 transfers.

20/Renaud re: TPS. USCIS is aggressively hiring and training, offering overtime to existing employees to speed up backlog reduction in TPS. Online filing for TPS has helped speed up. Auto extensions for EADs also helps renewal applicants.

21/Renaud etc: we'll continue to publish extensions for the TPS countries under litigation.

22/Renaud re: premium processing expansion: starting July 1 we will reject the old version of the I-907!
EADs are over a million service center apps each year. Claim they are using tech to speed up the process but unclear what she actually means.

23/Renaud ctd claims they have significantly reduced the H4 I-539 and I-765 processing times over the last year, from 11.2 months to 3.2 months (is this what folks are actually seeing in the field?)

24/Renaud: I-485 transfers: my email is out on the web and individuals are emailing me (she says with a laugh... knock it off folks). "We commit to using all of the available visa numbers to the extent we can" including the rolled over FB visas from last year.

25/Renaud: "as of mid june we have used significantly more visas than the same point in FY202; USCIS alone is using more than twice as many visas as we were on a weekly basis last fiscal year" @David_J_Bier

26/Renaud: we coordinate with field ops to identify requests to transfer to NBC. We are identifying cases ready to transfer and get them out "in pursuit of maximizing usage of available visas this year." We know TSC & NSC have long & lengthening processing times.

27/Renaud: this data is from moving cases to the NBC , leaving behind the outliers in TSC and NSC, making the data look like the processing time is getting longer overall. To date we have sent over 56k service centers to field ops, "in attempt to use all employment-based visas"

28/Renaud: USCIS is prioritizing EB visas ready for adjudication. "We take this very seriously, we meet as a group every week on this issue."

29/Next up, Dan Renaud (not to be confused with Tracy Renaud), Assoc Director of DHS. Starts with explaining hiring freeze and inability to reopen at full capacity after COVID shutdowns.

30/D Renaud ctd: we are not content to think that we are where we want to be re: backlog reduction & efficiency. Think of our efforts "as a down payment." "We are the greatest government on earth and we deserve better" (light laughter in the room)

31/D Renaud: "We come to work every day trying to find better ways to do things. There will be more to come. My job primarily is to provoke efficiency and then support it where I can"

32/Next up Doug Rand, Senior Advisor to Director Jaddou. In addition to bad policies by past administration that made USCIS less efficient, there was a pre-COVID decision to spend down a bunch of the agency's rainy day fund which left them in a bad position when COVID hit.

33/ Rand: "Hiring freeze plus furlough threat equals attrition." Still dealing with aftermath of losing a lot of good people in the last few years. "I want to poach your best people" - USCIS is hiring big time, "it's a once in a generation staffing up"

34/Rand: "We have a special obligation this fiscal year to process more EB AOS than we ever had before. Last year herculean efforts were made, it was difficult to rev up the engine throughout the entire fiscal year last year." Bc Jan 2021 inherited big backlog & "sludge."

35/ "Last year we completed 50% more of these cases than a typical year, regrettably leaving several green card numbers unused. This year we are in a much better position to use them all, not necessarily reflected in the public data."

36/(in other words, our failure last year was Trump's fault; don't sue us this year)

37/Renaud: if your client is hoping their EB AOS adjudicated this year: "submitting a new AOS application is NOT required to transfer the underlying basis of the form I-485 and will NOT result in faster adjudication of the benefit." If you didn't submit I-693, get it done now.

38/ Renaud: if you are ready when the RFE hits, you'll have a better opportunity to get it processed before the end of the fiscal year.

39/Some FAQ: Do NOT submit I-693 unsolicited. It hurts you.
CSPA, making change of basis request triggers CSPA protection so don't file another I-485.
Underlying EB3 in Oct 2020 does not have to be approved to change basis to EB2.

40/ More FAQ aila.org/infonet/uscis-…

41/Q: Automatic extension of EADs is nice but do you hope initial EADs and AP to move quicker?
A: We are concentrating on EADs over AP through we know both are important. Working on ways to speed up EAD processing. We are training new employees.

42/Q: We are still getting boilerplate RFEs which don't explain the deficiency. Is there a way to send requests for clarification / get a second set of eyes on an RFE?
Selby: give us examples! Eg on stakeholder inquiry mailbox.

43/Q: Video interviews just for N400 or may we see more remote interviews for other types of applications eg AOS?
A: We love video interviews. Eg we are having officers from one field office doing remote interviews for another. Helps reduce disparity in processing times.

44/A ctd: we are focusing on N400 with video interviews right now but may expand in the future.

45/ Panel is wrapped up! Whew.