Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York
status pending for green card
hello,
my question is :
last year feb 2006 i wen in fron of an immigration officer she wrotte on a passport status pending inn said to expect mmy green card by december 2006 but i havent' receivedf it yet she said she couldn't have finalized my case beacause she was waiting on a background check and that they were slow.Now i got in touch with her back in march she said the background has come back yet and that my fingerprints were expired and she was going to send me a letter to have them done again that was a month ago .But when i check on the immigration page it says fingerprints completed .
i'm confused is fingerprints different then background check?
what is a background check ?
and why is mine taking so long?
why is it taking so long
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: status pending for green card
USCIS is required to complete background checks before approving a green card application. However, fingerprints are only good for one year. So if you case isn't resolved while your fingerprints are "current," you have to take the fingerprints again. This is a frustrating process, but that's just the way the USCIS works.
However, if you believe that you have been waiting an unreasonably long time, you should consider speaking with an immigration attorney to see whether it is possible to take your case into federal court to compel the USCIS to make a decision on your application.
Our firm has extensive experience with federal court litigation. If you wish to contact us, we would be happy to discuss your matters with you.
Best wishes!
Re: status pending for green card
A background check is different from the fingerprint clearance. The background check is the FBI name check. The background check may take a long time for some people with common or similar names to people on lists or for other reasons. The process is to some extent a mystery. The fingerprint clearance expires after 15 months.So that often expires because the FBI name clearance is not complete and CIS deosn't follow it up. What I try to do is to remind officers about fingerprint clearance expiration during this process through Infopass or letter or going in person if the case is in Garden City so that when the FBI name check comes back, everything is current and the adjustment application can be adjudicated. There is also an IBIS check which also expires but usually doesn't take a long time to run.
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