On December 3, the USCIS announced to the immigration law community that it
would be taking some measured steps to help solve the FBI name check
backlog.
The agency released an email to the American Immigration Lawyers Association
(AILA) outlining two strategies it would pursue, in conjunction with the
FBI, to solve the problem of excessive delays that burden a small but
significant percentage of visa applications.

The first strategy involves making a “risk assessment” of the general
immigration situation that should enable FBI officers to more efficiently
determine which applications deserve enhanced scrutiny. The second strategy
concerns the simple question of funding – the USCIS announced a pledge to
provide $15.5 million to help resolve the existing backlog of cases in 2008.

USCIS was careful to reiterate that its efforts to solve the name check
backlog will not alter name check policy in any way, asserting that: “USCIS
continues to require FBI name checks for the same categories of applications
and no case will be approved without a cleared name check. We will continue
to work with the FBI to reduce waiting times; but not at the expense of
national security and public safety.”

This past September, Attorney Ben Wisniewski and Attorney Jerry Zhang met
with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to discuss various immigration issues,
including speeding up the FBI name-check process. In particular,
Representatives Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) expressed
concern for this problem. In October, the Senate approved a bill that would
encourage the FBI to streamline the name-check process.

We at Zhang & Associates are delighted to hear that the USCIS and FBI are
taking this issue seriously and hope that this expedites processing for our
affected clients. We hope that the agencies continue to address the backlog
problem until it is solved, and intend to continue lobbying for more
comprehensive reform.