Why are cases filed after your case getting approved before yours?
Recently, we've been getting a lot of inquiries from current clients
and viewers out there, just like you, who are feeling frustrated and wondering
why cases that were filed after theirs are getting approvals first,
even though your own case has been pending for far longer,.
You may be unsure of whether this is the bad sign
or if it means that something is wrong with your case.
And probably it just feels deeply unfair to see that immigrants
who have filed their applications months and maybe even years
after your case are getting their cases approved before yours.
After all, waiting on a case approval can mean the delay of being able
to get a job, being able to have a secure start in this country,
or just knowing where you stand in terms of your legal application.
So what is going on with immigration and why might you see that
other immigrants who filed applications after you receive good news before you do?
And when can you finally expect to see a decision on your case?
We're going to answer these questions and more so stay tuned.
My name is Moumita
Rahman and I have been practicing immigration law for the past 13 years.
It is my pleasure to do the work that I do
because I believe that immigrants make America great already.
If you would like an evaluation on your case, give our office
a call at 212-248-7907.
We are based in New York,
but we work with immigration clients all over the United States.
So why is USCIS processing
new cases faster that are filed later rather than the ones before?
When the Trump administration went into office,
they instituted something called the “last in first out” rule.
This essentially created a disincentive to people to file for asylum
because the Trump administration mistakenly believed that many people file
for asylum with the sole purpose of just getting a work permit
and biding their time and being able to stay in the U.S.
until an asylum interview is conducted.
But because of this misconception about asylum applicants,
what the last in, first out rule did was this: it reverse
the order of interviews to be given to asylum applicants
by ensuring that the latest asylum applicants would have their interviews
first rather than those waiting in line for a long time.
So that is one reason that asylum applicants have been waiting longer
and they have been seeing that other asylum applicants who filed
between the years of 2016 until now
are getting their interviews even faster.
But if you have filed for a marriage based green card
or for VAWA or for a current case, you yourself
may be seeing that your cases are progressing much faster than expected.
And meanwhile, other applicants who filed for marriage adjustment of status
or for VAWA or for work permit in the years of 2020, 21,
they might only be receiving news about their application now.
And the reason for this is because USCIS has been trying to speed up
processing times and in an effort to figure out what's working
and what's not, they are taking certain case loads and certain workloads
and assigning them to different
offices and different officers that have a much faster processing time.
But they're really not able to do this with all the cases.
So instead what I am seeing happen is that cases that are filed between
2020 and 2022 are generally stuck on an older track where they've
already progressed down their path and they are staying that course.
But cases filed after roughly 2021, 2022 are being processed
slightly faster in most cases because of the fact
that these are being assigned to different officers
and different locations that usually have less of a workload
and are thus able to process decisions even faster.
So the biggest reason why you may be seeing varying case times
in applications where you have filed yours before others and are seeing those files
later get approved faster is usually because USCIS is actually
trying to make sure that the caseload backlog does not keep growing.
This probably doesn't provide
any sort of comfort for you if you've been waiting longer
and you're now seeing those after you get processed sooner.
But I want you to hold on to the knowledge that your case will get worked
and you will get a decision.
Because still, even for my older cases, I'm seeing some progress
being made and things are moving along with USCIS.
And obviously you probably want to know when will you actually find out?
My best piece of advice for this is to check the USCIS timeline
processing page to see what the average wait time is for a decision.
If your case is still within that range, then it is still considered to be normal,
no matter how long it feels like to you.
So I would just recommend that you wait if you can, unless you have an emergency.
And if you have an emergency, you can always make a request
for an expedite in writing with evidentiary proof.
If you want my help in Navigating the immigration system.
Give our office a call at 212-248-7907 to see if we can help you with your case.
And you can follow me on social media everywhere.
I can be found on Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and right here on YouTube.
Click here to watch this video and I'll see you there.