With all of the BILLIONS in "stimulus" spending...

[OrlandoGringo]

...how is it they couldn't have hired a few more people to process the applications so that it doesn't take 5-6 months?  What is it that they actually do anyway?  It should be a pretty cut-and-dry process for the vast majority of us.  Why the hell does it take so long? 

[Researcher]

   Hey OG, the US government doesn't really do anything efficiently or quick, unless you owe back taxes.I don't see anything changing soon. But really if you think about it 5 or 6 months is lightening fast for the government.


     Researcher

[jm21-2]

There was an interview posted online (can't remember where) with a former visa officer. Apparently it takes about 15 minutes per application, sometimes a bit longer if there is a common name involved and they have to sort through a bunch of criminal background checks. Why it takes so long to process sounds like mainly an issue of under-staffing.

[Researcher]

    I don't know JM, IMHO, you could have 3 government workers for every application that came in and it would still take 5 or 6 months to process.


     Researcher

[Capstone]

Given that visa petition, application and issuance processing is not supposed to be federally funded by the US tax payer but rather self-funded by the fees paid by the immigrants and their sponsors; hiring more workers would probably = higher fees. This is a policy which I actually fully support - the US tax payer should not have to carry the burden of processing visas for foreign nationals.   

[Researcher]

     I remember the last time they raised fees it caused a backlog and it took a year to get my wife's visa.That extra money didn't seem to help things much.


     Researcher

[Ray]

[OrlandoGringo]

Given that visa petition, application and issuance processing is not supposed to be federally funded by the US tax payer but rather self-funded by the fees paid by the immigrants and their sponsors; hiring more workers would probably = higher fees. This is a policy which I actually fully support - the US tax payer should not have to carry the burden of processing visas for foreign nationals. 

I would be willing and able to pay more in order to expedite the process but that option is not offered.  While I agree with the sentiment of not burdening the tax payer for the cost to "process" my visa request, I could probably come up with a list of 10,000 other things that I shouldn't have to pay for but do.  That would probably be a subject for another thread and even a different forum.   

Hey Ray, great cartoon.   

[Capstone]

I remember the last time they raised fees it caused a backlog and it took a year to get my wife's visa.That extra money didn't seem to help things much.

Yep, the same thing happened to me. A large number of people tried to beat the fee increase by submitting their petitions before the fee increase went into effect thereby causing the backlog. Processing timelines did decrease after the backlog was worked through though - USCIS processing times for I-130 spousal petitions are currently running at around 5 months according to the latest figures. That is a significant decrease from what it was in the not too distant past.

[thekfc]

For our time period - processing time did drop.
We went through USCIS & NVC is about 4 months. The total time from initial filing to interview (Visa) approval - about 170 days.

There was another fee change around our NVC approval time, so I think that the backlog began again.

[utopiacowboy]

Government Sachs is not here to serve you in any way, shape or form. Your duty is to suck it up, pay your taxes and die early so the banks and Wall Street can go on living large.