For any of you plagued by long pending name checks at the I-485 stage, you’re not going to like this news!
Last year on Feb. 4, 2008, USCIS issued a memo to all Service Centers stating that if the FBI name check in an I-485 case (and a few specific other types of cases) was pending for more than 180 days and that was only reason it had not yet been approved, the Service should automatically approve it. They of course reserved the right to revoke the “green card” if derogatory information later surfaced. USCIS seemed to follow this memo closely for a few months and then seemed to slow again on long-pending cases. Now the Service has officially backtracked and issued a memo revoking the “automatic approval” provisions. USCIS must now contact the FBI to ensure the name check has cleared in I-485 cases before approval.
They claim the FBI’s average processing time is now 90 days.
Please see below for a copy of the new memo revoking the previous FBI Memo. (Thanks to ILW for its original post.) http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/news/2009,0305-neufeld.pdf