Petition Information Management Service

Delays in Visa Issuance

 

Recent instructions (November, 2007) from the Department of State to U.S. consuls overseas will result in additional delay for issuance of certain visas - including L and H.

The cable states that:  "Consular posts are now able to access the details of approved nonimmigrant visa petitions through the CCD in a new report called "PIMS" (Petition Information Management Service). The Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) has ceased e-mailing scanned copies of approved petitions to posts. The electronic PIMS record created by KCC will now be the primary source."

Consuls will now have to  verify the details of an H or L petition electronically before they will issue an H or L visa.  The "electronic record" is not generally available online and in real time.  Therefore, the consuls have to request electronic notification.  This is expected to add three or four days to "normal" processing time.

At some point in the future, we would expect the USCIS to transmit all petitions electronically - and the consuls will have instant availability of the PIMS information.  Until then, this improvement will result in additional delay.

The State Department cable is available online.

 

The State Department has provided the American Immigration Lawyers Association with additional information:

DOS Answers AILA Questions on PIMS

AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07112960 (posted Nov. 29, 2007)

(Informal Q&A between AILA and State Department

How complete does State believe the I-129 data really is?

We are in continuous contact with the adjudications supervisory staff at both the California and Vermont Service Centers [JIS Note:  These are the service centers which process I-129 petitions for H and L approval] on a daily basis. That information on approvals, revocations and reaffirmations is being sent to us as completely as is possible in a system based on human interactions and mail service. Access to CLAIMS and direct reachback to the service centers permits the PIMS staff to research and confirm those few petitions that do not appear in PIMS.

Are you to the point where the majority of new petition approvals are showing up in the data transferred from CIS?

Data is not currently being electronically transferred. The Service Centers mail and fax information to the KCC, which then data enters and scans the material into PIMS. For newly approved petitions where consular notification is requested, we believe that we are receiving close to 100% (with humans, we're never willing to say 100%). New petitions are generally available in PIMS between 24 and 48 hours after receipt.

KCC is responsible for tracking this information because its specialists are better positioned to work with this incomplete data than are posts.

Have you made any provision for consular officers to issue on discretion in an emergency in the absence of electronic notification from KCC?

So far there have been no cases that KCC has not been able to resolve within 48 hours. KCC works Monday - Friday from 7:30 am until 4:00 pm. We do not envision many circumstances where emergency processing would be required, but should an emergency arise outside of KCC's working hours, posts can contact the Visa Office duty officer for assistance. Emergencies would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

AILA is concerned that same day or next day service has now become at least two day service under this system.

Applicants should not expect same day service. We do not promise same day service, and discourage applicants from expecting that. We would hope AILA would indicate to its clients that while they may occasionally receive same day service, they should not plan on it.

KCC does try to complete processing of inquiries from posts within 24 hours (1 working day) time. It generally succeeds, but there may be exceptional cases that require more time.

What about blanket L petitions? AILA points out that they do not name beneficiaries, are valid indefinitely and in many cases were approved years ago for some of the largest companies in the world. How are you handling them?

KCC received a list of all blanket L petitioners from CIS this summer and they are all in PIMS. We have requested from CIS an updated list that includes the petition numbers. In the meantime, KCC looks them up in CLAIMS on post's request and enters them in PIMS. The fact that the beneficiaries are unnamed is irrelevant, the same holds true in the large majority of the H2 cases. The requirement is that the petition be in PIMS. When a named beneficiary is not a requirement of the petition category, then we aren't looking for a named beneficiary. PIMS confirms the status and details of the petition--not the beneficiary.