USCIS Revises Policy on Long-Pending FBI Name Checks
Adjustment Applications No Longer Automatically Approved When Name Check is Pending More Than 180 Days
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has retracted a year-old policy on long-pending Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) name checks and will no longer allow Form I-485 applications for adjustment of status to be approved automatically when an FBI name check has been in process but remains unresolved for more than 180 days. Though it is still possible for an adjustment application to be approved before a lengthy FBI name check is completed, special permission from USCIS headquarters is now required in such cases. There could be a return to long delays for some adjustment cases that are awaiting resolution of FBI name checks, though the practical effect of the new policy is not yet clear.
In the recent past, USCIS allowed adjudicators to automatically approve adjustment applications where an FBI name check had been pending for more than 180 days and there were no other reasons to deny the case. This policy was put into place because name checks were subject to long backlogs and, as a result, some adjustment applications were delayed for lengthy periods, in some cases lasting years. The automatic approval policy is now being rescinded because, according to USCIS, the FBI is now processing name checks in less than 90 days in many cases.
Under the new policy, if an FBI name check remains unresolved after 150 days, the USCIS adjudicator must notify agency headquarters. After checking with the FBI about the status of the name check, headquarters can order the adjudicator to continue holding the case while the name check proceeds or can authorize the adjudicator to approve the case even though the name check has not been completed. In the latter case, if the name check eventually results in adverse information about the foreign national, USCIS will assess the information and determine whether to rescind the adjustment approval or take other action against the foreign national, including removal, if warranted.
The policy does not affect other types of background checks. Adjustment applications are also subject to FBI fingerprint searches and other security clearances; these checks must be completed before an adjustment application can be approved.
