I did a lot of research regarding NAME CHECK recently from the FBI website, immigration portal, talking friends around me and this is what I found for this unfair process since my case stuck in FBI for 1.5 years. ( Send to FBI 2/2005, still pending. EB2 RIR, PD Aug-2001). There are a lot of misundesatanding about this process, I just write from my research, hope to clear some confusion, exchange info with the friends having the same situation and decide what to do next.
1) Name check is sending to FBI few works after CIS receive your I485 by batch. ( My I485 RD is 1/18/2005, NC send on 2/2005, this info is from one nice lady from TSC). The NC is not related to FP, PD, and the type of your I140/485. ( No difference between EB1, EB2, EB3 or NIW).
2) After receiving NC from CIS, FBI do both primary and secondary file ( or DB ) look up against your First name, last name and date of birth. ( Note: they will swap your last name and first name and search 2nd time). If there is no match, you NC is cleared. If there is a match ( very rare case) or they find muitple records base on name and DOB, you are in toruble. They will put your case aside until someone remember to review it manually. ( This is the bigeest problem for Chinese people). Before 9/11, CIS allow to continue your case if the FBI not send back NC in 120 days, Now they must wait NC to process the I485.
3) Overall the normal time for NC is 3-4 months. FBI claims they have 99% NC cleared in less than 6 months. Unfortunately this is not true for Chinese people ( see 2). After talking friends around me, either NC cleared in 3 months ( only 30-40%) or wait more than 1 year. 4-5 years is not rare.
4) If you know your case stuck in NC ( Normally you knew this by calling the CIS center directly or Infopass afetr PD current, or by help with senators, please refer to immigration portal), you can do the following things, and by far nobody knows which one will work. You just need to pray. There is a big black hole here.
a) send a FOIPA to FBI, ( not usful directly, but at least to let you know you have no bad record with FBI) -- Note: they stop accepting fax form, you must mail it.
b) e-mail and mail the FBI person. ( Director of FBI, Director of Information group of FBI, please refer immigration portal and FBI website). 99.999999% you will not get any reply, but who knows you have 0.000001% chance to get someone in FBI notice your mail.
c) Send letters to Senator and Congressmen for help. The bad news is that since more and more people make such requests, now quite a few senators refuse to do this for you unless you have very strong reason to convice them.
d) Call CIS or schedule Infopass regularly. 99% there is no use, but by 1% you may have a nice guy/lady from CIS want to help you. ( In FBI website, it claimed very clear that there is no body other than the person who make the NC reqauest can make the expediate request, in our case this is CIS. And normally when you call CIS or meet officer, they will just tell you that you case is in FBI for NC, nothing more they can do for that.)
e) Write letter to White house, State of department. ( Not sure whether this will help, just some people use it).
f) Recently more and more people choose the last choices after fail in all other choices. File law suit against CIS/FBI. ( there are some lawyers who is specially oing that), by far this is the most effective way.( Sorry not help you to get GC, but help you to get NC cleared from FBI). Still most people do not want to do that because worry about CIS can easily kill your case by very difficult RFE even if your NC cleared. But family base I485 will not worry about that.)
I alreay tried a), b), d), and after 3 months still pending NC. Consider take f), but just want to wait a bit more time and exchange info with friends having same situation.