F. Name Checks and Other Security Checks
FBI name checks, one of several security screening tools used by USCIS, continue to significantly delay adjudication of immigration benefits for many customers, hinder backlog reductions efforts, and may not achieve their intended national security objectives. FBI name checks may be the single biggest obstacle to the timely and efficient delivery of immigration benefits. The problem of long-pending FBI name check cases worsened during the reporting period.
1. Background
As of May 2007, USCIS reported a staggering 329,160 FBI name check cases pending, with approximately 64 percent (211,341) of those cases pending more than 90 days and approximately 32 percent (106,738) pending more than one year.40 While the percentages of long-pending cases compared to last year are similar, the absolute numbers have increased. There are now 93,358 more cases pending the name check than last year. Perhaps most disturbing, there are 31,144 FBI name check cases pending more than 33 months as compared to 21,570 last year – over a 44 percent increase in the number of cases pending more than 33 months.41
40 See USCIS FBI Pending Name Check Aging Report (May 4, 2007). It is important to note that USCIS does not include within its backlog cases pending due to FBI name checks. There are 155,592 FBI name check cases pending more than six months that otherwise may be part of USCIS’ backlog. See section III.B for a discussion of USCIS backlogs.
41 See id. June 2007 www.dhs.gov/cisombudsman email: cisombudsman@dhs.gov Page 37
Figure 10: Pending FBI Name Checks
Age of Pending ResponseTotal Count(May 4, 2007)Total Count(May 17, 2006)
< 3 months117,81982,6363 - 6 months55,74933,4506 - 9 months28,02920,0479 - 12 months20,82516,84512 - 15 months14,13315,06415 - 18 months13,93110,63618 - 21 months11,0358,14421 - 24 months12,3988,32524 - 27 months11,7659,75427 - 30 months6,6004,43530 - 33 months5,7324,896> 33 months31,14421,570Total Pending329,160235,802
more detail, please see http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/cisomb_annualrpt07__June_11_2007_section3f_FBInamecheck.pdf