USCIS Acknowledges Problems with Online Case Tracking

At a recent meeting with USCIS, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) expressed its concern that case status updates are not being posted on USCIS’s online tracking system, Customer Relationship Interface System (CRIS). In particular, AILA said that when a petition is transferred to another service center, CRIS does not show to which center the filing was transferred and no additional updates are made. So, for example, if a request for evidence (RFE) is sent but not received, and there is no indication of an RFE in CRIS, the case may be denied due to abandonment, particularly if USCIS records indicate that the notice was mailed to a correct address. USCIS’s Customer Service Directorate acknowledged the problems and promised to update CRIS to correct them.

In addition, USCIS recently said it is taking longer than usual to issue receipts for all filings due to the high volume of petitions filed before the USCIS fee increases took effect on November 23, 2010. In response to an inquiry, USCIS said it will take up to a month from the issuance of a receipt before the information is available to be tracked on CRIS.