After submitting an application for an adjustment of status to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), the idea of waiting months to hear back about your petition can understandably seem agonizing. Unfortunately, processing delays of up to two years are commonplace for these agencies.
That being said, sometimes USCIS takes so long to process an application that it is necessary to take external action to speed things up. If you feel you have waited through an unreasonable delay for a green card in St. Louis, a qualified attorney could help resolve the issue.
When it comes to green card processing delays, certain applicants should expect to wait longer than others due to certain U.S. immigration policies. For example, individuals who apply for immediate relative immigrant visas are always prioritized over applicants seeking family preference immigrant visas, which also may have varying processing times.
Beyond those procedural matters, sometimes these agencies make mistakes that leave applicants for LPR status waiting years for their case to conclude. Backlogs at the National Visa Center, issues with background checks performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and printed documents getting physically lost somewhere can all lead to unreasonable delays for a green card application in St. Louis.
Finally, some delays stem from the overwhelming volume of applications that USCIS takes in on a yearly basis. Taking all of these factors into account applicants who send their Form I-485 to the St. Louis Field Office should expect to wait anywhere from ten to 16 months for processing.
While qualifying LPR petitioners in St. Louis should expect to wait a while before getting their green card, anyone whose application has been pending for more than two years may want to consider taking steps to resolve a potential unreasonable delay. In some cases, this is as simple as working with a qualified lawyer to exhaust administrative solutions to USCIS delays, such as submitting an online service request for outside normal processing time.
In extreme situations, though, it may be necessary to file a writ of mandamus lawsuit in federal court. The purpose of this legal action is to have the court formally order USCIS or another problematic agency to complete the duties assigned to them by the government within a reasonable length of time. It should be noted, though, that this is a last resort that should only be attempted after every other method is unsuccessful.
There are about as many reasons why applications end up getting stuck in various stages of USCIS processing. No matter what specifically is causing your unreasonable delay, you have a right to clear communication from USCIS about the status of your petition, as well as a reasonable waiting time compared to other similar applications.
Resolving an unreasonable delay for a green card in St. Louis could be much easier with assistance from a knowledgeable immigration lawyer. Call Hacking Immigration Law, LLC today for a private consultation.
