December 4, 2007

Changes in FBI Name Checks

A number of publications announced last week that DHS Secretary Chertoff indicated USCIS and the FBI were changing standards and procedures of the name check process. Rumors began to circulate including one stating that these changes would reduce a significant proportion of the current backlog within 6 months and reduce clearance times in the future. In response to these postings USCIS Office of Communications Spokesman Bill Wright wrote an editorial to a Daily paper which clarified and revealed two strategies for addressing the name check problems:

 “First, USCIS and the FBI conducted a joint risk assessment which resulted in process improvements that permit us to focus on cases of concern. Second, USCIS and FBI have allocated additional resources to the process. Over the next year, USCIS is planning to commit a total of $15.5 million to address the backlog of FBI name checks.”

He further stated that the USCIS will continue to require FBI name checks for the same categories of applications and, while the changes will help many applications to be cleared more quickly, some checks will still be delayed by investigations.