February 1, 2001 -- In a recent exchange between the INS Service Center in Texas (TSC) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the TSC acknowledged that its published “processing time” is actually an average of all the cases. “The TSC is currently adjudicating cases filed both before and after the date identified in time reports. The published processing time report for I-485 adjudications reflects an average adjudication date,” the TSC stated.

For applicants, this means that the published processing times only provide a very rough estimate. If one’s application is pending beyond the published processing time, it may only mean that that case is below the average (or it may mean that the application has been misplaced). Timely follow up on cases beyond the published date is the best means we have to advance the slow cases or determine that the case needs to be found.

On the bright side, the TSC also stated that it will be adopting a new national standard that is directed at reducing backlogs, and that it is establishing a team to begin focusing on “old cases.”

The TSC was also asked about cases where the I-485 applications of a single family were separated, resulting in the approval of some cases but not others in the same family. The TSC replied that its contractors are instructed to keep family cases together, and that it would re-stress to contractors the importance of processing family cases together. If followed, this policy would prevent the hardship and anxiety that a number of families have felt.