For more than two years, LIA has closely followed both State Department and USCIS immigration activities through our Washington representatives, Morrison Public Affairs Group. This has led not only to the discovery of a law that discriminates against Chinese based on national origin (for which we have a legislative solution: the ACT Now bill introduced in both the House and Senate), but also to significant progress clarifying the processing of I-485s.

Last October, in one of a series of meetings arranged by our Washington representatives, LIA became the first – in fact, the only – organization to request that USCIS release what we suggested they call an “inventory” of I-485 data.  Early this year, LIA made the “inventory” disclosure as its top agenda. Throughout 2009, both through our Washington representatives and in direct meetings with LIA’s dedicated team, USCIS continued to promise that an inventory of I-485 data – something like the monthly Visa Bulletin issued by the US Department of State – would be made available online. More details of the progress can be found in LIA newsletter.

On September 23rd, USCIS has for the first time published an inventory of I-485 data online. LIA was the only group to be notified of the release date. Through this LIA-urged innovation, applicants can more reliably estimate their expected waiting time for green cards and thus, finally make informed decisions in career development, starting a family, and becoming new Americans. This USCIS initiative, prompted by LIA’s tireless advocacy, is an important step to improve the transparency of USCIS in providing immigration benefits.

LIA’s leadership, and all of our growing membership congratulates our team that kept up the pressure and got this done – and we thank USCIS, particularly Robert Kruszka and his Service Center Operations team for listening to our ideas, and recognizing the importance of making this inventory public.