Immigration Benefits: Improvements Needed to Address Backlogs and Ensure Quality of Adjudications

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is in the process of a multi-year billion dollar program to transform from a paper-based application system to an individual account-based, electronic business processing system. USCIS has selected IBM as its Solutions Architect to aid USCIS in designing and implementing its re-engineered business processes. One of the new capabilities will be the ability to track the amount of time USCIS takes to process each application and produce management reports on the actual age of individual benefit applications. According to IBM's Technical Solution for Implementation document, production statistics will include data on case aging, that is how long each application has been pending at USCIS. According to IBM's Solution Strategy for Nonimmigrant applications, the new operating environment will give USCIS staff and management much more detailed information about each case including its "cycle time," the amount of time USCIS took to process an application and therefore allow USCIS to be able to measure percent of cases completed within established timeframes. These actions are consistent with our recommendation.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is in the process of a long term program to transform from a paper-based application system to an individual account-based, electronic business processing system. One of the planned capabilities of this new system is Agency and Knowledge Management. According to USCIS' May 2010 Transformation Overview, under this capability managers will be able to see workloads and available resources to better balance the distribution of cases and assign cases based on case profiles. This capability also includes the ability for managers to balance workloads across offices. USCIS's 2007 Transformation Program Concept of Operations mentions that one of the benefits of USCIS's new businesses processes will be the ability to prevent future backlogs through efficient case management and workload tracking, a potential productivity gain. These actions are consistent with our recommendation.

In November 2005, we found that the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) had developed a staffing allocation model and planned a major transformation of its information technology system to help address its backlog, but that it had not articulated potential productivity gains expected by upgrading its information technology environment to support prevention of future backlogs. As a result, we recommended that USCIS identify potential productivity gains and the potential effects of technology improvements on its staffing allocation plans. According to USCIS, the agency updated the Staffing Allocation Model (SAM) in October 2008 to identify Domestic Operations staffing requirements for FY 2009. The results obtained from the SAM 2009 model informed Domestic Operations of the need to alter hiring plans to reflect increased production. More recently, USCIS stated that it was updating the SAM model for FY 2010. According to USCIS, in each update any business process or information technology changes that may have been implemented to improve officer productivity would be captured and reflected through lower application and petition case per hour (CPH) rates. USCIS continues to take steps to update its business processes and technology that are expected to aid in resource allocation decision making. For example, according to USCIS's Solutions Architect, IBM for USCIS's Transformation Program, part of IBM's solution provides for a process simulation model that provides decision makers (supervisors, managers, headquarters) with technological tools for decision making, including resource utilization and development of staffing allocation models. These actions are consistent with our recommendation.

We found that the US Citizenship and Immigration Service's (USCIS) post adjudication quality assurance programs did not provide a comprehensive review of the agency's effort to ensure that immigration benefits are granted only to persons eligible to receive them. We recommended that USCIS develop a comprehensive quality assurance program that applies to all types of immigration benefits and that addresses adjudication processes and reasonableness of decisions. USCIS' Quality assurance programs have undergone modification to address both process and decisional compliance. In August 2006, field offices began reviewing applications for naturalization and permanent residency for decisional accuracy in addition to the established process reviews. In June 2009, USCIS' Quality Management Branch reported on a pilot test it conducted to establish an accuracy rate for the immigration benefits that make up over 95% of USCIS's workload. The purpose of this pilot was to establish a process whereby accuracy rates could be obtained efficiently and with a reliable degree of statistical validity for nearly all immigration benefits. The report concluded that this type of review is feasible and that the goal of determining the accuracy rate for the majority of application benefits can be effectively accomplished with a minimum use of personnel. USCIS issued a memorandum on June 8, 2009, stating that it will continue this review on a quarterly basis. In addition to these quarterly reviews, in March 2010, USCIS's newly established Office of Performance and Quality developed a strategic framework for USCIS's Quality Management Program. The strategy includes a focus on quality outcomes such as decisional integrity and accuracy, and development of benefits process measures including efficiency rates of processes, processing times, and process compliance and fraud. The steps USCIS has taken are consistent with our recommendation.