INS then makes a preliminary decision and recommends disposition to the court. Traditionally. however. the courts role is of a ceremonial nature and very rarely does it overturn an INS decision. In fact. only 64 applicants out of 245.000 were denied by the courts in fiscal year H.R. 735 allows the INS to performalsothe ceremonial aspects of naturalizations. However. in cases where the applicant may wish to have a court ceremony. that will be arranged. In my 6 years as Immigration Subcommittee Chairman. this issue has been one of the most frequently addressed during the oversight process. Each year. the increased volume of applications for naturalization (1981171.000 applications filed. 1985306.000 applications filed) had led to more personnel and funding (fiscal year 1984 an additional 140 positions and in fiscal year 1985 an additional 170 positions). In addition. new management techniques and computerization have been introduced to accommodate the workload. In 1981 legislation was enacted to reduce some of the paperwork requirements. But even with all these efforts. the system is unable to keep pace. For instance. in some of the key cities. the total waiting period for naturalization can be as long as 2 years: cty INS waiting time Court waiting period New York .......................... 4 months .......................... 3 months. Miami ................................ 7 months .......................... 12 months. Los Angeles ....................... 5 months .......................... 5 months.
Keywords matched
naturalization naturalizations Immigration