Lev Kobrin
02-09-2006, 11:24 AM
Call Your Service Center Directly, Toll Free, Quicker, Easier Help
February 9, 2006
USCIS recently expanded its toll-free customer service call routing network to include the 4 USCIS service centers. The following kinds of calls will be automatically routed to the SC’s during live assistance hours– Under Option 1 in the main menu:
♦ New permanent resident who received their welcome notice more than 30 days ago, but hasn’t yet received their new permanent resident card.
♦ Case already approved but customer didn’t receive associated post-approval documents within 30 days after the case is approved and all required biometrics have been collected (for example getting their new Permanent Resident card within 30 days after we approve their I-90 application.
♦ I-129 approved more than a week ago, but consulate or POE listed on petition hasn’t received notification. Under Option 2 in the main menu.
♦ Pending case where there is reason to believe companion cases have been separated in processing.
♦ Pending I-129 where the petitioner wants to change information on the petition, such as change consulates or add or remove beneficiaries.
♦ Questions about a ‘Request for Evidence’ (RFE) received from the SC on a case. This includes – - questions trying to understand what is requested, - if the caller believes the material requested by the RFE was already submitted with the case, or - if an RFE response isn't shown in our system within 30 days after it was submitted.
The USCIS has structured this as a self-service process. There is no gatekeeper that the caller needs to convince to transfer the call to someone else or somewhere else. The routing is embedded in the system and is based on the customer using the menus and selecting the appropriate options based on the circumstances that caused them to call. Each of the above circumstances is an identified option in the menus. Based on the options selected the call will automatically be routed to what the USCIS has determined is the appropriate location, whether that is one of the call centers or a particular service center.
Take the example of a new permanent resident seeking assistance – The first menu they hear asks them to identify where they are in the process. The first option is to follow-up on a case that has already been approved or denied, or if the customer recently became a permanent resident, so a new permanent resident concerned that s/he hasn’t yet gotten their card would select this option.
- The next menu asks the customer to identify whether they are a new permanent resident, are calling about some other kind of approved case, or are calling about a denied case. Since the caller is a new permanent resident s/he would select that option.
- The caller then hears 6 options with relevant information and service options for new permanent residents. Option 4 is for where a new permanent resident received their welcome notice more than 30 days ago, but hasn’t yet received their card.
- The system then prompts them to input the receipt number from their welcome notice, and then gives them current status. For example, they may find that the card was just mailed.
- After the caller hears current case status, this call will automatically be transferred to the appropriate service center based on the receipt number the customer keyed in. To effectively use this service all a caller needs to do is to listen to the menus and make the appropriate selections depending on the circumstances that caused them to call.
USCIS systems will automatically provide a range of information and services, and will automatically route calls to the appropriate location for live assistance based on the menu options selected.
If a call is automatically routed to a service center will it always be answered there?
-The service centers offer live assistance from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. their local time. Customers calling from different time zones will be automatically rerouted to one of the USCIS call centers if calling outside the service center’s business hours.
Take the example of a caller from New York calling at 8 a.m. about a reentry permit application because they believe companion cases were separated. At 8 a.m. in New York it’s 7 a.m. at the Nebraska Service Center, where the reentry permit application was filed, and the NSC is not yet open. Since NSC isn’t open, the system will instead automatically route the call to one of the call centers. Personnel there will assist the caller, and take a service request just as NSC would, and will then ship the service request to NSC for analysis and response to the customer. This will also automatically happen if the service center is temporarily closed, such as due to weather. There is one other circumstance where the call will end up at one of the call centers. When the call is routed to the service center, the system automatically projects the customer’s wait time. If the projected wait time exceeds USCIS standards, the call will automatically be routed back one of the call centers, where, again, they will assist the customer and take the service request for the service center to handle.
Can I ask for a call to be transferred?
-No. This is a self-service process. The menus are designed to give customers direct access to various information and case services. Calls are automatically routed based on the options the customer selects.
Will other pre-existing procedures to raise issues to the service centers continue?
-The fax process to request that an SC consider expediting a case will continue. The procedures in place for unusual matters to be raised through regional chairs and other means will also continue.
Who will answer other questions, and deal with other problems?
-Live assistance will continue to be provided by USCIS call center personnel.
The USCIS adds this important note of caution: The USCIS has expanded the criteria for case service requests in large part due to feedback from customers and their representatives. To make this process as simple as possible, they also created this self-service process to give customers direct access to SCs where they agree it is appropriate. However, they will continue to balance customer wants for access and updates with their need to focus resources on actual case processing.
Letting customers self-identify themselves and automatically routing them for service based on their selections will only work if customers use this service for the intended purposes. SC staff have been instructed to be very diligent with respect to only handling inquiries appropriate to the selections the customer made in the automated menu - which means the services listed above. To the extent customers try to turn the automated menu selections into simply a routing PIN to get direct to the SC to raise other issues, either in the context of appropriate transfers or not, they will not find success. But by tying up the available lines trying to raise other issues direct with the SC’s instead of using the appropriate available procedure, customers will reduce USCIS capacity to handle calls that they feel should be routed direct to the SC’s, increasing the chance that a customer who everyone agrees needs to talk directly with a service center will be automatically routed back to the call centers because other customers trying to raise other issues are blocking their path.
The USCIS will continue to evaluate performance of this system. Their hope is to be able to add several kinds of service requests to the direct SC routing path. But if the volume of calls from customers attempting to raise other issues direct to an SC grows to the point where it hampers their ability to help customers they want to be able to get directly through to an SC, then in order to not reduce our commitment to case processing they will have to discontinue this program, and return to answering all calls at their call centers.
February 9, 2006
USCIS recently expanded its toll-free customer service call routing network to include the 4 USCIS service centers. The following kinds of calls will be automatically routed to the SC’s during live assistance hours– Under Option 1 in the main menu:
♦ New permanent resident who received their welcome notice more than 30 days ago, but hasn’t yet received their new permanent resident card.
♦ Case already approved but customer didn’t receive associated post-approval documents within 30 days after the case is approved and all required biometrics have been collected (for example getting their new Permanent Resident card within 30 days after we approve their I-90 application.
♦ I-129 approved more than a week ago, but consulate or POE listed on petition hasn’t received notification. Under Option 2 in the main menu.
♦ Pending case where there is reason to believe companion cases have been separated in processing.
♦ Pending I-129 where the petitioner wants to change information on the petition, such as change consulates or add or remove beneficiaries.
♦ Questions about a ‘Request for Evidence’ (RFE) received from the SC on a case. This includes – - questions trying to understand what is requested, - if the caller believes the material requested by the RFE was already submitted with the case, or - if an RFE response isn't shown in our system within 30 days after it was submitted.
The USCIS has structured this as a self-service process. There is no gatekeeper that the caller needs to convince to transfer the call to someone else or somewhere else. The routing is embedded in the system and is based on the customer using the menus and selecting the appropriate options based on the circumstances that caused them to call. Each of the above circumstances is an identified option in the menus. Based on the options selected the call will automatically be routed to what the USCIS has determined is the appropriate location, whether that is one of the call centers or a particular service center.
Take the example of a new permanent resident seeking assistance – The first menu they hear asks them to identify where they are in the process. The first option is to follow-up on a case that has already been approved or denied, or if the customer recently became a permanent resident, so a new permanent resident concerned that s/he hasn’t yet gotten their card would select this option.
- The next menu asks the customer to identify whether they are a new permanent resident, are calling about some other kind of approved case, or are calling about a denied case. Since the caller is a new permanent resident s/he would select that option.
- The caller then hears 6 options with relevant information and service options for new permanent residents. Option 4 is for where a new permanent resident received their welcome notice more than 30 days ago, but hasn’t yet received their card.
- The system then prompts them to input the receipt number from their welcome notice, and then gives them current status. For example, they may find that the card was just mailed.
- After the caller hears current case status, this call will automatically be transferred to the appropriate service center based on the receipt number the customer keyed in. To effectively use this service all a caller needs to do is to listen to the menus and make the appropriate selections depending on the circumstances that caused them to call.
USCIS systems will automatically provide a range of information and services, and will automatically route calls to the appropriate location for live assistance based on the menu options selected.
If a call is automatically routed to a service center will it always be answered there?
-The service centers offer live assistance from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. their local time. Customers calling from different time zones will be automatically rerouted to one of the USCIS call centers if calling outside the service center’s business hours.
Take the example of a caller from New York calling at 8 a.m. about a reentry permit application because they believe companion cases were separated. At 8 a.m. in New York it’s 7 a.m. at the Nebraska Service Center, where the reentry permit application was filed, and the NSC is not yet open. Since NSC isn’t open, the system will instead automatically route the call to one of the call centers. Personnel there will assist the caller, and take a service request just as NSC would, and will then ship the service request to NSC for analysis and response to the customer. This will also automatically happen if the service center is temporarily closed, such as due to weather. There is one other circumstance where the call will end up at one of the call centers. When the call is routed to the service center, the system automatically projects the customer’s wait time. If the projected wait time exceeds USCIS standards, the call will automatically be routed back one of the call centers, where, again, they will assist the customer and take the service request for the service center to handle.
Can I ask for a call to be transferred?
-No. This is a self-service process. The menus are designed to give customers direct access to various information and case services. Calls are automatically routed based on the options the customer selects.
Will other pre-existing procedures to raise issues to the service centers continue?
-The fax process to request that an SC consider expediting a case will continue. The procedures in place for unusual matters to be raised through regional chairs and other means will also continue.
Who will answer other questions, and deal with other problems?
-Live assistance will continue to be provided by USCIS call center personnel.
The USCIS adds this important note of caution: The USCIS has expanded the criteria for case service requests in large part due to feedback from customers and their representatives. To make this process as simple as possible, they also created this self-service process to give customers direct access to SCs where they agree it is appropriate. However, they will continue to balance customer wants for access and updates with their need to focus resources on actual case processing.
Letting customers self-identify themselves and automatically routing them for service based on their selections will only work if customers use this service for the intended purposes. SC staff have been instructed to be very diligent with respect to only handling inquiries appropriate to the selections the customer made in the automated menu - which means the services listed above. To the extent customers try to turn the automated menu selections into simply a routing PIN to get direct to the SC to raise other issues, either in the context of appropriate transfers or not, they will not find success. But by tying up the available lines trying to raise other issues direct with the SC’s instead of using the appropriate available procedure, customers will reduce USCIS capacity to handle calls that they feel should be routed direct to the SC’s, increasing the chance that a customer who everyone agrees needs to talk directly with a service center will be automatically routed back to the call centers because other customers trying to raise other issues are blocking their path.
The USCIS will continue to evaluate performance of this system. Their hope is to be able to add several kinds of service requests to the direct SC routing path. But if the volume of calls from customers attempting to raise other issues direct to an SC grows to the point where it hampers their ability to help customers they want to be able to get directly through to an SC, then in order to not reduce our commitment to case processing they will have to discontinue this program, and return to answering all calls at their call centers.