Due to the lengthy backlogs, applicants' fingerprints are lost or expire, requiring them to be refingerprinted. The INS lost the fingerprints of one applicant, Mrs. O'Connell, four times. Her naturalization petition has been pending for over three years. Children applicants for immediate relative status turn 21 years old while applications are pending and Aage out of that visa category, leading to many years wait in other visa categories. This happened to Montserrat Rodriguez, one of my constituents.
Applicants are unable to contact the INS to make inquiries on case status.
Their lives are in limbo. We'll hear from two such applicants today. One result is that applicants are turning to Members of Congress more and more for basic information and for help to find out the status of their applications. The immigration-related casework of Members' District office has grown in recent years. We'll hear from four of those caseworkers today.