Determined to start a new life in another country, especially the United States, keep in mind that the procedures for accepting you are strict. They take time, so going days or months without an answer shouldn’t be a matter of anxiety.

If your option is to resort to asylum, be patient.

Delays can hit asylum seekers hardest in proceedings before immigration courts. They usually have to wait “an average of four and a half years for a decision from USCIS, which continues to collect applications,” they explained in El Nuevo Herald in March 2023.

For that month, the United States outlet indicated that “at that point, more than 660,000 cases were still waiting to appear before a judge for a hearing.”

Here are the possible penalties if you cross the US border illegally

You can contact the Office of the Ombudsman of the Citizenship and Immigration Department of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

What to do if the process is delayed in the United States?

First, stay calm. They remembered in that medium that you may have waited months or years for an immigration decision, so they said it should be known that while some files are lost, it is not common.

The Odyssey of Visiting Florida as an Undocumented Immigrant: Here’s the New Law That Makes Family Reunification Difficult in the United States

Said medium indicates that if “when you consult your file number it says your case is still being processed after you have waited longer than the established normal handling time, you may contact USCIS for an individual consultation.”

If you can’t find your receipt number, “the USCIS additional information page will teach you how to identify this number through a notification, which is also online.”

In addition, you can call the telephone number of the USCIS Contact Center: 800-375-5283″.

To make an individual consultation, it is important to know what your receipt number is.

USCIS

Processing times listed on the USCIS website also include cases where a Request for Evidence (RFE) has been filed. Photo: Istock

If your case “is outside normal processing times — more than the time to complete 93% of adjudicated cases or more than 130% of the cycle time — USCIS will provide you with a link to submit your question,” states the newspaper.

The processing times “listed on the USCIS website also include instances where a Request for Evidence (RFE) has been sent with additional information or other notice requiring biometrics to be submitted”

USCIS “includes the total time from the date of receipt to completion and when you reschedule the interview.”

One last resort people could count on, El Nuevo Herald reported in mid-2022, to seek help in immigration matters was to go to the Office of the Ombudsman of the Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).