ImmigrationDHS IG: manual processing faster than Electronic Immigration System (ELIS)
A new reportby DHS Office of Inspector Generalconcludes that the department’s $1.7 billion Electronic Immigration System(ELIS), used to process forms for benefits, VISAs, and refugee requests, is inefficient as it takes twice as long as processing the applications manually.Currently, workers spend roughly 125 clicks per application, a more time-consuming process than processing the forms manually.
A new report by DHS Office of Inspector General concludes that the department’s $1.7 billion Electronic Immigration System (ELIS), used to process forms for benefits, VISAs, and refugee requests, is inefficient as it takes twice as long as processing the applications manually. “The electronic immigration system was supposed to provide a more efficient and higher quality adjudication process,” the report said. “However, instead of improved efficiency, time studies conducted by service centers show that adjudicating on paper is at least two times faster than adjudicating in ELIS.” NextGov reports that at one U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing center, employees closed 2.16 immigration cases per hour manually and 0.86 cases using ELIS.
The Fiscal Times reports that roughly 18,000 workers with USCIS on an average day process 23,000 applications for various immigration benefits, issue 6,100 permanent resident cards, process 310 refugee applications, and grant asylum to fifty-five individuals. The agency has more than five million people on VISA waiting lists. Currently, workers spend roughly 125 clicks per application, a more time-consuming process than processing the forms manually. At that rate, it could take up to twenty years to clear the existing backlog of pending immigration applications. “Immigration services officers take longer to adjudicate in ELIS in part because of the estimated 100 to 150 clicks required to move among sublevels and open documents to complete the process,” Richard Harsche, acting assistant inspector general for the DHS Office of IT Audits, said.
ELIS has had a poor performance record since its inception. The system began under a $536,000 contract, but costs have increased to over $1.7 billion, and USCIS is expected to spend at least $58 million more to improve its speed. USCIS has confirmed the issues highlighted in the IG report, noting that the agency has made several changes to reduce the number of clicks needed to process a form. Still, “USCIS has been limited in its ability to make changes to ELIS because of challenges with the existing architecture,” Harsche said. “The architecture consists of 29 commercial software products, which are difficult to integrate.”
USCIS plans to make some modifications to ELIS by the end of 2014, during a transition to a more flexible architecture.
