Name Check: Everything You Need to Know about This American Nightmare (Part II)

Name Check Basics

The process is like this: USCIS received your application and started to do a few security background checks using available databases, such as fingerprint checks and Automatic Biometric Identification System checks. Coming out clean, Congratulations! USCIS then forwarded your record to FBI using their National Name Check Program.

The FBI National Name Check Program is (NNCP) a contractor to USCIS, providing name check service to not only USCIS, but other federal agencies. You would think USCIS should be on their priority list because it has huge impact on millions of immigrants' life every year. Guess again. USCIS is no way near the NNCP's top priority. To FBI's NNCP, USCIS name check requests are at Level 3:"Routine work and requests from major customers without specific deadlines."

Don't you so glad to realize that "without specific deadlines" is exact what immigrants need?

The FBI NNCP runs your name against their Central Record System (CRS). First, FBI checks with a Universal Index (UNI) contained in the Automated Case Support (ACS) system. For most of the times, your name would come out with a "No Record" result. Don't smile yet. That was only from their "Main" files. A "Main" entry means that the name is directly involved in one of FBI's criminal investigations. The vast majority of the names should come out clean against "Main" files. FBI also checks your name with their "Reference" files, which is the true warm bed for your nightmare. The "Reference" files have entries that merely mention or reference someone's name linked to a "Main" file. And the worst of all, in most cases, that name is not even your name! It could be merely the same name as yours, but also could be just a fraction of your name, or could be just similar to your name.

What? Are you kidding?

According to FBI's own document, "the names are searched in a multitude of combinations, switching the order of first, last, and middle names, as well as combinations with only the first and last names, first and middle names, and so on." Yes, you heard them right. Say your name is Tony Blair. If they find a terrorist named Blair Anthony, you are nailed! Isn't that fun? If your name is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a criminal named Kareem Jabbar-Abdul on the UNI, you are nailed!

Now Tony Blair gets a "name-match" with a terrorist Blair Anthony, and he becomes a "hit" using FBI's jargon. An FBI agent will do a manual search against the humongous CRS to find more information and determine whether the "hit" is indeed a national threat. In 1-2 months, most "hits" are cleared and returned to USCIS as "No Record". According to FBI's own count, after this stage, about 90% of the names should be cleared and returned to USICS. (This is totally not true. Either FBI/USCIS had no idea how to do math or FBI/USCIS simply did not tell the truth. An analysis can be found later in this blog.)

The rest of the story, unfortunately, you already knew. Waiting, long suffering, depression, and any negative feeling you can think of. If you fall into that 10% category who are identified and confirmed as "hits", the only hope you have is to wait some FBI rookies open your case. In other words, someone within FBI has to review your case, gather information, and make a final clearance decision. The problem is that FBI is so short-handed that chances are you have to wait infinitely to get someone take on your case.