Form I-129 PIMS Confirmation Update
The Department of State has provided AILA (the American Immigration Lawyers Association) with an update regarding the recently implemented Petition Information Management System, otherwise known as PIMS. The Department of State has reported to AILA that while there are some minor growing pains in implementing the new system, PIMS confirmation is not causing delays in the issuing of visas.
Under PIMS, Form I-129 applications, along with the employer support letters and the other supporting documentation that is filed to obtain, for example, an H1-B visa or an L visa, are scanned into a database here in the U.S. Consular posts abroad are then required to access that database when an individual appears at the consulate for their visa interview. Once the documents that the visa applicant presents at the visa interview are checked against the documents in the database, the visa can then be issued--assuming the documents match.
The Department of State is reporting that the system has already resulted in catching some forged or altered I-797 forms (the USCIS approval notice that is issued when the USCIS approves the I-129 petition).
Otherwise, according to the DOS, there have not been significant delays in consular posts being able to access the scanned documents and PIMS confirmation has not caused delays in applicants having their visas issued.
