Last year, immigration attorney Stephen Bander was suing immigration authorities left and right demanding they speed up citizenship applications that were frequently taking a year or longer to decide.

Times have changed.

Bander recently filed an application for client Hoover Encalada, who was sworn in as a U.S. citizen less than four months later.

Encalada's experience is now the norm -- not the exception.

Following years of complaints, federal immigration authorities are fulfilling the promise by then-President Bush to process immigration documents in six months or less.

As of Aug. 31, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' website shows the average processing time for citizenship applications in Miami was five months, compared to an average of 12 months in September 2008.

``There is definitely a marked improvement,'' said Bander, one of the immigration attorneys who frequently sued USCIS for taking too long. ``Now they make decisions in three months or four on average.''

Eduardo Soto, a Coral Gables attorney who also sued over delays, said the agency has ``streamlined the process.''

Bander and other South Florida immigration attorneys credited former USCIS chief Emilio González with the speedier application process.

MOVES TO IMPROVE

Gonzalez, who served under former President Bush, modernized and decentralized the bureaucracy.

In South Florda, he moved immigration offices out of the old and forbidding Immigration and Naturalization Services building at Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 79th Street and into more welcoming community-level field offices.

``Better processes, better training, and the decentralizing of the Miami office are all cornerstone factors that have contributed to fulfill our commitment of reducing the processing times for our applicants,'' said Ana Santiago, a USCIS spokeswoman in Miami. ``The right resources and the right people and going into our communities have been a winning formula.''

But at least one veteran Miami immigration attorney, who previously worked at the INS, said the the recession and higher fees for processing of immigration documents explain the faster service.

``The economy is making it more difficult for many people to apply and so there are fewer applicants and thus the rate of applications has dropped off,'' said Tammy Fox-Isicoff, who has an office in the Brickell Avenue financial district.

The number of citizenship applications has, in fact, declined, according to the latest government figures. In fiscal year 2008, immigrants submitted 525,786 naturalization applications -- 857,489 less than during fiscal year 2007.

``It is true that the number of applications is lower,'' said Santiago, ``but last year was an extraordinary year with the presidential elections and immigration debate that took place in this country, but still we continued to improve our processing times.''

She said the number of naturalization applications is rising.

Whatever the reasons, those seeking citizenship now are generally sworn in quickly.

ONE MAN'S STORY

Bander's client, Encalada, who became a citizen Oct. 30, said that he expected a delay of several months, noting that getting residency - a green card -- took about a year.

``I was pleasantly surprised at the speed with which this was done,'' said Encalada, a banana farmer from Ecuador.

Besides the faster service, Encalada noticed another positive change.

Said Encalada: ``When we applied for residence at the old INS building [at Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 79th Street] people there were rude. But the people at the new office were more polite.''