Indirect speech - which statement is correct? [duplicate]

I received an email saying that the documents are/were being processed.

Which is correct? Are or were?

Solution 1:

From English Club (slightly modified) :

In reported speech:

He said: "I feel sad." becomes He said that he felt sad.

John said (that) he was hungry. ... John's original words: "I am hungry."

[As is seen, w]e sometimes change the tense of the reported clause by moving it back one tense. For example, present simple goes back one tense to past simple. We call this change "backshift".

When do we use backshift?

We use backshift when it is logical to use backshift. So, for example, if two minutes ago John said "I am hungry" and I am now telling his sister, I might NOT use backshift (because John is still hungry):

John just said that he is hungry.

I received an email saying that the documents are/were being processed.

Are they in all probability still being processed?