USCIS Can Now Deny at Will: NOID & RFE (Part I of 2)

For many years, USCIS adjudicators have provided applicants & petitioners with the benefit of the doubt. As such, applications, petitions, and requests were not outright denied if a USCIS officer noticed an absence of evidence or if evidence was insufficient for eligibility. For years, USCIS officers instead issued requests for evidence notices (RFE) or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) to those who submitted insufficient applications. During this time, USCIS officers denied only applications in which there was “no possibility” of acceptance. However, a recent memo from USCIS may bring about unfortunate changes in the ways that officers process visa applications.

Early this month, USCIS released a policy memorandum providing adjudicators with greater autonomy in denying a visa application, petition, or request. The five-year procedural commitment to providing applicants with notice of challenges to their applications will now yield to a much harsher policy. USCIS officers may now deny requests for immigration benefits if they determine that there is insufficient evidence to grant the application. Thus, an application will be solely tied to an adjudicator’s interpretation of “insufficient” starting September 11th. For example, if a waiver is submitted with little supporting evidence, the application will be denied without a RFE or NOID. Additionally, applications which require supplementary material, both official and other, that establish the eligibility of an application will be denied if the required information is not submitted with the application (e.g. The affidavit of support does not accompany the application for permanent residence). Excluded from applications impacted by the memo are those submitted under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In a statement, the Director for USCIS praised the memo as an end to “frivolous filings and skeletal applications used to game the system.” Director Cissna hopes that, by allowing USCIS officers to eliminate frivolous and incomplete filings, the organization will be better equipped to quickly process legitimate applications. However, the memo removes the opportunity to mend legitimate mistakes made to applications. Although the procedural change does not go into effect for another two months, the decision is sure to impact many awaiting a decision from USCIS.

Read Part 2 of this news brief.