On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new policy memorandum which makes it easier for USCIS adjudicators to deny visa applications without any chance for applicants to correct the applications or submit additional information.
The policy memorandum broadens USCIS adjudicator’s discretion to deny applications, without issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE, requests more evidences form the applicant) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID, which informs the applicant of the adjudicator’s preliminary decision to deny an application unless the applicant responds in 30 days).
According to the policy memorandum, if all required initial evidence is not submitted with the benefit request, USCIS in its discretion may deny the benefit request without sending an RFE or a NOID.
In some cases where the response to an RFE opens up new inquiries, a follow-up RFE might be warranted. According to the policy, however, officers should include in a single RFE all the additional evidence they anticipate having to request.
Prior to this new policy memorandum, the USCIS’s would deny an application without first issuing a RFE or a NOID only if there was “no possibility” that the deficiency could be cured by submission of additional evidence. Examples would include any filing in which the applicant had no legal basis for the benefit/request sought, or requested a relief under a program that has been terminated.
The new guidance goes into effect on September 11, 2018, and applies to applications received after this date.
Authority
8 CFR 103.2(b)(8). PM-602-0163 Issuance of Certain RFEs and NOIDs;
Revisions to Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) Chapter 10.5(a), and 10.5(b)
The full text is available at https://www.uscis.gov…
Originally published on CGCFirm on August 2018