On June 9, 2021, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an update to the guidelines for processing immigration requests with insufficient evidence. In 2018 USCIS issued new guidance allowing officers to deny immigration applications and petitions for insufficient evidence, without first sending a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).
In certain circumstances, when an applicant submits an immigration application with insufficient evidence, the officer may send either an RFE or NOID prior to denying the immigration petition. These documents state the reason the petition will be denied and provides the applicant with the opportunity to correct the issue.
In June 2013, USCIS published guidelines for officers to first issue a RFE or NOID before denying an application when there was a possibility that additional evidence would be sufficient for approving the immigration request. While in 2018, this policy was superseded with a new policy allowing officers to deny the immigration request without providing the applicant with a RFE or NOID.
However, on June 9, 2021, USCIS rescinded the June 2018 policy guidelines, reinstating the policy guideline from June 2013. This new policy should provide people with the opportunity to correct any minor mistakes in their immigration requests.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Sacramento immigration law firm.