The USCIS recently announced a major rule change that would affect many categories of visa and Green Card applicants. The agency said that when an applicant submits an application that is not complete, the agency asks for more documents, but now the officers will be empowered to deny the application. The agency said that this will restore integrity to the immigration system and weed out frivolous benefit requests.USCIS has restored officers’ full discretion to deny a benefit request without first issuing an RFE or NOID in various situations. With this updated policy, USCIS can better allocate resources to efficiently make decisions and prevent meritless requests, the agency said. RFE and NOID are two technical terms that offer applicants a small scope to strengthen their case.
What is RFE?
An RFE (Request for Evidence) is a formal written notice issued by USCIS when an immigration application (such as an H-1B petition, green card, or visa extension) lacks required initial evidence or needs additional documentation before an officer can make a final decision. An RFE is not a denial; it is a temporary pause on the application, giving the applicant or employer a chance to submit missing documents.
What is NOID?
Notice of Intent to Deny is when the adjudicating officer issues a formal warning that the application has been reviewed, but the officer wants to deny the case unless the applicant comes up with more compelling evidence.The new rule says the adjudicating officer can just reject the application without asking for any additional evidence.Immigration lawyer Jennifer Behm called this another step in dismantling legal immigration and broke down the pitfalls of this new rule in 5 pointsNo scope to correct USCIS’ mistake: Behm explained that officers can make mistakes; they can overlook evidence, request documents that have already been submitted or misread legal arguments or complex business structures. With zero scope to correct that, there is no chance to rectify the record before a wrongful denial.AI is not neutral: The attorney said that USCIS already started using AI to go through applications. AI tools flag inconsistencies even before an officer reads the file, and this practice has already led to an overall increase in denial rates.Won’t make the system quick: “Premium processing is already breaking down. Clients pay a hefty fee for a guaranteed decision window, and cases are routinely blowing past that deadline anyway. USCIS cannot meet the timelines it already charges for. Skipping the RFE step does not fix that. It just means officers will deny faster instead of reviewing faster,” Behm said.US employers will be impacted: Those who sponsor H-1B visas or Green Cards will be impacted as they already pay exorbitant filing fees, and now there is a higher chance that the application will be junked, she said.Fewer fallback options: Once denied, the applicants can appeal and wait, and that may take years.“The people caught in this are not abstractions. They are employers trying to keep their workforce legal. They are U.S. citizens trying to keep their families together. They deserve a system that gets it right, not one that is simply faster at getting it wrong,” Behm explained.
Who are not affected?
The new policy does not apply to overseas visa applicants going through the consular process because those are handled by the US Department of State.The new rule is for applications handled by USCIS, like H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN petitions filed by employers, change or extension of status, Green Card applications, Employment Authorization Documents etc.
