On July 13, 2018, Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a new policy memorandum that provides guidance to USCIS adjudicators regarding their discretion to deny an application, petition, or request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) when required initial evidence was not submitted or the evidence of record fails to establish eligibility.
This updated guidance is effective September 11, 2018 and applies to all applications, petitions, and requests, except for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) adjudications, received after that date. Due to preliminary injunctions issued by courts in California and New York, this new guidance does not change the RFE and NOID policies and practices that apply to the adjudication of DACA requests.
The earlier 2013 memorandum addressed policies for the issuance of RFEs and NOIDs when the evidence submitted at the time of filing did not establish eligibility. In practice, the 2013 guidance limited denials without RFEs or NOIDs to statutory denials by providing that RFEs should be issued unless there was “no possibility” of approval. This “no possibility” policy limited the application of an adjudicator’s discretion.
New July 13, 2018 policy implemented in this guidance restores to the adjudicator full discretion to deny applications, petitions, and requests without first issuing an RFE or a NOID. This policy is intended to discourage frivolous or substantially incomplete filings used as “placeholder” filings and encourage applicants, petitioners, and requestors to be diligent in collecting and submitting required evidence.
If all required initial evidence is not submitted with the benefit request, USCIS, in its discretion, may deny the benefit request for failure to establish eligibility based on lack of required initial evidence. Examples of filings that may be denied without sending an RFE or NOID include, but are not limited to: I-601 and I-601A waiver applications submitted without supporting evidence; or cases where the law requires the submission of an official document or other form of evidence establishing eligibility at the time of filing and there is no such submission (e.g., a properly completed and supported by evidence Affidavit of Support (Form I-864), when applying for adjustment of status (Form I-485).
This 07/13/2018 policy guidance updates Chapters 10.5(a) and 10.5(b) of the USCIS Adjudicator’s Field Manual and contains an “additional considerations” section. The policy in this “additional considerations” section is not new, and is nearly identical to the policy contained in the superseded 2013 memorandum.
After September 11, 2018, the effective date of the new policy, applicants and petitioners should be aware that when submitting a self-prepared incomplete or defective application, which is missing required documents, initial evidence, signatures, forms, properly prepared affidavit of support -- they are risking not merely a "rejection", where a complete application packet is mailed back with the filing fee check and all supporting documents, or a RFE, but a proper "denial" of their application, which results in losing of the filing fees, copies of the documents, and the official denial letter may provide brief and generic explanation of the reasons for denial.
After 09/11/2018, USCIS officers are given discretion to deny applications without first sending to an applicant a RFE (request for evidence) or NOID (notice of intent to deny) and giving the applicant an opportunity to correct the deficiencies of the application package.
This policy intervenes with another recent USCIS policy memorandum, dated June 28, 2018, which instructed USCIS officers to issue NTAs to refer applicants to immigration court for removal or deportation after denying their application, if an applicant is out of status on the date of denial.
The USCIS officer will deny the application, check if an applicant maintains his lawful nonimmigrant status, and if not, will issue a NTA and refer them for deportation (removal) to immigration court.
Briefly in Russian:
USCIS иммиграционная служба США недавно опубликовала два новых меморандума, и объявила о намерении ужесточить правила.
(1) Теперь офицеры USCIS будут иметь право отказывать по заявлениям БЕЗ предварительного запроса дополнительных документов и доказательств (RFE request for evidence or NOID notice of intent to deny).
Суть этих запросов в том, что если заявитель забыл послать какие-то копии или документы, он имел возможность позже дослать эти документы по запросу.
(2) После отказа теперь офицеры смогут сами без участия ICE передавать отказанные дела на депортацию в иммиграционный суд, если заявитель на момент отказа находится без легального статуса. Сами сотрудники USCIS будут выписывать повестку в суд на депортацию, NTA or notice to appear.
Это может коснуться и студентов, и лиц на рабочих визах, и даже тех кто подает на грин карту через брак и родителей американских граждан.
Таким образом USCIS cобираются экономить время на рассмотрении заявлений с отсутствующими необходимыми документами, или с недостаточным аффидевитом о материальной поддержке. После отказа, дело направляется в иммиграционный суд, и покидает юрисдикцию USCIS.
Ожидается, что новые правила по отказам вступят в силу с 11 сентября 2018, но такие отказы могут участиться и до этой даты.
RSS Feed