Effective Sept. 11, 2018, USCIS officers are no longer required to issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) and may outright deny an application, petition or request for even minor clerical mistakes.
The new policy implementation allowing USCIS officers the ability to deny a visa or green card application, petition or request without issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) gives adjudicators almost full discretion to make complex judgments without clear standards nor proper oversight to safeguard against unequal treatment.
What this means is that immigration officials who have questions about a case or see a technical issue can merely deny instead of giving applicants or petitioners an opportunity to correct clerical errors or provide U.S. employers and attorneys the right to address concerns.
The intensified restrictions to immigration still allow for the official to issue an RFE, but will they? In some cases yes.
However, past actions signal that denials will rise, even in cases that would ultimately be approved given the opportunity to rectify concerns or submit additional evidence.
