United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). / IANS

In a significant update that could affect thousands of Indians living, working, or studying in America, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Aug. 5 that immigration benefit applicants must establish eligibility at the time of filing petitions. 

If they fail to demonstrate eligibility for a benefit or to provide all required initial evidence upfront when filing an application, USCIS may deny their immigration benefit request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), under the updated policy. “Form instructions outline all required initial documentation, and officers will evaluate all submitted materials during adjudication.” 

The new rules will apply to a wide range of petitions including H-1B, L-1, O-1, EB-1, Green Card, OPT, STEM-OPT, H-4 EAD, applications to change to or extend student status, visitor status or dependent statuses , and requests for advance parole or re-entry permits.

The changes are being introduced as updating policy in the USCIS manual regarding evidentiary standards, RFEs and NOIDs. When adjudicating immigration benefit requests, USCIS considers any relevant evidence submitted in connection with the benefit request as part of the request.

As background for the changes introduced, the requesting party, or applicant, bears the burden of establishing eligibility for an immigration benefit at the time of filing and maintaining that eligibility throughout adjudication. When an applicant or petitioner meets this burden of proof—and demonstrates that a favourable exercise of discretion is warranted where required—USCIS officers approves the request. Conversely, if the requestor fails to meet the burden of proof, the request will be denied.

Under regulations governing immigration benefit adjudications established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 1994, USCIS maintains full discretion to issue RFEs or NOIDs in appropriate circumstances. USCIS may also deny a request without first issuing an RFE or NOID, particularly when the request lacks a legal basis for approval or when the requestor fails to submit mandatory initial evidence.

According to the new policy memo, the previous requirements discouraged USCIS officers from exercising their statutory discretion to deny incomplete cases. This allowed applicants to submit ‘placeholder’ or substantially incomplete applications to artificially secure secondary benefits—such as temporary work authorization—while their primary requests remained pending. Issuing RFEs and NOIDs for meritless or non-compliant applications increased overall processing times, clogged adjudication queues, and inflated agency costs—burdens that were ultimately passed on to all applicants through higher filing fees. According to USCIS, the standards conflicted with governing DHS regulations, which require applicants to demonstrate eligibility and submit all mandatory initial evidence at the time of filing.

The updated policy restores integrity to the adjudication process and enforces existing regulations as USCIS has restored officers’ full discretion regarding deficient filings. Officers are no longer required to issue an RFE or NOID before denying a case. If a benefit request lacks initial evidence, fails to demonstrate basic legal eligibility, or lacks merit, officers may deny it outright. 

Officers also retain the option to issue an RFE or NOID, but doing so is now entirely discretionary and reserved for appropriate circumstances rather than serving as an automatic default. By penalizing incomplete filings up front, the updated policy deters improper practices, reduces systemic backlogs, and ensures agency resources are directed toward properly filed applications. 

According to the new policy rules, when USCIS issues an RFE, the regulations state that the notice “will indicate the deadline for response, but in no case shall the maximum response period provided in an RFE exceed 12 weeks, nor shall the maximum response time provided in a NOID exceed 30 days”. Additional time to respond to an RFE or NOID may not be granted. Further, when notices are served by mail, 3 days are added to the response deadline. 

Previous policy required officers to follow standard timeframes by generally providing the maximum 12-week response period. It also added an additional 14 days to the response deadline when RFEs or NOIDs were mailed outside the United States, in contravention of regulation. USCIS is now updating its guidance to follow regulatory and procedural requirements. Under the regulations, officers are not required to issue an RFE with a standard 12-week response period, but rather the maximum response period cannot exceed 12 weeks. Additionally, USCIS no longer provides benefit requestors an additional 14 days to respond to notices mailed outside the United States, as the regulations only allow for an additional 3 days for notices served by mail.

USCIS has clarified that the updated guidance on evidence, RFEs, and NOIDs realigns USCIS policy with regulations, which in turn provides clarity for USCIS officers, promotes consistency across adjudications, sets clear expectations and guidelines for benefit requestors, encourages benefit requestors to be diligent in submitting required initial evidence, discourages unfair advantages accruing to some benefit requestors who submit incomplete benefit requests while others wait to obtain all necessary evidence ensuring that priority dates and other benefits are accorded fairly, and builds trust with stakeholders. The new policy is effective immediately and applies to requests pending or filed on or after August 5, 2026.

“The new policy better aligns USCIS procedures with long-standing DHS regulatory authority and form instructions, helps restore integrity to the immigration system, and makes it more difficult for aliens to file frivolous benefit requests,” according to the USCIS release.

According to Washington DC based immigration attorney, Kevin J Andrews, USCIS can now deny a filing without issuing a RFE and the new policy memo gives USCIS adjudicators full discretion to deny a case when required initial evidence is missing, with no RFE or NOID required. “The policy also applies to cases that are currently pending. Additionally, USCIS clarifies that the 12-week RFE window is now a maximum timeframe, and officers may set shorter deadlines,” Andrews said in a social media post.

“How this policy memo will be applied remains to be seen, but less time to respond to more detailed requests doesn’t seem reasonable and could open USCIS up to more litigation,” he stated.

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