The shift changes how incomplete filings may be handled during the adjudication process. Applicants can no longer generally expect USCIS to ask for missing documents before reaching a decision, although officers still have the option of issuing a Request for Evidence, known as an RFE, or a Notice of Intent to Deny when they consider additional material appropriate.
USCIS Restores Officers’ Discretion over Incomplete Applications
Under the revised guidance, applicants are responsible for establishing that they qualify for the immigration benefit they are seeking when the request is filed and that they remain eligible while the case is being reviewed. Applications that do not contain required initial evidence, or that otherwise fail to demonstrate eligibility, may now be denied without an RFE or Notice of Intent to Deny.
According to Newsweek, USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said the agency had restored immigration officers’ authority to immediately deny benefit requests that fail to follow filing instructions or demonstrate eligibility at the time of submission. The authority, he said, already existed under federal regulations.
An RFE traditionally gives applicants an opportunity to provide documents or clarification before USCIS makes a final decision. The new policy does not eliminate RFEs, but it removes the previous general expectation that officers should provide applicants with such an opportunity before denying a deficient filing.
USCIS said the change is intended to bring agency procedures into line with long-standing Department of Homeland Security regulations. According to reports, the agency also said incomplete or substantially deficient applications could slow the processing of other cases and that some people had used “placeholder” filings to obtain related benefits, including employment authorization, while awaiting decisions.
The policy reverses guidance introduced during the Biden administration in 2021, when officers were generally directed to request additional evidence before denying cases with deficiencies. A similar approach allowing denials without first issuing an RFE had been expanded during Donald Trump’s first administration in 2018.
Pending Cases and Response Deadlines Are Also Affected
The revised policy applies not only to applications filed from August 5 onward but also to benefit requests that were already pending on that date, unless a specific regulation or existing USCIS policy provides otherwise.
That provision means older cases can be reviewed under the new standard. Immigration attorney Stephanie Lewin told Newsweek that an application submitted years earlier could be denied if required evidence was missing from the original filing when an officer eventually adjudicates the case.
USCIS has also changed some procedures surrounding evidence requests. Officers are no longer generally expected to provide the maximum 12-week response period for RFEs, although that regulatory limit remains available. The agency has also ended the additional 14-day response period previously provided for notices mailed overseas, leaving the standard three-day mailing allowance.
According to reports, the policy does not alter the underlying eligibility requirements for green cards, work permits, citizenship or other immigration benefits. What has changed is the level of discretion officers have when required evidence is absent.
Applicants who respond to an RFE or Notice of Intent to Deny with incomplete evidence may also have their submission treated as a request for USCIS to decide the case based on the existing record. The practical result is a system in which the completeness of the original filing carries greater weight when officers determine whether an application can move forward.
