A Growing Number of Clients are Receiving a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) without a Request for Evidence (RFE): Quick Facts

Last week, the American Immigration Lawyers Association reported in a newsletter that many immigration lawyers were experiencing an uptick of Notices of Intent to Deny (NOID) on cases without a Request for Evidence (RFE). Below, we break down what this means. 

What is a Request for Evidence (RFE) and a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID)?: The USCIS has the option to issue an RFE or NOID if the original filing has insufficient evidence (“Chapter 6,” n.d.). There are a few factors that warrant a RFE. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services glossary, they have the option to issue a RFE under the following conditions;

“You did not submit all the required evidence; 

The evidence you submitted is no longer valid; or

The officer needs more information to determine your eligibility” (“Glossary,” n.d.).

A NOID is a letter from the USCIS that indicates they do not expect the filed information to meet the standards of their corresponding legal request (“Chapter 6,” n.d.). 

Who decides if a Request for Evidence should be issued?: In short, the USCIS makes this decision. According to the USCIS Policy Manual, the USCIS is not required to issue a RFE if the original filing does not meet the criteria (“Chapter 6,” n.d.). Furthermore, the USCIS does not have to issue a RFE or NOID before denying the request entirely (“Chapter 6,” n.d.). The current language of the USCIS policy manual states the following:

“Under the regulations, USCIS has the discretion to issue Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs) for immigration benefit requests in appropriate circumstances. USCIS also has the discretion in some instances to issue a denial without first issuing an RFE or a NOID” (“Chapter 6,” n.d.).

What is the legality of this shift?: As made explicit by the USCIS Policy Manual, the issuing of RFEs, NOIDs, and denials is up to the discretion of the USCIS (“Chapter 6,” n.d.). 

At Anderson & Associates, how are we seeing this shift play out?: From our recent filings, we’ve had many clients already who have received a NOID and denials without a RFE. However, we have noticed a different trend when we file with premium processing, which means the case must have “adjudicated action” on it within 15 days, with a few exceptions depending on the form (“How,” n.d.). In these cases, if the USCIS finds that the original filing has insufficient evidence, we almost always receive a RFE.

For further information on this topic, please reference our Works Cited.

Works Cited

“Chapter 6 - Evidence.” (n.d.). USCIS Policy Manual. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-1-part-e-chapter-6 

“Glossary term: Request for Evidence.” (n.d.). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. https://www.uscis.gov/glossary-term/79521 

“How do I request premium processing?” (n.d.). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. https://www.uscis.gov/forms/all-forms/how-do-i-request-premium-processing