USCIS Issues New Policies on Expedited Processing, Requests for Evidence, EADs

Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced several new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies to improve the legal immigration system, eliminate barriers, and reduce burdens on applicants.

USCIS issued new policy updates in the USCIS Policy Manual to clarify the criteria and circumstances for expedited processing; improve request for evidence (RFE) and notice of intent to deny (NOID) guidance; and increase the validity period for initial and renewal employment authorization documents (EADs) for certain noncitizens with pending adjustment of status applications.

Below are the new policies:

Expedite Criteria

USCIS generally does not consider expedite requests for petitions and applications where Premium Processing Service is available. However, a petitioner that is designated as a nonprofit organization by the IRS acting in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States may now request that the benefit it seeks be expedited without a fee, even if premium processing is available for that benefit.

Of course, USCIS retains discretion to deny that request. Expedited processing is a special-situation service that USCIS considers for benefit requestors who urgently need their request for immigration benefits adjudicated. USCIS reviews such requests on a case-by-case basis. Expedited requests for noncitizens with a final order of removal or noncitizens in removal proceedings are coordinated between USCIS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs)

In July 2018, during the Trump Administration, USCIS issued a policy that permitted agency officers to deny certain immigration benefit requests without first issuing an RFE or a NOID. This meant that some petitioners or beneficiaries would not have an opportunity to fix minor errors or provide more documentation. Instead, they would have to file motions to reopen, appeals, or simply reapply. USCIS is returning to the adjudicative principles of a June 2013 memo (PDF) that instructed agency officers to restores those opportunities by noting that RFEs or NOIDs should be issued (before a denial) if there is a possibility the petitioner or applicant can overcome ineligibility by submitting additional evidence. The policy also emphasizes that unnecessary RFEs or NOIDs should not be issued.

Employment Authorization Documents

The new policy increases current one-year validity period to two years for certain adjustment of status applicants. This should reduce the number of EAD applications that must be filed – helping USCIS – and mean that applicants will less frequently become subject to gaps in employment authorization due to USCIS backlogs.

This guidance was issued due to ongoing processing delays affecting the completion of adjustment of status applications. Renewing EADs in this category is generally free, and USCIS received nearly 370,000 adjustment-related employment authorization requests in fiscal year 2020.

The above stated changes should help reduce the backlogs at USCIS and give some petitioners and applicants a way to avoid those backlogs.