In July, USCIS published a new policy memo allowing USCIS adjudicators to deny immigration-related applications or petitions without first issuing a request for evidence (“RFE”) or a Notice of Intent to Deny (“NOID”).

In the past, USCIS generally issued an RFE or NOID for cases that lacked sufficient initial evidence, giving the applicant an opportunity to cure the deficiencies instead of denying the case immediately,

Under the new policy, which went into effect on September 11, 2018, USCIS may now deny a case without first issuing an RFE or NOID if it lacks initial evidence or the evidence submitted is not sufficient to establish eligibility. The memo provides the following examples where a denial without issuance of RFE or NOID would be appropriate:

1. “waiver applications submitted with little to no supporting evidence;
2. cases in which the regulations, the statute, or form instructions require the submission of an official document or other evidence establishing eligibility at the time of filing and there is no submission.”

It remains to be seen what kinds of adjudications will result from this policy memo, but it is fair to assume that USCIS will be denying more applications and petitions without giving foreign nationals an opportunity to supplement their initial requests. Therefore, it is more important that ever to make sure that each application or petition contains the required initial documentation as well as sufficient supporting evidence to meet the eligibility criteria.