Washington, D.C., July 6, 2020: On July 1, 2020, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would give applicants more time to respond to requests for evidence due to the COVID19 crisis.

Previous Guidance

Last March 2020, USCIS announced that it would give applicants an addition 60 days to respond if they received a Request for Evidence (RFE), Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020, inclusive. USCIS further clarified that the additional response time also applied to: Notices of Intent to Revoke (NOIR), Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOIT) regional investment centers, certain filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.

Any response to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, or NOIT received within 60 calendar days after the response due date set in the request or notice will be considered by USCIS before any action is taken. Any Form I-290B received up to 60 calendar days from the date of the decision will be considered by USCIS before it takes any action.

New Guidance

On July 1, 2020, USCIS announced that it will extend its flexibility policy, grant applicants an additional 60 calendar days to respond after the deadline indicated on the RFE, NOID, NOIR, NOIT or filing date requirements for Form I-290B Notice of Appeal, so long as the USCIS notice was issued by USCIS between March 1, 2020 and September 11, 2020.

Donoso & Partners, a leading immigration law firm based in Washington, D.C., will continue to report on developments regarding the immigration law and policy through our news section of donosolaw.com.