USCIS can now deny incomplete immigration applications without seeking additional evidenceThe US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has tightened its adjudication policy, restoring officers' discretion to deny ‘immigration-benefit’ requests without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) if applicants fail to establish eligibility or submit all the required initial evidence at the time of filing. In addition, the deadline to respond to a RFE, if any is issued, has also been shortened.Given the large Indian population in the US on H-1B and F-1 visas, along with thousands of H-4 dependents, the policy is likely to heighten anxiety among applicants. Routine immigration-benefit requests (filings) ranging from visa extensions and changes of status to another visa class, green card and citizenship applications will now require even greater attention to completeness at the time of filing.The revised policy, which took effect immediately on August 5, applies to pending as well as newly filed immigration requests, unless otherwise specified.Criticising the previous Biden era policy, USCIS in its statement points out that the earlier policy encouraged officers to request evidence before denying a benefit request, even if the benefit requestor (applicant) filed an incomplete application, failed to demonstrate eligibility for the immigrant request, or failed to provide the initial evidence that was clearly required at the time of filing.“This prior policy allowed frivolous or substantially incomplete filings to slow USCIS processing for others waiting in line,” stated USCIS. It added that, “The Biden policy also enabled benefit requestors to exploit the system by filing ‘placeholder’ applications to gain associated immigration benefits, like employment authorization, while they waited for a decision on their case,” added the agency.Xiao Wang, CEO of immigration services platform Boundless, said the policy effectively turns a missing document into a denial. Under the previous framework, applicants generally received an opportunity to rectify documentary gaps through an RFE. "That second chance is now at the officer's discretion," he said. Wang added that those most likely to be affected are not fraudulent applicants but ordinary individuals and families who inadvertently omit a sponsoring spouse’s tax transcript, fail to submit a certified translation of a foreign birth certificate or miss another required document. He advised applicants to triple-check their submissions, warning that the option to "fix it later" may no longer exist.According to Mitch Wexler, senior counsel at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm, the new policy significantly raises the stakes for applicants at the time of filing. “While USCIS says instructions in application forms specify all the required initial evidence, it is not always clear in practice what USCIS adjudicators may ultimately consider essential for a particular case. Even where all required documents are submitted, an official may still deny an application without issuing an RFE if the filing does not sufficiently establish eligibility. Care will need to be taken to ensure that every document supporting eligibility accompanies the initial filing,” he explained.Immigration attorney Abhinav Tripathi said, “The true significance of this guidance will become clearer only as we begin seeing how it is applied across different case types and USCIS service centres.”The policy also gives USCIS officers greater flexibility in fixing deadlines for responding to RFEs, if any are issued. Instead of routinely allowing applicants the maximum 12-week response period, officers may now prescribe shorter timelines depending on the evidence sought. Certain applications, including Forms I-539 (to extend or change status) and I-601A (for provisional unlawful presence waivers), will continue to have a maximum response period of only 30 days. Typical Form I-539 filers include H-4 spouses of H-1B workers and individuals seeking to change their status from a visitor visa to an F-1 student visa.