USCIS to Remove the Current Rule Requiring Response to RFE & NOID within "Fixed" Time
Today,the USCIS requested the OMB to approve its final rule that proposes to amend Department of Homeland Security regulations by removing the absolute requirement for, and the fixed regulatory time limitations on responses to, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID). These changes will enable USCIS to set an appropriate deadline for responding to an RFE or NOID, specific to the type of case, benefit category, or classification, and thus improve the process of adjudication of applications and petitions by reducing the time a case is held awaiting evidence, and by reducing average case processing time. This rule will result in improved efficiency in the USCIS adjudication process.
Once this rule is enacted and goes into effect, there will be many RFEs that require responses in much short time than those which current rule provides. The current rule gives 12 weeks to respond to the RFE. Please stay stuned to this website for this final rule and read carefully the RFE to file response "timely."