USCIS Shortens RFE Response Periods

Employers and foreign nationals navigating the U.S. immigration system face a potentially narrower window to respond to requests for evidence (RFEs) under updated U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidance that took effect Aug. 5.

While the regulations continue to permit USCIS to give applicants up to 12 weeks, or 84 days, to respond to an RFE, officers are no longer instructed to default to that maximum. Instead, adjudicators can establish case-specific deadlines, including response periods as short as 30 days.

“We are now seeing RFEs issued under the new framework that provide 30 days to respond, rather than the 84-day response period practitioners have commonly received in cases,” said Kate Kalmykov, an attorney in the New York and New Jersey offices of Greenberg Traurig.

The change comes as USCIS is taking a more demanding approach to RFEs. The Aug. 5 guidance also emphasized that officers may deny certain cases without first issuing an RFE or notice of intent to deny (NOID), making comprehensive filings at the outset increasingly important.

Specialty Credential: U.S. Employment Immigration

84 Days Is a Maximum, Not a Guarantee

The revised guidance does not change the regulatory maximum response periods. USCIS can still provide up to 84 days to respond to an RFE, while the maximum response period for a NOID remains 30 days.

What has changed is how USCIS applies that discretion. “The distinction is important: USCIS has not adopted a universal 30-day RFE deadline,” Kalmykov said. “Rather, the agency is exercising its existing authority to provide shorter response periods.”

A longer response window could be particularly valuable when an RFE requires extensive documentation, expert opinions, corporate records, financial evidence, or information from multiple parties.

“The difference between 84 days and 30 days may therefore materially affect how an RFE response must be managed,” Kalmykov said. “A 30-day deadline may be challenging even for a relatively straightforward RFE.”

For more complex matters, Kalmykov said an RFE may require coordination among many stakeholders. “Documents may need to be obtained from overseas. Foreign-language materials may require certified translations. Corporate or financial records may need to be assembled and analyzed. Expert reports may need to be prepared or updated,” she said.

For HR and global mobility teams, the shortened response periods make advance coordination especially important. Identifying potential sources before filing can reduce the risk of being unable to assemble the evidence within the deadline.

USCIS generally does not grant extensions of RFE response deadlines, further increasing the importance of immediate action once a notice arrives.

Partial responses also can carry significant risk. “USCIS guidance provides that submitting only some of the requested evidence may be treated as a request for the agency to decide the case on the existing record,” Kalmykov said.

International Mail Grace Period Eliminated

The guidance also eliminates a previous additional 14-day allowance for certain notices mailed to recipients outside the United States or issued by an international USCIS office.

USCIS generally continues to add three days when notices are served by ordinary mail, but the additional 14-day period for international recipients is no longer provided. As a result, employers and foreign nationals abroad should pay close attention to the deadline printed on the notice rather than relying on prior assumptions about additional mailing time.

What Employers Should Do Now

The immediate operational priority is to check the deadline for every RFE as soon as it arrives.

HR and immigration teams should establish processes for promptly routing USCIS notices to the appropriate internal stakeholders and counsel. They should also identify in advance which evidence could require significant lead time, particularly documentation involving third parties or overseas sources.

“Under the prior practice, parties sometimes had sufficient time to spend several weeks gathering documents before beginning substantive preparation of the response,” Kalmykov said. “A 30-day deadline leaves little room for delay.”

For employers managing high volumes of immigration cases, the change may also warrant a review of internal case-management procedures. Teams may want to flag petitions that are likely to generate complex evidentiary requests and ensure relevant documentation is readily accessible. Supporting records should be organized and retained so they can be retrieved quickly if questions arise, Kalmykov said.