U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may issue a Request For Evidence when an application or petition lacks necessary documentation or evidence to make a decision on the immigration benefit requested. If USCIS mails you a Request for Evidence, it means that they need you to provide additional proof before they can proceed with your application or petition. Once USCIS issues an RFE, the processing of your request stops; this can create a significant delay. When you respond to USCIS with the requested items (before the deadline), they will continue processing your application or petition.
Failing to respond to an RFE by the deadline will virtually guarantee that your application or petition gets denied. Therefore, responding to a Request for Evidence in an accurate and timely manner is critical for the success of your case. We suggest some guidelines for responding to an RFE and some tips for avoiding this dreaded request in the first place.
Take a deep breath. A Request for Evidence will delay your case processing time and may create some anxiety, but it isn’t an indicator of a pending denial. If you fail to respond, USCIS will likely deny your application. But if you respond as directed, you are no more likely to be denied than if you hadn’t gotten the RFE.
USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence for almost any immigration benefit. However, some of the most common RFEs issued for adjustment of status cases include:
You may have forgotten to answer a question, submit supplementary forms, or provide essential documents. Read the USCIS directions completely and carefully before filing forms. If you want the reassurance that you're doing everything correctly, use CitizenPath to prepare your application package. In addition to your correctly prepared form, CitizenPath provides you with a set of personalized filing instructions. Our filing instructions are customized to your answers in the application so you which supporting documents to submit for your specific situation. Learn more >>
USCIS is providing you with a second chance to submit evidence. It's important that you understand exactly what you are supposed to do. You have one opportunity to respond to the RFE with the correct information and get your application back on track. USCIS tends to use many scripted responses in their RFE letters. As such, the letters may be vague. They are rarely precise about the missing evidence.
The letter will generally list all the additional documents that USCIS needs to make a decision on your application. USCIS may also explain which eligibility requirements have not been met by the documents already submitted. They may even list documents that you know you've already submitted. Immigration officials who adjudicate your case are human; they may have overlooked something. But it is likely you need to submit additional evidence to corroborate facts in your request. Regardless, identify each of the items of evidence that you need to submit to USCIS.
The USCIS Request for Evidence will also provide a deadline. This tells you how long you have to respond. If you can, responding sooner is better. You will need to respond to the RFE before the deadline indicated so that the adjudicator will have enough evidence to make a favorable decision. If you fail to respond by the RFE deadline, USCIS will make a decision based on the existing evidence. Generally, that leads to a denial.
Once you've identified the requested evidence and gathered it, you'll need to respond to the Request for Evidence within the allotted time frame.
Mail the response package to the address specified on the RFE. Mail the package via U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail or a courier (e.g. FedEx, UPS or DHL) that can track your package. You want to have delivery confirmation so you have proof that you responded in the allowed time frame.
USCIS issues a Request for Evidence when an applicant has not provided sufficient documentation or information in an original package. Therefore, preparing a complete and detailed application package is important for avoiding an RFE. In a similar way, irrelevant or unnecessary information can clutter an application package.
CitizenPath.com can help you prepare USCIS immigration forms and avoid a Request for Evidence. Immigration attorneys designed the affordable service to provide simple, step-by-step assistance for USCIS applications and petitions. CitizenPath provides an instant warning if your answer to a question could be problematic. We’ll also make certain that your request is complete. In fact, we guarantee that USCIS will approve your form.
What’s more, the service includes a set of personalized filing instructions with examples of evidence to submit. CitizenPath customizes the filing instructions based on your specific case. So you will know exactly which documents to submit with the application and where to mail it.
CitizenPath’s self-directed software is even free to get started. If you’re not eligible or if we find a problem, you can stop at any time. No payment is required until you reach the end of the application. See CitizenPath's immigration services >>
